There are plenty of excellent puzzle games on the Switch, but arguably the most ubiquitous franchise out there is Nintendo’s own Picross series, which has featured fairly frequently ever since the platform’s launch year. With the launch of Picross S5, we’re now looking at the sixth (!) entry in the series so far, and you can rest assured that this one likely won’t be the last, either. Even so, this is a series that lends itself well to ‘keeping it simple’, as each entry functionally acts as a DLC pack that brings a whole lotta puzzling goodness your way every few months.
For those of you out of the loop, Picross S5 sees you solving hundreds of nonogram puzzles by utilizing basic logic skills. In practice, the gameplay seems to fall somewhere in between Minesweeper and Sudoku puzzles, requiring a fair balance of guesswork and deduction techniques in order to arrive at the solution. The aim of each puzzle is to draw a picture by filling in the correct tiles, and the correct ones are hinted at by the numbers on the sides of the rows and columns of each grid. It’s a remarkably straightforward process at its heart, but arriving at answers requires quite a bit of analysis, as you’re expected to cross-reference hints with each other to figure out which tiles you can rule out.
Though it can seem a little daunting to beginners, Picross S5 does an excellent job of laying out the rules for you via well-explained tutorials. Then, once you’ve got the basics down, there’s a litany of assist features to nudge you in the right direction if you need some help, such as a roulette wheel that automatically solves a couple random rows and columns or an auto-correct that alerts you when you make a mistake. These can be enabled or disabled individually, which guarantees that Picross S5 caters to players of all skill levels.
Jupiter Corporation has found a way of introducing a surprising amount of variety to the experience, too, granting players a few different modes that all bring something unique to the table, even if they never stray all too far from the core concept. Mega Picross takes all the puzzles from the core game mode and affixes new hints to them, with some of these spanning two rows or columns instead of one. It’s a small change, but an important one that adds quite a bit of difficulty, making this the sort of ‘hard mode’ of Picross S5.
Then, there’s the Clip Picross mode, which stitches together several different puzzles into one massive whole. This acts as a sort of overarching goal for the whole experience, as you unlock new pieces of Clip Picross puzzles by solving puzzles in other modes. Then capping it all off is Colour Picross, which introduces puzzles which have three or four colours that you’re to use to fill in cells. None of these massively change up the experience, but the ruleset are just different enough between them that they each have something unique to bring to the table. Taken together, there’s quite a bit of content to drill through here, even more so if you dare to attempt completing all puzzles without any assist features.
To be frank, there’s absolutely nothing unique to separate Picross S5 from its numerous predecessors; this is the same number counting game it’s always been. Even so, it’s clear that Jupiter Corporation has gotten its concept down to a science, and the addictive nature of these puzzles has never been more alluring. We’d give this a recommendation if you’re looking for a solid new puzzle game for your Switch, as the puzzle count and quality of the experience ensure that this is just about the best bang for your buck possible. That being said, those of you who have picked up one or two of the previous releases and have yet to finish them may want to hold off, as you’re not missing out on anything but even more puzzles to solve. Either way, it’s tough to go wrong here, and we’re sure the exact same sentiment will likely still hold true when Picross S6 inevitably lands in another few months.
Comments 28
Still working on Picross S1 . 8 puzzles to go. Took me ... looks ... 45 hours already. Wow.
Edit: Who else got into these games because of Peer Schneider from IGN?
I love these games. Whack all the assists off and I get a good 50-60 hours fun for £9
I think these Picross S games are really sterile feel. They have no personality to them. I'm still on Picross S 1 and I don't think I'll bother with any others. I remember when they images you'd uncover would animate. The 3D version (first, not second) also had a good feel about it. Shame these don't recreate that magic.
I love picross so this is fine with me. Thanks
Ah, so this is the PS5 all the kids are talking about.
@ROBLOGNICK the colour puzzles in the S series animate. I get what you mean about the overall sterility but personally I'm just in it to play picross puzzles; I'm not interested in superfluous flair or bells and whistles.
I might grab this eventually... As soon as I finish Kemono Friends Picross which I'm playing at the moment as well as Picross S1-4... So most likely never.
@VenomousAlbino agreed, such fun. If you have a playable 3ds the picross e series is on sale for 2.99 a piece. I already owned a few but just bought the rest. so many hours of fun for 15 bucks
"requiring a fair balance of guesswork . . ."
Somebody doesn't understand nonograms work.
@VenomousAlbino Oh do they? The colour ones are only from Picross S5 or do they have those in any of the others?
I dumped 100+ hours into the last picross release several months ago , and for a couple reasons I will not be partaking in this latest round.
1. Burnout. Quite simply, I'm just burned on picross. Somewhere towards the end of that last binge, I found the point where I had had enough.
2. Too many easy to medium puzzles and not enough hard. The easy, small puzzles are great for beginners learning the game, but after a while you find those tiny little puzzle boards no longer satisfy. The balance should lean towards the more difficult puzzles for those of us sticking around for the latest incarnations of picross.
People must buy these if they keep making them. I rather enjoy Picross, so I guess this'll go on the pile whenever I finish the puzzles I currently have.
@ROBLOGNICK they were definitely in S3 and S4. At this point I can't remember if they were in S or S2.
@ROBLOGNICK PicrossS3 is where the colour puzzles start and those ones animate. I don't recall any of the 3DS e series animating. I think it was just some puzzles in the original Mario Picross and the DSi entry that did prior to that.
I counter your 7/10 score with my own review:
It's more Picross!
Joys: It's more Picross!
Cons: There are none, it's more Picross!
10/10
@Ogbert Ha, that’s really all there is to say! I honestly view all these as just one continuous episodic game release.
@Friendly Ha ha - I'm one! ☺️☺️👍👍
Where’s a new slitherlink game when you need one. I still rock out the Japanese version for the DS.
I swear I just played the demo for the last one. Still, I could never complain about more Picross
I'm burned out.
I have completed every single Picross game on 3DS (including the Hello Kitty one and Picross 3D: Round 2), and I have completed the first two main series Picross games on Switch and the Kemono Friends one, but at the ever-increasing pace at which they seem to be releasing these things, I just can't keep up, and if anything, that's what's killed my interest in the series. I am now four games behind, and with Picross S3 onward offering coloured puzzles, I'm looking at about 300-500 hours worth of playing time. With so many great games now available on Switch, I don't want to commit so many hours to Picross anymore.
This once loyal customer bites the dust.
I beg your pardon, there’s no guesswork in a good nonogram, there is ALWAYS a way to unambiguously know the next move.
I can’t get enough of these. I’m even 3/4 the way through Mario’s Super Picross for Super Famicom, lol. Bring it on.
I love the 3D versions on the DS and 3DS, but these seem bland in comparison.
@Silly_G You just need some time off. You'll be back in a few months. I just finished S4 myself, so this was perfect timing for me.
I've got more than enough Picross to be getting through so won't bother with this one. Am getting kind of bored with Picross now but that's because I've played a tonne of it over the years.
@Alix Maybe I must have never learned some critical techniques then! I've been playing since the Picross e days, but I swear some of these Mega Picross puzzles just don't have a hint. I could turn on the assist features and know for sure, but I have standards.
@SwitchVogel They’re definitely all solvable through logic alone - no guessing required ... and no hints required either
@SwitchVogel I have finished the Gameboy and DS episodes without hints or guesses, and I also often do them in paper magazines, on holiday. I have not played the Switch episodes, but I see no reason why it should be different. It's what's amazing about Hanjis, easy to learn, hard to master
Tap here to load 28 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...