A while back I talked a bit about Mario’s Picross, a logic puzzler that just gripped me and didn’t let go until my arms had finger-shaped depressions in them. But that game came out back in 1995. I needed a new Picross fix, but I just didn’t realize that I did until I found a copy of this new DS version, simply titled ‘Picross‘.
Picross itself is a logic puzzler where you have a grid. Each row and column has a series of numbers representing how many spaces in that particular row or column are filled in, and where the spaces are. Something like ‘5 2′ would mean that somewhere in that row there are 5 consecutive spaces filled, at least one empty space, and then two more consecutive spaces filled. You have to use the clues and your wits to deduce which squares are filled in, which ones aren’t, and eventually draw some kind of picture.
So, yeah, it’s the same game, but with prettier graphics, no mascot placement to sell more copies, and has stylus controls, which is pretty nice. And you can make your own puzzles, play wirelessly with local folks and get slaughtered by playing against someone online, which is the real draw here.
Hah, draw.
I spent a good portion of my Sunday playing the thing, and it looks like a pretty solid investment so far. Inexplicably, it also uses the Rumble Pak, which is kind of odd, but I like it.