Picross S4 (Switch): COMPLETED!

Yes. It is another of Jupiter’s almost identical picross games. And yes, it is even longer than the previous ones I played. And yes, I will be buying Picross S5 when I see it on sale. What are you implying? There’s nothing new in this one, apart from all the puzzles being new of course. What I mean is there’s no new modes or mechanics or anything. It does have some huuuuuuge bonus puzzles if you have save data from …

Sketch, Share, Solve (Playdate): COMPLETED!

What is this? A Playdate game? That I purchased? With actual money? Is that even legal? It seems so! Sketch, Share, Solve is a Picross game, and a $3 Picross game at that. It also has mostly the same (correct) controls as the Jupiter-written 3DS and Switch Picross games, which is good as that’s the only way to play them as far as I’m concerned. As it’s on the Playdate, it’s all in black and white and the size of …

Kemono Friends Picross (Switch): COMPLETED!

As you might expect, I’m a massive fan of Kemono Friends. Sorry, no, the other thing. Picross. Kemono Friends is something I’d never heard of, but the themed Picross game is by Jupiter who do all the Picross games. so of course I was going to buy it at some point. Apparently, it’s a manga or anime or both, where there’s a zoo but all the animals are anthropomorphic and resemble human girls. Could the premise be any more anime? …

Picross S Mega Drive & Master System Edition (Switch): COMPLETED!

Yes, it’s another of Jupiter’s excellent but nearly identical Picross games! Only this one is slightly different as each puzzle is a pixel graphic straight from a Sega Mega Drive or Master System game! But you guessed that from the title. Not that it really matters because I literally don’t care what the pictures actually are, but it was a bit disappointing that so many of them were just faces of characters from games. Nowhere near as many items, logos, …

Picross S3 (Switch): COMPLETED!

More Picross, innit. I mean, I’m not really sure what else there is to say. I think it’s the longest of the Jupiter-made games, as it took me over 35 hours to do all the puzzles, and it also introduces colour picross to the series. I didn’t like the slight change in logic at first, but it soon clicked and then I wished there were more of them. Much as I love picross, I think I might give them a …

Picross S2 (Switch): COMPLETED!

I’ve done enough of these picross games now to know there’s very little to say about them. For the most part, for the Jupiter developed ones (like this) at least, they’re pretty much the same. The different thing in this is “clip picross” mode, where parts of a larger puzzle are unlocked as you play through the other puzzles, and then you complete these parts to make up a larger picture. It’s a bit like in previous games but instead …

Murder By Numbers (Switch): COMPLETED!

One of my favourite types of game is picross. There’s something relaxing about switching to autopilot and completing a load of puzzles. One of the best, quirky game series of all time is Phoenix Wright, with it’s gentle humour, amazing characters, and murders. Murder By Numbers is both these things. I talk about it a lot on episode 33 of the ugvm Podcast, but briefly, Murder By Numbers is very much like Phoenix Wright only each time you find a …

PictoQuest: The Cursed Grids (Switch): COMPLETED!

It’s another picross game! But this one is different! And isn’t by Jupiter! Sure, it’s still picross. PictoQuest adds light RPG elements to the formula though, with items and powerups and baddies to “fight” by completing rows and columns in the grids. Which all sounds perfect, until I completed it and realised I’d totally ignored absolutely everything to do with the RPG stuff as it’s entirely unnecessary and does nothing. Sure, perhaps if you’re very, very, very slow completing the …

Sanrio Characters Picross (3DS): COMPLETED!

I was convinced this took me around 40 hours, but no, just under 28. It just felt much longer than the other picross titles I’ve played on the 3DS, but it’s about par for them. There’s not a lot else to say, really. It’s picross, with Sanrio (think Hello Kitty) characters as the puzzles. There are loads of stickers to unlock, but they’re of little use as you can’t take screenshots, but the main picross is the same picross as …

Picross e6 (3DS): COMPLETED!

Picross e6 is HUGE. Especially compared to previous Picross eX games. Picross e2 took me 18 1/2 hours to finish, and was the previous largest game, but e6 took me just shy of 30 hours. Massive, see. Unfortunately, it does this by cheating a bit. You see, it seems that all the standard Picross puzzles are duplicated as Mega Picross puzzles. You know, those ones where numbers span two rows or columns. Sure, it means the solutions aren’t the same, …