Topic: Pokemon Picross

Having so much fun but I made the mistake of unlocking Alt-World instead of continuing progressing... Alt-World is just harder versions of unlocked Puzzles, the puzzles have no rewards.

@DefHalan: I unlocked Alt-World back when I bought discounted picrites and I thought it was a good choice. I have twice as much to do before having to wait for next area unlock. It's a shame picrites can't be obtained through Alt-World but I like the added challenge (quite small increase) and most of the missions can be done without using powers. There are some achievements that give you picrites by completing enough alt-missions though.

So far I am at world 14. I don't want to spend real money, so I do the training every day.
I have a question though: You need a pencil for some special levels, but I do wonder if you need to buy a pencil for EVERY special level (that would be very expensive). Same question for the alternate world. Do you have to pay for EVERY alternate world?

I don't have the Mega Pencil but I suppose it's one purchase and you can access all Mega stages. Not sure though. I have Alt-World open and the areas unlock automatically when you unlock a new area in the normal world. No need to pay twice.

Thanks for the answer!

@Henmii: yes both the Mega Pencil and Alt-World is only a 1 time purchase. Just to let you know, you don't get any money in alt-world.

Thanks for the answer! A pity that you don't get picrites in alt world, but at least it gives me extra puzzles. And if you earn some medals by completing those stages you can still get some picrites. I'll try it soon, when I have enough picrites!

@Henmii: I just made the mistake of buying Alt-World before progressing to the end, thinking I would get more picrites, and ending up spending $5 just to make up for the amount I paid. Then by the end I had the amount I would have used to buy alt-world anyway. lol

Yeah, that can happen! Luckily I don't use real money. I just do the missions, get the medals and play daily training. It may take ages this way, but we'll see.

Question: Do you earn "My Nintendo" Gold Coins whenever you buy $5 or more in Picrites or are they considered "DLC" and therefore ineligible?

They are considered DLC

Anyone else still play this game?

So I've manage to do every standard puzzle entirely for free, getting all 5 pokemon slots and the mega pencil. At this point, the only things I have left to do is unlock alt-world (300 picrites) and upgrading my energy from 400 to unlimited (400 picrites). I'm at 150 picrites.

I managed to 100% it without paying anything a couple of months ago, so I'm not playing anymore, but it was a lot of fun. Some of the alt-world puzzles get tricky.

I finished the game quite a long time ago. I was going to 100% the game but few of the Alt-World time missions are really hard when you're not using powers. Mainly the 15x15 puzzles where you have to complete the puzzle in 5 (or was it 6?) minutes. I ended up switching to another game before I'd done all the missions. I think there were 10 or so left. I love Picross but it just ended up being tedious. I know they made the time limits strict because they assume people will use powers but I thought of them as a way to cheat.

@Late Did you finish it without paying, though?

@Nicolai I paid 5€ when the game launched. I was able to blast through first ten areas and unlock Alt-World with that. It wasn't because I was in a hurry but to give them some money for making great free-to-play Pokémon games (Pokémon Shuffle, Rumble World and Picross). That 5€ is all I've spent for all the time I've enjoyed playing their free games. I've played Picross for 130 hours and Shuffle for 350 hours. I'd appreciate if there were a way to give them money in other ways. Paying for virtual currency rubs me the wrong way but I still want to support the games I like.

@Late Okay, so you had a bit of a head start on me.

I, too, think they deserve a bit a green for the game, but I'll take it for free as long as they're offering. Paying for picrites would have defeated the purpose of the game for me anyway, because the main draw of the game to me was the daily challenges. I liked having a game I could turn to for just two minutes every day.

@Nicolai I still did the daily challenge every day since the paid picrites didn't last long. My goal was always to get under 1 minute but the best I got was 1:01. It was always hovering in the 1:05-1:20 but I never got under a minute. My sister finished the game a couple of months ago as well (cleared every stage, both normal and alt) and she didn't spend any money.

I'm getting close to completing this game without paying any money. I'm determined to complete it without spending anything, though I might buy a few picrites after I'm done with this. I've completed the regular world and got the mega pencil, and I'm half way through the Alt-World. I just have to do the rest of Alt-World, unlock the 5th Pokemon slot, and get the Unlimited Power upgrade. The Alt-World is really fun, and I really like those mechanics, even if it is tricky.

I like to solve the levels logically without the help of Pokemon powers, though I'm happy to slow down or freeze time. For the missions that have an insanely short time limit and where time skills can't be used, I'll usually do it once without using skills, then take a picture of the completed puzzle so that I can then resolve it quickly within the time.