Puzzles! Who doesn’t like them? Jupiter’s Picross series delivers hours of number grids to solve, rewarding in an image. Perhaps a simple idea, but it turns out to be surprisingly addictive. Picross S9 offers new puzzles for lovers of the series, complete with all the features and gimmicks fans have learned to love over the years.
Picross puzzles are set on grids with numbers at the end of each row and column that indicate how many squares in said row or column need to be filled. Solving these grids requires a good amount of logical thinking and can be either extremely relaxing or extremely frustrating. Luckily, Picross S9 features several options for support, be it for new players or anyone that wishes to have a little extra help while playing.
This includes highlighting correct or incorrect lines, auto-correcting mistakes, and hint-roulette, in which a random row and column will be filled at the start of the round. These options can be toggled on or off, depending on player preference. For absolute beginners, the (skippable) tutorials are a must, considering that they really help in getting the hang of how to play the different types of Picross puzzles.
Generally speaking, for what many would consider a simple idea for a game, there are plenty of options available to personalise gameplay. This includes changing input method or button speed, as well as choosing which soundtrack should play when. New in this iteration is the rewind feature that allows players to undo inputs when trying to solve a puzzle. This means when things stop making sense, players can now rewind step by step to figure out where they went wrong. It is a great idea and may stop players from rage quitting a particularly tricky grid.
Of course, in this iteration there are several Picross modes available: the Classic mode, Mega Picross, Color Picross, Clip Picross, and an Extra mode. The Classic mode features the classic Picross puzzles and becomes more difficult with every puzzle solved. In Mega Picross, the grids look very similar, but players are presented with larger numbers that span two rows or columns instead of just one. This requires thinking a bit more outside the box.
Color Picross is by far the most fun mode, and features the numbers at the end in different colours, indicating the colour of each square, as well as the number of squares needing to be filled. Finally, the Extra mode is for the real professionals. The grids here are extra large and take a long time to solve. The only downside is that on Switch Lite, it can be difficult to read the small numbers due to the huge size of the grid.
Picross S9 can also be played with others, supporting a total of four players. There is not a specific multiplayer game, but rather grids can be solved as a team. It is a nice idea for families or couples who wish to solve puzzles together.
