Picross DS: Impressions

So I realize this game is a few months old, but it's relatively new to me, so nyah.

Picross is a simple game: you have a n by n grid. Each column and row of this grid has clues in the form of sets of numbers - for example, "10 1" - which tell you the size and separation of marked-in blocks in that column/row. Continuing the example, this means that in that row there is a row of 10 contiguous marked squares; somewhere after that, a single square is marked in. It is then your job to mark all the marked squares, unveiling a picture of a rabbit or something. That's the premise.

This game as a *metric buttload* of set puzzles, each of which you are to finish in an hour or less. Some puzzles - "normal" puzzles - they'll tell you when you mark a square wrong and deduct time from your score. Others - "free mode" puzzles - they'll just let you go on blithely, leaving you to wonder where you went wrong when you *think* you finished.

The game also has some online dealies I haven't really played with - something like downloading puzzles other people make and uploading your own. Honestly I'm only maybe 1/4 of the way through the stuff that comes int he box so...I don't really feel the need to do that yet.

There's also Daily Picross, which is basically Picross Brain Academy. They rate you on how fast you do a set of simple (7x7) puzzles, sometimes with extra rules added in.

Anyway, on to the b/g!

The Bad:
-The screen likes to move as you poke it; this can cause inadvertent marks sometimes, which is annoying.
-I've had some dislike of the color contrast, but it's not so bad/may be r/g sensitivity.
-Horribly addicting.

Really, that's all. This is pretty well done.

The Good:
-Horribly addicting.
-Lots of fun, and you feel like you're learning something/exercising your mind when you play.
-Generally pleasant color schemes, barring the slight contrast issues.
-Little minigames to break up puzzling.
-Daily Picross lets you visually see how you get better when faced with differing challenges (even if sometimes you get lucky/unlucky with the difficulty of a particular set).
-Cheap as hell. $20 for probably 15-20 hours of entertainment with replay value is *gold*.

In short, damn fine game. If you like sudoku/crosswords/other paperesque games and own a DS, it's definitely worth a try.

Stay tuned for more; next post feels like...something about WoW.