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[jshackles]

Welcome to the NeoGAF Picross community. Here we can discuss our favorite Picross games, suggest games for others, ask for puzzle help, etc.

What is Picross?

Picross (or Nonograms) are number puzzles that, once solved, display artwork or sprite work. They're popular in video games because they're typically used to reveal sprites from other games. Examples of this include Mario's Picross for the Game Boy, or Twilight Princess Picross for the 3DS.


Where to start?

PICROSS S for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Official Site

Buy PICROSS S and shop other great Nintendo products online at the official My Nintendo Store.

www.nintendo.com

Picross S (and subsequent releases such as S2-S6) are a good jumping off point for most players. The game has decent tutorials that will get you up to speed. These games are cheap ($8) and have a massive amount of puzzles included.

Any other recommendations?

Murder by Numbers for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Official Site

Buy Murder by Numbers and shop other great Nintendo products online at the official My Nintendo Store.

www.nintendo.com

Murder by Numbers is a cross between Picross and a visual novel, set in Hollywood in the mid 90s. You solve Picross puzzles to find clues that all lead up to solving murder mysteries. Very stylish and a good balance between puzzles and not-puzzles.

Paint it Back is a fun premise for Picross - all the paintings in a museum have been stolen, and you have to repaint them (using picross) to put them back on display. Steam Workshop support adds a TON of user-generated content to this game.

 

[lame gag1990]

I've only played Picross S4 and Pokemon Picross. Really good puzzle games and fun to turn on for quick bursts. I haven't heard of Murder by Numbers so I'll check that out. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

Mario Picross is also on Nintendo Online for Switch. Works well on there.

I also recommend

There are some games that are similar to Picross that I also recommend. The series are listed on the store page as well if you want the other 3 games.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

Picross 3D Round 2 for Nintendo 3DS is easily the best Picross game I've played ever.

Picross 3D Round 2 for Nintendo 3DS - Nintendo Official Site

<p style="margin-top: 0"> Chip away at a three-dimensional block puzzle to reveal the object hidden within. Only this time, blocks can be painted with two colors of paint to mold detailed shapes. Enjoy more than 300 puzzles at the Caf…

www.nintendo.com

 

[jshackles]

I'd say the best Picross game I ever played:



I had this on my Japanese 3DS (it was free to play, but pretty generous). As a huge fan of Final Fantasy, I absolutely loved it and it had some really interesting game mechanics like unlocking new characters, leveling them up, and a battle mode where you had a 5x5 grid and had to complete it as quickly as possible to attack the monsters. Game had incredible music from the game series and just oozed nostalgia.

Shame they shut the online service down, but I guess there are probably 3DS dumps out there that exist. The game had cooldown timers, but it didn't bother me much because I usually do Picross to chill and only a few puzzles a day at most. Another downside is that without knowing some basic Japanese, the game is pretty unplayable.

 

[haxan7]

this thread is cool and all but where's my polyamory/ethical nonmonogamy OT

 

[jshackles]

this thread is cool and all but where's my polyamory/ethical nonmonogamy OT

No fetish threads

 

[LavitzSlambert]

I just finished Mario’s Super Picross (100%) and began Murder By Numbers. Love these kind of puzzle games. They’re the perfect late night/airplane travel games.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

I just finished Mario’s Super Picross (100%) and began Murder By Numbers. Love these kind of puzzle games. They’re the perfect late night/airplane travel games.

I love to play them in the morning while I sip a cup of coffee. Great way to get the brain fired up.

 

[jshackles]

Today I finished Picross S3 on the Switch

It's been a while since I've played through a Picross game on the Switch and decided I'd keep marching in order through Jupiter's S series which has always been really great. This game was no exception - great and challenging puzzles that are completed to make completely random objects and items. The clip picross this time was themed around Alice in Wonderland which was pretty cool I suppose. The game was very "by the numbers" (if you'll pardon the pun!) but completely solid throughout. I've picked up S4 which I'll probably start plodding through soon.

 

[jshackles]

Steam summer sale is here, lots of Picross games on sale.

Special shoutout for this bundle:

Save 70% on Narrative Nonograms on Steam

store.steampowered.com

Been really enjoying Murder by Numbers and was looking for other games like it. This includes that game as well as two others: a dating sim / picross hybrid and a RPG / picross hybrid.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

I am slowly working through Pack It Back. It's a solid Picross game for sure. There is a bit of age showing on the UI, but nothing major. Def recommend.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

Just wrapped 100% achievement on Paint It Back in 43 Steam hours. That includes probably a couple hours of being AFK.

Over all, great Picross game. I like the Workshop integration for custom puzzles.

Easily worth full price.

 

[jshackles]

I'm over 50% done with Piczle Cross Adventure, I ended up getting it on the Switch.

So far, I've really enjoyed it. The story is pretty so-so, but the puzzles have been great. I like that each area has it's own theme, which makes the puzzles far less random than something like Picross S4 (which I've also been dabbling in). The Pokemon aesthetic is nice, but that's pretty much where the similarities end.

 

[OblongYellow]

I just finished Mario’s Super Picross (100%) and began Murder By Numbers. Love these kind of puzzle games. They’re the perfect late night/airplane travel games.

Loved playing Mario’s Super Picross! Haven't heard of Murder by Numbers though. Might be something I'll try soon

 

[Maiden Voyage]

"Sorry I made you wait! "Picross S MEGA DRIVE & MARK Ⅲ edition " It will be delivered at the Nintendo eShop from midnight on August 5th. ※ The trial version is available from today."

 

[jshackles]

"Sorry I made you wait! "Picross S MEGA DRIVE & MARK Ⅲ edition " It will be delivered at the Nintendo eShop from midnight on August 5th. ※ The trial version is available from today."

 

[OblongYellow]

 

[Maiden Voyage]

It's out:

PICROSS S GENESIS & Master System edition for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Official Site

Buy PICROSS S GENESIS & Master System edition and shop other great Nintendo products online at the official My Nintendo Store.

www.nintendo.com

 

[Georges Chiellins]

So yeah, picross megadrive and master system...
Enjoying a lot, only one big issue: music driving me nuts. It gets so repetitive. And it took me four days to realize I could at least put the Alex Kidd tune. Slight improvement, but God...

 

[Maiden Voyage]

Are there any great picross games on iOS or iPadOS? Paid or free.

 

[Cutty Flam]

Mario Picross ftw

Recently learned how to play, these puzzles are great. Very fun to play with others too, the other day three of us tried to tackle several of the pictures and many of them are very challenging

 

[jshackles]

All of the Picross S games are 20% off right now the Switch (Except the newest Genesis one, sadly).

These almost never go on sale, so it's a good time to stock up!

 

[Maiden Voyage]

I’ve been playing the Konami Picross iOS app while on vacation. It’s quite good so far and do I recommend.

‎PIXEL PUZZLE COLLECTION

‎[ FREE PUZZLE GAME! ] No in-game purchases or upgrades--this game is entirely free from beginning to end! Solve picture puzzles as if you were filling out a coloring book! Complete puzzles to uncover full-color characters from iconic nostalgia games! Loads of puzzles to play, and tons of col…

apps.apple.com

 

[jshackles]

Anyone played the Hatsune Miku picross game on the Switch? Looks pretty barebones, but it's on sale and was thinking about picking it up.

Hatsune Miku Logic Paint S for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Official Site

Buy Hatsune Miku Logic Paint S and shop other great Nintendo products online at the official My Nintendo Store.

www.nintendo.com

 

[Maiden Voyage]

Anyone played the Hatsune Miku picross game on the Switch? Looks pretty barebones, but it's on sale and was thinking about picking it up.

Hatsune Miku Logic Paint S for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Official Site

Buy Hatsune Miku Logic Paint S and shop other great Nintendo products online at the official My Nintendo Store.

www.nintendo.com

If you do, let me know how it is.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

Picross S7 is out now:

PICROSS S7 for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Official Site

Buy PICROSS S7 and shop other great Nintendo products online at the official My Nintendo Store.

www.nintendo.com

 

[jshackles]

I'm still playing through Picross S5 and the Mega Drive one. Also on the last "case file" for Murder by Numbers.

I'm so far behind lol

 

[Maiden Voyage]

Anyone play Voxelgram? It’s on sale for $5.

 

[jshackles]

Anyone play Voxelgram? It’s on sale for $5.

I haven't heard of that, but it looks interesting! And it's Steam Deck Verified, nice.

Game also has a demo, might be worth checking out yourself to see if it's worth your $5.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

I haven't heard of that, but it looks interesting! And it's Steam Deck Verified, nice.

Game also has a demo, might be worth checking out yourself to see if it's worth your $5.

Yeah I have the demo d/l’d on my Deck. About to fire it up.

Edit: It is good enough for me to take the plunge.

 

[jshackles]

Yeah I have the demo d/l’d on my Deck. About to fire it up.

Edit: It is good enough for me to take the plunge.

I played the demo for 45 minutes.

The Good:
The demo is long enough for you to get an idea of what the game is trying to do
The puzzles are incredibly challenging, this is a good take on the nonogram genre in a 3D space
The controls are pretty intuitive once you get the hang of it (at least with a mouse)
Ultrawide support without fiddling around
Steam workshop support looks really interesting!

The Bad:
For me, the puzzles are too challenging
Not every row / column is labeled. This felt extremely unnatural to me that there are answers which are essentially "?"
I didn't enjoy the "4 total pixels, with 2 spaces between them" answer format, I much prefer the standard picross 1 / 1 / 2 answer format which reveals how many of those pixels are grouped together.
Touch screen controls were not intuitive, this was obviously designed for a mouse with a scroll wheel


Overall not bad, and there's a lot of puzzles and value here for $5 if you can get around the controls and the goofy-ass answer format.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

The controls grew on me. Not as good as Picross 3D Round 2 but viable. I’m in for a 100% achievement play through I think.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

Murder by Numbers for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Official Site

Buy Murder by Numbers and shop other great Nintendo products online at the official My Nintendo Store.

www.nintendo.com

Murder by Numbers is a cross between Picross and a visual novel, set in Hollywood in the mid 90s. You solve Picross puzzles to find clues that all lead up to solving murder mysteries. Very stylish and a good balance between puzzles and not-puzzles.

Just started this one. Got through case #1. Quite enjoyable and plays great on the Steam Deck.

 

[MAtgS]

Just started this one. Got through case #1. Quite enjoyable and plays great on the Steam Deck.

TBH, I felt kinda disappointed in this one. I think it's because I approach Picross & VNs with different pacing: Picross I'll do a couple of puzzles at a time, while VNs I'm playing for long sessions. Thus MbN had me burnt out on the puzzles. Maybe it would've been better if there were other types of puzzles besides just nonogram ones.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

TBH, I felt kinda disappointed in this one. I think it's because I approach Picross & VNs with different pacing: Picross I'll do a couple of puzzles at a time, while VNs I'm playing for long sessions. Thus MbN had me burnt out on the puzzles. Maybe it would've been better if there were other types of puzzles besides just nonogram ones.

I’m the inverse I can spend hours doing puzzles but only maybe an hour a session on a text heavy game. Which is a bit weird as I can get lost in a good book easily.