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wish there were more easy puzzles

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 31, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I loved this game and especially since I had never played it before. I thought that switching back and forth in the 15 X 15 SQUARE GAME is hard and confusing for me. I wish there were more easy puzzles and that you could replay them without knowing what they are (because you have already done them).

Good, but should have been better.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: September 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I've been doing this type of puzzle for at least 14 years so when I heard they were going to have this for the DS, I ordered it. I enjoyed starting it out but was disappointed right away because this is basically a one player game. Unless you want to redo somebody else's puzzles, or have them poking into yours, you need more than one cartridge.

I did all of the beginning puzzles with no difficulty, but some of the later ones don't have what I think of as a 'clean' solution. I prefer a puzzle that can be solved just by the numbers provided. Some of these puzzles require using the hint or using an educated guess to figure out the answer. Free Mode is only this type of puzzle, and they give you an overlay that you can figure on and then you can apply it to your puzzle or not. However, the puzzles in the normal mode, to me, shouldn't require this.

The thing I find most lacking, though, are two color puzzles. I used to enjoy those a lot, and they are missing from the game. The idea of the game had more potential than was realized here.

Overall I enjoy this game. I like having a different sort of puzzle than the brain training games or Sudoku, so it is a nice change. I just thought it could have been better.

Nice Puzzler

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: October 05, 2007
Author: Amazon User

My wife really enjoys her addictive Picross DS. Hours of picross puzzling fun just like in your favorite pulp puzzle book with all the DS touch-screen kewlness.

Another inventive puzzler makes it's way to the DS.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 05, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Picross DS is a very inventive puzzle game that comes from combining the strategy of Sudoku and MineSweeper. The puzzles start out as a certain size grid (anywhere from 10 x 10 to 20 x 25) and, using the numbers on at the side of each row and top of each column, the player strategizes whether to darken in a box or leave it empty, resulting in a picture that looks like a crossword puzzle (picture + crossword + DS = "Picross DS").

The game plays very smoothly and the controls work perfectly for the DS. There are three levels of difficulty: Easy, Normal, and "Free Mode." The only difference between the easy and normal modes is the size of the grid (and thus, complexity of the picture) that you have to solve. For each grid that you fill in that is incorrect, a 2-minute penalty is added. If any puzzle takes you longer than an hour to complete (to include penalty time), you will receive a "time over." While the puzzle will still count as completed, you will not get to see the short animation that would otherwise come with solving the puzzle. In Free Mode, there are no penalties. However, the game also allows you to fill in incorrect squares without alerting you to mistakes. In some cases, this can actually make the lower level Free Mode puzzles more difficult than the mid range Normal Mode puzzles. The game does compensate for this with a "Try It Out" Mode, which can be activated at any time in Free Mode and allows you to try any combination in the puzzle grid that you so choose with the option to just see if it will work out or to actually apply it to the puzzle. (Note: After solving a puzzle in this mode, make sure to apply the overlay or else the puzzle will not complete, whether or not you have it correct in Try It Out Mode or not -- that one fooled me, I'm shamed to say, more than once.) Easy Mode only has 15 puzzles, but it's more of an introductory level than anything else. In both Normal and Free Modes, each of the levels has 15 puzzles. Each level has a theme to it, such as flowers, animals, planetary objects, or many other things. After the completion of any of the three rows (of, obviously, five puzzles) in the levels, a selectable mini-challenge will appear. This usually entails copying a design or "catching" fast-moving blocks within a time limit. (I found the "reverse the colors of the design" challenges to be maddeningly difficult.) You initially only have a few levels in each of the modes but will unlock a total of eleven levels (including a bonus level) in each mode. There is also an option for making your own puzzles and the now-puzzle game standard of daily exercises. These both add a little bit of value to an already puzzle-packed game.

While the graphics and sound may be pretty standard for a DS puzzler, the gameplay offers a nice bit of variety into what would seem to be a game full of doing the same puzzle over and over. As mentioned above, for the type of game it is, I felt that it couldn't be any more packed full of puzzly goodness. Overall, if you're looking for a puzzler on the DS, this is a can't-miss, especially being a Sudoku-fanatic such as I.

Overall: 8.2
Gameplay: 8
Graphics: 7
Sound: 7
Value: 10
Tilt: 8

picross

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 15, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I initially played Picross on the computer and thought it was very fun - I still like it on the computer. When you play the DS game, the screen is so small, it is hard to get the stylus on the correct square to mark it. I keep hitting the wrong square, and then the DS fills in the wrong square for me which is frustrating. I love the game when played on the computer!

played every puzzle and all downloadables

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: April 03, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I totally got addicted to this game as my first ds puzzle game. I played every puzzle and all the ones that you download from nintendo. The biggest puzzles were the most fun, but they're all great. My only complaint is that after playing them all, I wanted more, so I tried to connect with other people and play against them (an endless supply of puzzles!). But every time it would say there was a problem with the connection and I automatically win. I won 8 times without ever actually playing. Then I gave up. I plan to try again in hopes of a better connection.

Addictive and fun

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: January 03, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Having never played picross before, I found this game to be a great introduction, with pacing to advance in skill. The features in this game are pretty extensive, from online play to creating your own puzzles, and daily challenges to unlockables. Definitely worth the $20 price tag.

Addictive and Fun Puzzle Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: January 04, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Picross DS
Picross is incredibly an addictive and challenging puzzle game. I'd never played it before, but got hooked immediately. The nice thing about it is you don't need to know anything about how to play before you start. It give you instructions and starts you off with simple puzzles. But as you progress, the puzzles become more difficult and you really have to use your analytical skills to solve them.

A fantastic logic game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: January 11, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Picross DS is one of the best games I have found for the DS. It is, essentially, a logic puzzle: based on what you do know, you have to extrapolate where squares must be, as well as where squares can't possibly be. There is also the extra cheat of knowing that you are creating a picture, and so, in some cases, you might even be able to pull off an educated guess based on the forming image.

Since you do start off with simple images on 10x10 grids, you have several easy puzzles in which you can learn the basic logical tenets of the game. After which you move up until you are working on 20x25 grids.

There are even two modes of difficulty - one where the game will tell you that you've picked the wrong square, and one where the game gives no indication that you are right or wrong, other than to relight numbers for a full row or column that has an error in it.

Picross DS has a few other modes that, I must admit, I rarely ever fiddle with. The only one I have tried is making your own Picross design. I have not found that mode to be especially satisfying, so I have not tried it very often. This most certainly does not detract from my rating of this game, however. Whether or not this feature works in this game makes me no never mind.

The only thing I will complain about is the fact that once you solve a puzzle, the picture of the puzzle remains as that puzzle's selection icon. So now you know what image you are going for, and all of a sudden you're making more educated guesses than logical choices. This is not the end of the world, but it would be nice to be able to delete the puzzle images.

In any case, if you enjoy logic puzzles, this game is SO for you!

Great puzzle game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: April 15, 2008
Author: Amazon User

My husband gave me Picross DS as a stocking stuffer last Christmas. At first I was a little hesitant to try it because I didn't know about the game and I thought I would have to draw. He said it's kind of like Sudoku, which I like a lot, so I gave it a chance. It has a tutorial when you first play the game. Walks you through everything and you can try basic puzzles until you get the hang of it. After a few practices, I started liking it a lot and got addicted to it. There are quite a lot of puzzles from Beginner to Advanced or Expert, and Bonus Level. I felt some sort of accomplishment when I finished all of the puzzles but I'm not very happy I don't have puzzles to play anymore, except the ones online (I think about 2-3 daily). Puzzles online are good also and some have time limits so it's a bit different.

Overall, this is a must have game for those who like puzzle games. Those who like to think and practice their mind. I loved Picross DS.

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