Platform: Nintendo DS
Just what's going on here anyway?
This is the video game version of hanjie, Japanese puzzles where you are given a big blank grid with numbers in each row and column and you have to make a picture based on those numbers. It's hard to explain, so here's a link that does it much better than I could: How to Play Hanjie.
Is it FUN?!?!?!
If you're the sort of person who enjoys logic puzzles, then yes, you will probably love Picross.
Is it interesting?
See above. Picross is pretty basic in terms of design and all that, and that's just fine with me and quite suitable for what it is - most people probably don't choose puzzle games for their flashiness. Picross 3D goes in for cutesy animations and silly music... but hey, that's what the volume slider is for. The 3D is an interesting twist on the original. There's a certain point at which both games stop getting more difficult and just keep getting bigger, and it can get a bit boring at that point... but not enough to kill my addiction. If you finish Picross 3D and still haven't had enough, you can go to Random Mode which will choose a puzzle you've already done for you to do again. You can also create your own puzzles in the 3D mode.
Will it make me want to throw my DS across the room... again?
It may very well do so once you get into the harder puzzles! Especially once you get near the end of a Free Mode puzzle and realize you screwed up a while back and can't retrace your steps and have to start all over again. Alternately, you might well get sick of working through easy puzzles to finish enough to be allowed to play the next level. There are hints available and you are allowed to make a few mistakes, so most of the puzzles really aren't too bad.
Will this game consume my life?
If you get addicted to it, as I did, then yes, it most definitely will. Some of the harder puzzles can take up to an hour to solve. You'll find yourself picking up your DS to squeeze Picross in every spare minute you have... in elevators, on toilets, in between classes. As you drift off to sleep at night, you won't be counting sheep... you'll be seeing arrangements of blocks in grids.
Is it worth it?
It is if you're a puzzle fan. Note that there are tons of Picross-style puzzles (also referred to as nonograms, or so says wiki) on the Net if you want to play for free. Check out http://www.hanjie.co.uk or http://armorgames.com/play/338/armor-picross-2 if you want to try.
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