Comments on: 'Tangrams' and 'TanZen' Bring a Classic Chinese Puzzle to iPhone http://toucharcade.com/2008/08/19/tangrams-and-tanzen-bring-a-classic-chinese-puzzle-to-iphone/ ... keeping in touch with the latest in iPhone gaming Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:28:51 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Little White Bear Studios http://toucharcade.com/2008/08/19/tangrams-and-tanzen-bring-a-classic-chinese-puzzle-to-iphone/#comment-1966 Little White Bear Studios Thu, 21 Aug 2008 15:08:58 +0000 http://toucharcade.com/?p=495#comment-1966 Good question, Brett. We didn't include it, as we felt it was more of a power user feature, and we didn't want to confuse the player with too many movement choices. Also, putting the finger anywhere on the screen could lead to accidental selection of a different piece, which could be confusing to the player. We're happy you found a way to rotate that works for you, though! Our whole intention with the two finger rotation was to differentiate a rotate from a move action. We were trying to give those players who have to use the very wide, flat, part of their fingers, due to having long fingernails, a way to see the pieces while they are placing them. So we allowed movement over the entire ring area, which lets you see the piece almost entirely, even though you are moving it. Obviously, the two finger rotation did not sit right with a number of players, so we have gone back and solved the problem in a different way, which should make things easier for everyone. Hopefully, it a couple days, this will be a non-issue, as single finger rotation is included in the update that is being reviewed by Apple right now. Good question, Brett. We didn't include it, as we felt it was more of a power user feature, and we didn't want to confuse the player with too many movement choices. Also, putting the finger anywhere on the screen could lead to accidental selection of a different piece, which could be confusing to the player. We're happy you found a way to rotate that works for you, though! Our whole intention with the two finger rotation was to differentiate a rotate from a move action. We were trying to give those players who have to use the very wide, flat, part of their fingers, due to having long fingernails, a way to see the pieces while they are placing them. So we allowed movement over the entire ring area, which lets you see the piece almost entirely, even though you are moving it. Obviously, the two finger rotation did not sit right with a number of players, so we have gone back and solved the problem in a different way, which should make things easier for everyone. Hopefully, it a couple days, this will be a non-issue, as single finger rotation is included in the update that is being reviewed by Apple right now.

]]> By: Brett http://toucharcade.com/2008/08/19/tangrams-and-tanzen-bring-a-classic-chinese-puzzle-to-iphone/#comment-1949 Brett Thu, 21 Aug 2008 08:30:53 +0000 http://toucharcade.com/?p=495#comment-1949 Speaking of this whole rotation issue, since I visited your website and saw that there was actually a much easier way to rotate the pieces, which for some reason you don't show in your tutorial in the actual game itself, I now have no problems with how to rotate the pieces. What I am referring to is, in the game's own built-in tutorial, you only show the "two thumbs on the circle" method, whereas in the video on your website, you show the much easier method of one finger ANYWHERE on the screen and the other finger on the circle to rotate. This method is so much easier! Why didn't you show this method in the game's tutorial? Video here: http://www.littlewhitebearstudios.com/support.html Speaking of this whole rotation issue, since I visited your website and saw that there was actually a much easier way to rotate the pieces, which for some reason you don't show in your tutorial in the actual game itself, I now have no problems with how to rotate the pieces.
What I am referring to is, in the game's own built-in tutorial, you only show the "two thumbs on the circle" method, whereas in the video on your website, you show the much easier method of one finger ANYWHERE on the screen and the other finger on the circle to rotate. This method is so much easier! Why didn't you show this method in the game's tutorial?
Video here: http://www.littlewhitebearstudios.com/support.html

]]> By: Little White Bear Studios http://toucharcade.com/2008/08/19/tangrams-and-tanzen-bring-a-classic-chinese-puzzle-to-iphone/#comment-1921 Little White Bear Studios Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:38:15 +0000 http://toucharcade.com/?p=495#comment-1921 WhySoSerious, We're very happy you love TanZen! Hopefully Apple will see fit to get the update on the store soon, so you can enjoy more puzzles, and easier rotation. Have fun with the game! WhySoSerious,

We're very happy you love TanZen! Hopefully Apple will see fit to get the update on the store soon, so you can enjoy more puzzles, and easier rotation. Have fun with the game!

]]> By: WhySoSerious http://toucharcade.com/2008/08/19/tangrams-and-tanzen-bring-a-classic-chinese-puzzle-to-iphone/#comment-1917 WhySoSerious Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:18:26 +0000 http://toucharcade.com/?p=495#comment-1917 TanZen: i love this game.....LOVE IT. thanks for bringing it to the iphone. i look forward to the revised rotate function too, because the current method is very awkward. i also appreciate your promise to bring new puzzles each and every update....hopefully you have many frequent updates! I'm hoping to see more difficult puzzles in the future though. Since you offer 15 degree rotation, I think that would open the doors for implementing harder to solve puzzles. thanks again! TanZen: i love this game…..LOVE IT. thanks for bringing it to the iphone. i look forward to the revised rotate function too, because the current method is very awkward. i also appreciate your promise to bring new puzzles each and every update….hopefully you have many frequent updates!

I'm hoping to see more difficult puzzles in the future though. Since you offer 15 degree rotation, I think that would open the doors for implementing harder to solve puzzles.

thanks again!

]]> By: Little White Bear Studios http://toucharcade.com/2008/08/19/tangrams-and-tanzen-bring-a-classic-chinese-puzzle-to-iphone/#comment-1900 Little White Bear Studios Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:19:34 +0000 http://toucharcade.com/?p=495#comment-1900 Brett, Sometime we're going to sneak in a 15 degree puzzle when you least expect it! Thanks again for playing! Brett,

Sometime we're going to sneak in a 15 degree puzzle when you least expect it! Thanks again for playing!

]]> By: Little White Bear Studios http://toucharcade.com/2008/08/19/tangrams-and-tanzen-bring-a-classic-chinese-puzzle-to-iphone/#comment-1899 Little White Bear Studios Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:17:04 +0000 http://toucharcade.com/?p=495#comment-1899 Brian, I agree completely. From what I can tell, our games take on tangrams in completely different ways, which I think is a good thing. Not everyone will like the way TanZen tackles the problem, and vice versa. I believe the market is big enough for both products. Good luck to you! Brian,

I agree completely. From what I can tell, our games take on tangrams in completely different ways, which I think is a good thing. Not everyone will like the way TanZen tackles the problem, and vice versa. I believe the market is big enough for both products. Good luck to you!

]]> By: Brian Wurster http://toucharcade.com/2008/08/19/tangrams-and-tanzen-bring-a-classic-chinese-puzzle-to-iphone/#comment-1895 Brian Wurster Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:34:08 +0000 http://toucharcade.com/?p=495#comment-1895 Brett, I appreciate the feedback you left in response to my application Tangrams. Everyone has a different aesthetic perspective and my goal was to provide a clean uncluttered interface. I appreciate and respect your opinion and will take it into consideration for coming updates. Since you haven't played my version I suggest you give it a try as well, I think you will find the controls very enjoyable and easy to use. In the end, I feel they are both very polished applications and obviously show a lot of hard work and effort went into them. My recommendation to anyone looking for a Tangrams app would be to give both a try and see what appeals to you. That's kind of the beauty of the AppStore in my opinion, there's almost no risk with a $2.99 game and room to try out lots of things. Best wishes to you both Brett,
I appreciate the feedback you left in response to my application Tangrams. Everyone has a different aesthetic perspective and my goal was to provide a clean uncluttered interface. I appreciate and respect your opinion and will take it into consideration for coming updates. Since you haven't played my version I suggest you give it a try as well, I think you will find the controls very enjoyable and easy to use.

In the end, I feel they are both very polished applications and obviously show a lot of hard work and effort went into them. My recommendation to anyone looking for a Tangrams app would be to give both a try and see what appeals to you. That's kind of the beauty of the AppStore in my opinion, there's almost no risk with a $2.99 game and room to try out lots of things.

Best wishes to you both

]]> By: Brett http://toucharcade.com/2008/08/19/tangrams-and-tanzen-bring-a-classic-chinese-puzzle-to-iphone/#comment-1891 Brett Wed, 20 Aug 2008 11:25:27 +0000 http://toucharcade.com/?p=495#comment-1891 Aah, right, OK, I stand corrected then. I haven't yet encountered a puzzle that requires a piece to be rotated through a mere 15-degrees, so was wondering what the purpose of this small rotation was. I look forward to the update and the more challenging puzzles then. Aah, right, OK, I stand corrected then. I haven't yet encountered a puzzle that requires a piece to be rotated through a mere 15-degrees, so was wondering what the purpose of this small rotation was.
I look forward to the update and the more challenging puzzles then.

]]> By: Little White Bear Studios http://toucharcade.com/2008/08/19/tangrams-and-tanzen-bring-a-classic-chinese-puzzle-to-iphone/#comment-1890 Little White Bear Studios Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:48:51 +0000 http://toucharcade.com/?p=495#comment-1890 Brett, Hey, thanks for the kind words about TanZen! You will love the single finger rotation that is currently in review with Apple. Just drag your finger along the ring, and it will rotate. Speaking of rotation, I need to correct you on something. The rotation is not free. It always snaps at 15 degree angles. Most tangram apps snap at 45 degree angles, which can be very jarring visually, and limits the number of puzzles you can create with those pieces. So really, in TanZen, you are never more than two "clicks" away from a 45 degree angle. And going with 15 degrees allows us to create much harder puzzles in the future, which is something you mentioned you were interested in. Anyway, thanks again for the kind words, and remember, the update will double the number of puzzles to over 200. And each future update will include more puzzles, if that's any consolation to you for the difference in the number of current puzzles between the two apps. Brett,

Hey, thanks for the kind words about TanZen! You will love the single finger rotation that is currently in review with Apple. Just drag your finger along the ring, and it will rotate. Speaking of rotation, I need to correct you on something. The rotation is not free. It always snaps at 15 degree angles. Most tangram apps snap at 45 degree angles, which can be very jarring visually, and limits the number of puzzles you can create with those pieces. So really, in TanZen, you are never more than two "clicks" away from a 45 degree angle. And going with 15 degrees allows us to create much harder puzzles in the future, which is something you mentioned you were interested in.

Anyway, thanks again for the kind words, and remember, the update will double the number of puzzles to over 200. And each future update will include more puzzles, if that's any consolation to you for the difference in the number of current puzzles between the two apps.

]]> By: Brett http://toucharcade.com/2008/08/19/tangrams-and-tanzen-bring-a-classic-chinese-puzzle-to-iphone/#comment-1888 Brett Wed, 20 Aug 2008 08:45:15 +0000 http://toucharcade.com/?p=495#comment-1888 Wish there was an Edit Post button... Anyway, my post above was more about my opinions of TanZen. Now having had a closer look at Tangrams, I'm pretty confident I made the right choice in purchasing TanZen. Even though I haven't played Tangrams, it's pretty plain to see that the UI for TanZen is MUCH better on two counts: Firstly, merely cosmetically and aesthetically, it's just so much more attractive to look at. And secondly, and this is quite important, and which I think the original reviewer should have picked up on, is that in Tangrams, the sizes of the various pieces in the pick-up area are not the same size as they will be when you place them in the playing area! To me, that's a seemingly small, but actually quite big problem. That means you can't see at a glance what pieces need to go into what areas, because their sizes do not correspond to each other. If you know what I mean... Also, less of an issue, but still indicative of a well-thought out UI, is that with TanZen, all the pieces you have to work with are right there in front of you. Tangrams on the other hand, only has ONE of each shape in the pick-up area, but indicates to you that there are in fact TWO pieces for shape with a little number (2) above the shape. With TanZen, it's just so much clearer and obvious what pieces you have to work with, what shape AND size they are, and how many of them there are. Wish there was an Edit Post button…

Anyway, my post above was more about my opinions of TanZen. Now having had a closer look at Tangrams, I'm pretty confident I made the right choice in purchasing TanZen.

Even though I haven't played Tangrams, it's pretty plain to see that the UI for TanZen is MUCH better on two counts:

Firstly, merely cosmetically and aesthetically, it's just so much more attractive to look at.

And secondly, and this is quite important, and which I think the original reviewer should have picked up on, is that in Tangrams, the sizes of the various pieces in the pick-up area are not the same size as they will be when you place them in the playing area!
To me, that's a seemingly small, but actually quite big problem. That means you can't see at a glance what pieces need to go into what areas, because their sizes do not correspond to each other. If you know what I mean…

Also, less of an issue, but still indicative of a well-thought out UI, is that with TanZen, all the pieces you have to work with are right there in front of you. Tangrams on the other hand, only has ONE of each shape in the pick-up area, but indicates to you that there are in fact TWO pieces for shape with a little number (2) above the shape.

With TanZen, it's just so much clearer and obvious what pieces you have to work with, what shape AND size they are, and how many of them there are.

]]>