This is a great puzzle game for Nintendo Game Boy. The object of the game is to fill in blocks on a grid, by using numbers on the top and to the side of the grid. These numbers tell you how many blocks are filled in a row without an empty space between them. For example, 2 2 could mean OO_OO in a row, or OO______OO, (where O represents a filled in block and _ represents an empty block) etc. Your job is to figure out the way to fill the blocks in so you match the numbers and draw a picture. Puzzles start very simple, but get tough quickly. You'll end up drawing everything from flowers to padlocks to fire trucks.
Some reasons I feel in love with Picross are that it's great for a few minutes at a time, or for longer sessions too. It's also a wonderful exercise for the brain. Not only do you have to think about what you know from the numbers, but to get through later puzzles without hints (you're given the option for a hint--a free line filled in correctly) you need to figure you what you DON'T know. You need to explore options for how a line can be filled in, so you can determine where filled blocks must be, and where you simply don't know if it's filled or not (yet).
Gameplay: The game is simple, and the puzzles are tough. Exactly how puzzle games ought to be. If you fill in a box incorrectly, you lose time from the thirty-minute time limit on each puzzle, going as powers of two. Zero previous mistakes, -1 minute (2^0), one previous mistake, -2 minutes (2^1), 4 previous mistakes, -16 minutes (2^4). You don't get to make five mistakes (1+2+4+8+16=31 minutes, more than you have total). My only complaints about gameplay are the fact that if you make a mistake, you know immediately, as the game automatically erases what you just filled in. This bothers me for two reasons; first, you get this feedback, which makes the puzzles easier. Second, it erases the block, but doesn't fill it in with an X symbolizing it's blank automatically, which you now know with certainty that it is! Minor annoyances, but annoying nonetheless.
Graphics: This is an original Game Boy game. The graphics are dated and are monochrome. However, this game doesn’t need spectacular graphics, just like a game based on the Sudoku craze wouldn't. It's a grid folks; you're filling it in. No pretty graphics here, and you're essentially making up to 15x15 "pixel" monochrome pictures. But there's a nice blinking picture of Mario in the upper left corner...
Learning curve: The game starts off simple, with you drawing out letters from 5 x 5 grids. Soon enough you're drawing simple pictures, and by the time you unlock the Star-level puzzles, you might need to try a puzzle over once or twice. I would say the learning curve is perfect. My non-gamer sister even got hooked and constantly bugged me about borrowing this game (from all the way across the state of Wisconsin) until I happened across another copy for her. Nintendo doesn't hook my sister unless the learning curve is very very good.
Replay value: Tons of puzzles. Tons. I haven’t finished this game 100% yet, playing it off and on for a number of years. I tend to go in streaks with this one, playing constantly, until I get busy and put it down, only to rediscover it a few weeks or months later. There are enough puzzles that you won't remember the previous ones if you come back and try to beat your previous completion time.
Sound: The one thing that doesn't shine about Picross is the sound. There are several choices of background music...but they're not wonderful. Think original Game Boy Tetris music. Yeesh. Often I turn the music off...just like Tetris.
