Zenji

Zenji is an action/strategy game originally released in 1984 by Activision for Atari home computers and also ported to several other systems. The object of the game is to connect all the elements of a maze to the source located in the center of the screen in order to achieve Zenji.

In Zenji players control a rolling face that can travel within the paths of a maze. The maze is divided up into multiple sections, with each section consisting of a different shaped path. When the face is stopped in the center of a section it can be rotated around the axis which will connect or disconnect the paths with adjacent sections. The goal is to rotate the maze sections until all of the paths are connected with the source located in the center of the maze. When a path is connected it will turn green, otherwise it remains grey. When all paths are green, Zenji is achieved and the game continues to the next, more difficult level. Each level has a time limit; a life is lost if time runs out, or bonus points are earned for extra time remaining when completing the level. As the levels progress, the size of the maze changes; it initially starts small and slowly increases in size until it fills the entire screen. Once the largest size is reached the process reverses and then repeats. Starting on later levels, flames will also appear in the maze; if the player comes into contact with a flame (or the sparks they shoot) a life is lost. From time to time a number will appear in the center of a maze section and count down from 10 to 1; if the player reaches the number before it finishes counting down bonus points are earned (100 points x the number showing).