CiniCross

For now I can't recommend because you will have a mix of frustration and addiction. The game needs quite a lot of polishing in terms of QoL, UX, bugs for the Steam Deck and balancing. the game will get better but wait another semester or more. the main issue is that you cannot save during a run. So you have to fully clear a dozen of grids before being allowed to save your progression at the end of a level (similar to a chapter in Binding of Isaac). So the next issue is a follow up to that lack of saving option: you are more incline to play on your Steam Deck since you can stop the game and resume at any time. But the user experience and inputs for the Steam Deck are awful and come with some bugs which can ruin a run (overlapping item and unusable slot). Second issue, similar to the saving one: when you launch a run, you cannot change anything in the options. you need to exit and restart a run if you want to change the music volume of instance. If your display has an issue, and you need to change the resolution, you shall restart. About the UI/UX, when actually gaming on a grid you can’t pause to check your inventory: icons are displayed but if you want to refresh your memory about what an item does and so what is triggering its power, you have to wait until the end of your grid… or mouse over the item and loose those precious seconds. Perfect segway to the next issue: difficulty due to the timer. The game can ask you to fulfil huge grids and the game is designed so that when you need to fulfil such grids, you have many passive items which will be triggered and auto complete 2/3 of the grid in the end. But you also can have them earlier in your run, so with way less item: that’s a huge waste of time and very likely an end of run even before you play the grid. The game has a pacifist option which disable entirely the death by the timer. And then the game shift from too hard to very easy. and so many other issues: no restart button, loosing a run redirects you on the main page and not on the “Launch run” page, when loosing you can’t skip the animation… generally speaking it feels like the game had to released at a certain day, but lot’s of Quality related issues were not resolved… but then I saw that a developer said in February that a proper Save system will be implemented and here we are more than 4 months after without it. So the game will get better but wait another semester or more.

I've really enjoyed this. I have played disgusting amounts of Picross over the years, and it's one of my favorite flavors of puzzles. I saw a reviewer in a YouTube video refer to this as "Picross, but it hates you", and that's accurate. The constantly ticking timer makes you MOVE - if you sit there and overthink the puzzle, especially further in, you're doomed. You have to be quick, you have to be confident, and most importantly, you have to be correct. :P I like this. The relics you get can make the game much easier, but even they won't save you from some of the larger puzzles. In a lot of ways, this game reminds me of if Balatro crash-landed into Picross and created some unholy union. My complaints are picky; items you win at the end of battle should auto-loot. The amount of times I've not clicked and left something behind is stupid. And I really wish the puzzles DID make some sort of picture, but considering how fast the game goes, I understand why this isn't a thing. Overall, I really enjoy this. If you like Picross, it's worth giving it a go.

I like it. But bigger grids are hard to read for this grandma.

Speed nonograms with artifacts to create different effects like marking squares for you, etc. Very difficult for me since I do not move quickly. Encourages guessing because taking damage from errors is better than running out of time. Fun, but not for me.

ボス戦が運ゲー過ぎて返金するか悩むレベル。 30%の確率でヒントが隠れるボスがいるのですが、私の運が悪いせいか8割のヒントが隠れました。 1が3個しか見えていない状態でどうやって遊べばいいんですか？ 30%の確率で隠すのではなく、ヒントの3割を隠すとかにしてほしかった・・・ <<追記>> 何度もプレイをしているとパズルゲーというよりも覚えゲーだと感じた。 5×5のパズルについては一目見ただけで確定になる列がわかるようになり、およそ10秒あれば安定してクリアできるようになった。 はっきり言ってこのゲームは考えていると時間が足りず、高難易度のステージはクリアしてももらえる時間はそれほど増えないので、低難易度で時間を稼ぎ高難易度でアーティファクト稼ぐように感じた。 またこのゲームの一番の特徴としては同じアーティファクトを重ねられることだと思う。 ５％で発動する効果が10%、15％と上がっていくのはあまりない経験で、発動率が高くなっていくのを実感できた時は少し気持ちが良かった。

It's just bad now. The difficulty ramped up enough without having to pay for artifacts.

I suck at nonograms, i usually take 6 minutes to do a 10x10, but this game made me love them! it also doesn't hold back as you are pressured by time to do them. The game has a tutorial that does a decent job at explaining the basics of nonograms, but if you wanna do 10x10 or 15x15 nonograms, which the game will throw at you eventually by difficulty 2+, you will eventually have to look for outside materials for tips on how to do them fast. i just wish there was a practice mode with no time pressure and disabled achievements, but regardless you can always practice on https://www.puzzle-nonograms.com/ to get better timings. As a roguelike this game is pretty good as well, slay the spire structure dungeons, items either make you get more: Time,Hp, or solve blocks easier. But dont be deceived, this game requires more of your skill than luck when doing these. If you suck at nonograms, i recommend unlocking the soldier class as he is the most forgiving class (most hp more mistakes and his legendary sword solves 1/4 of the nonograms by itself)