Pic-a-Pix Color is an interesting twist on the genre and creates an entirely new way to look at the logic puzzles.
Note that these impressions are from the demo of the game. The full version of the game is also available in the eShop.
Pic-a-Pix are logic puzzles that form pixel-art pictures when solved. Pic-a-Pix are sometimes known by other names, such as Picross. Nintendo has released quite a few Picross games, including a free Pokémon Picross game as well as My Nintendo Picross: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
Pic-a-Pix Color adds a new dimension to the traditional Picross puzzle by using colored clues to indicate which color each block should be painted. The new rules add a unique twist to the game’s logic and the puzzles produce beautiful, colorful pixel art.
In the classic game you have two choices: a dark square or a light square. Through the pixels placed you would create a larger image with the pixels. At the left and top of the puzzle you would have numbers to give you clues as to where to place the pixels. For a 10×10 grid for example, if the number was ’10’ then all of the squares would be filled in. If you had a ‘7’ followed by a ‘2’ then you would fill in seven tiles, leave one blank, and fill in the remaining two. There had to always be a gap between groups of pixels if there was more than one number in the clue.
With Pic-a-Pix Color you instead have multiple colours to choose from, and the different colours can be side by side without a blank (white) pixel. In this way it’s possible to have an 8 and 2 in a 10×10 puzzle. This creates a new level to the strategy as there isn’t guaranteed to be a blank spot beside a completed clue.
The game can be controlled both via the touchscreen with the stylus or with button controls.
Pic-a-Pix Color was released with a full compliment of 150 puzzles, and Lightwood Games has also released DLC for the game with more than 100 new puzzles added to the game. The total number of puzzles available in the game is already up to 360 and there are more puzzles planned.
The 3DS version of the game, which is the version that I tested for this article, starts off with 5×5 puzzles and goes up to a 20×20 puzzle. The Wii U version of the games allows hardcore gamers to purchase massive DLC puzzles up to 30×20 and 35×25.
One thing that I appreciated in the game was the search option in the game. Basically this feature allowed you to check and ensure that there weren’t any errors in your solution to the puzzle. It’s a good way to keep a tab and make sure that you aren’t on the wrong track before you do too much damage. The game even lets you wipe away your errors with one button press.
The only thing that I didn’t like too much was that the pink target lines in the 3DS version of the game was a bit tough to see when controlling the game with the buttons.
Pic-a-Pix Color is definitely a twist on the regular Picross puzzle formula and it’s a great twist too.