THE SPECTRUM GAMES DATABASE



ZENJI



PUBLISHER

Activision



AUTHOR

Unknown, Designed by Matt Hubbard



YEAR

1984



CATEGORY

Puzzle



DESCRIPTION

Puzzle game where you must rearrange a maze to turn it all

yellow.



CONTROLS

Keyboard, Kempston, Sinclair, Cursor



INSTRUCTIONS

See Inlay Card Text, below.



INLAY CARD TEXT

Zenji is like life. The object is to collect all elements of

the maze, creating an unbroken yellow path to the pulsating

Source. Complete connection is called "Zenji". Avoid desires

and illusions, and don't run out of time.





BASICS



1. Load Zenji into your system (see instructions 

   on reverse)



2. When loading is complete, the menu will

   appear. Select desired controller by

   pressing its corresponding numerical key.

   Instruction `prompts' will now appear,

   one at a time. Each prompt will pause

   until you press key C to move to the next

   one.



3. Whilst the prompts are on-screen, select

   your game level. There are eight variations:

   Levels 1,3,5 and 7 are for one player; 2,

   4,6 and 8 are for two. The higher the number,

   the greater the challenge. Select game by

   pressing the corresponding numerical key.



4. The keyboard function screen will now appear,

   displaying all controls.



5. Begin the action by pressing ENTER on the

   keyboard.



6. You are represented by the rotating head. It

   follows your joystick movements. When using

   the keyboard, the O key is left, P is right,

   2 is up and W is down.



   To turn the element, bring the head to its

   center. Now, press the joystick button while

   moving the central stick left or right. On 

   the keyboard, hold down key Z while pressing

   O or P.



7. The timer continually counts down at the

   bottom of the screen.



8. To reset the game you have just played, press

   CAPS SHIFT and ENTER. To reset back to 

   controller menus, press SYMBOL SHIFT and ENTER.



9. When the game ends, the score table will appear.

   Enter the initials beside your final score 

   using the letters on the keyboard.





WORDS TO THE WISE



In Zenji, as in life, you'll turn about with your

head spinning, trying to put all the pieces together.

Furthur complications come in the form of Flames of

Desire. Later on, these desires create equally fatal

illusions. The sting of desire of illusion will

surely cause you to lose your head and leave the 

maze...unconnected.



If you have departed from an unconnected maze, you

will be doomed to repeat it...hopefully having learned

something. You begin with one active head and four

reincarnations on reserve. The experience ends when you

have ceased to be reborn.





MATERIAL REWARDS



For those of you still attached to such things, here

is an explanation of the scoring system.



Points are awarded whenever complete connection (Zenji)

is achieved. The less time you've taken, the more

points you'll receive.



Whenever contact is made with a number square, you'll

receive a bonus of (100 points x the number)



A bonus life is awarded with every other increase of

10,000 points (i.e. 10,000...30,000...50,000)





TIPS FROM MATT HUBBARD

Designer of Zenji



"Zenji creates a unique interaction between player and

game. It is a new kind of experience, whose strategy

lies not in sharp-shooting or elaborate game plans but

in sensing the right move and trusting your initiative."



"The object of Zenji is to connect all Elements to the

Source. But, in playing the game, it becomes clear that

the approach required is a kind of `letting go', rather

than planning ahead, wherin connections simply happen.

Players can `feel' their way through the maze and use

tactics that combine intuition with technical skill."



"As an old Master once said `There is no conquest. There

is no planning. Use the mind differently'."



"And go in peace."





CHEATS

None Known.



SEQUELS/PREQUELS

None.



SCORES RECEIVED

Unknown, but I don't think it was very well received.



URL

ftp://ftp.nvg.unit.no/pub/sinclair/snaps/games/puzzle/zenji.zip



GENERAL FACTS

This game is a standard puzzle affair where you rearrange a maze

to connect all parts of it to a power source, effectively turning

all the paths yellow. The instructions, however, make it sound

like some kind of meditation/way of life/religion!



NOTES

Not a very good game, it's quite difficult and not very

addictive.  Standard UDG graphics don't help much, either! Pretty

much like the rest of Activision's early stuff.

