The name Absolute Drift - Zen Edition gives off an impression of a casual, relaxing game - something you play to unwind. This game is anything but that.

Absolute Drift is a no-frills, minimalist take on drifting, the art of moving your car sideways. The game's driving style is close to being a simulator. Instead of the usual pedal-to-the-medal approach, each drift is a carefully balanced play between several things. You have to continuously manage the speed and the angles of your car to keep a drift going. That means a lot of quick, small adjustments, all the while being aware of the next turn in the track.

The game doesn't explain all of these details very well, so it can get frustrating very quickly in the initial sections. There are tutorial levels, but they don't teach how to pull off drifts. Instead, they're more like first-level challenges. The game wants you to practice and experiment until you get a feel for the process of drifting. While that's not a bad idea, it could have been built up in a better way. A set of tightly guided tutorials would have been a great addition.

If you decide to stick with it, and you eventually get the hang of drifting, the game becomes more fun to play. There's a real sense of accomplishment to pulling off well-executed, tightly-controlled drifts. The game's scoring system rewards continuous chained drifts, so the goal on each track is to get closer and closer to a perfect run. There is also an integrated leaderboard system, if you want to get competitive.

The soundtrack of the game deserves a mention, since it is probably the only 'Zen' part of the experience. The tracks are a mix of mellow electronica and drum-and-bass. It's a good collection of tunes.

To summarize, Absolute Drift - Zen Edition walks the line between rewarding and frustrating. Because of a steep learning curve, you will need to spend some time on the frustrating side before you get a glimpse of the rewarding side. Whether or not to commit to that learning curve is the question. And the answer would vary from one gamer to the next.