Rather flawed, but with plenty to do
Picross.io is yet another of those puzzle games people have seen before where you use number clues along the edge of a grid to complete the images, which are also known as nonograms or griddlers. These games don't need to do much to work, just have plenty of puzzles, and I can promise it does okay there.
Presentation
As a puzzle game, you don’t need much here, and the game doesn't put much effort into this. Basic graphics does the job, and there is a total lack of music and almost no other sounds, with only placing a mark (either correct or incorrect) and completing a puzzle making any sound. If you would like to listen to some music during gameplay, you better play some of your own soundtracks.
Gameplay
It is picross. Do you not know how picross works? Did someone in the back just go No? Fine then, I guess I better explain this in detail.
Each puzzle consists of a grid, in 5X5, 10X10 and 15X15 sizes in this game, where you have to use number clues along the edges to solve a puzzle. Now, some are easy, like a 5 clue on a 5X5 puzzle, you can fill the entire row. Say it is a 3 though, you don’t know where exactly that will go, right? But no matter where it fits, the middle spot will still be filled when the puzzle is solved, so that is a spot out of the way. Picross consists of figuring out where you can mark, and as you get further in a puzzle, those filled spots make it easier to guess other spots with the rest of the clues. And once all the spots are filled, you get to see a small image that you figured out from those clues.
Lifespan
So if you are willing to put some effort into this, you only need to know how long you will be playing it now. And truthfully, it isn’t too bad here. It only has preset levels, no Steam Workshop support, which is a mark against it, but it is rather cheap as well, so I can’t complain too much there. Even with just the default puzzles, I still spent just over 20 hours working on each of the puzzles. Each puzzle size has a number of tabs for level sets. The 5X5 puzzles have only a single tab for 15 puzzles, 10X10 has 5 tabs / 75 puzzles and the 15X15stuff should last ages with a total of 15 tabs for 225 puzzles. All totalled up, this game has 315 puzzles to solve, not a bad amount.
Issues
So the game seems fine, but as you progress, you will start to notice flaws. This game was made to display at a certain screen ratio, and if your ratio doesn’t match, you are going to notice problems. User interface items may overlay the puzzle clues causing issues solving things, and later on, you will find yourself unable to click tabs for harder level sets. Even with my 1920X1080 screen, the final level set was out of view, and only clicking at the very edge of the screen allowed me to pick it so I could complete the game. I found this to be a rather serious flaw. With a 4:3 or 5:4 screen ratio, you can’t access the later puzzles at all. An ultrawide monitor would be able to display all the levels, but I’m unsure this game even supports those resolutions. This is a serious flaw in my opinion and can easily impact just how much fun users might get out of the game. So before buying, you need to decide if that is a deal breaker for you.
Closing
So, if you aren’t too picky and your monitor will display at the right resolution, this game is worth a try for those already interested in picross puzzles who want more to solve. Anyone else would be better off trying out one of the many other options available for play.
4 / 10
