Piczle Cross: Story of Seasons | Switch Review

Do you love nonograms? The puzzle of boxes that you fill according to the numbers on the column and row headers? If the answer is yes, boy do I have a game for you! Piczle Cross: Story of Seasons has arrived at a very reasonable $10 price point to bring you hours and hours of nonogram happiness! These aren’t just your standard puzzles, either. While most standard puzzles that I’ve played in the past start at easy (5 x 5) all the way to hard (15 x 15), this one offers 20 x 15, 20 x 20, and even a monstrous 25 x 25.

Story? Yes. Does It Matter?

The game description for Piczle Cross: Story of Seasons will have us believe that this game includes a farm management simulator. I went into the game thinking that my puzzle solving skills might unlock a new crop option or an improved tool for them to harvest things faster. This assumption proved to be 100% wrong. No, this is purely a nonogram puzzle game.

The farm is there and, in between puzzles, you can watch its progress. Every 30 puzzles or so, the season changes and you can see how the farm changes with it. There are animals and characters animated in the kid-friendly style that you might expect from a Nintendo Switch game, which was how I played it. The game is also available on Steam.

While the game-associated story is very light, the game makers put a considerable amount of effort into character development. They have created a world that includes over a hundred characters from several different towns. In the “Almanac,” the player can read a short biography for each of these characters which includes their likes and dislikes. You unlock more pages for this impressive booklet as you solve puzzles.

There is also a set of 25 achievements that you can earn by solving puzzles. There are 270 puzzles plus another 70 or 80 puzzles in the “collage” section. These collage puzzles are particularly daunting since they are pieces of a larger picture. One trick for nonograms is when the image is symmetrical which makes the puzzle easier to solve. The collage puzzles are NEVER symmetrical.

Easy to Play

The controls are tight. The game makers clearly understood the gripes that nonogram-loving gamers have had in the past. They offer several options that make the puzzle solving more fluid and fun. Box counting and measuring are great ways to help solve a puzzle, especially on those larger ones.

They also offer options to make the puzzles easier to solve. You can check for mistakes with a button press. Other settings that you can include to make puzzle solving easier are Solve-a-Line, Hints, Clue Roulette, and autocorrect. These are great for players who get frustrated easily or who may not be familiar with this puzzle style.

The music is great. A few of the tracks reminded me of the music from Mario Kart. The selection starts to feel limited when you play the game like I did. I don’t believe the average player will complete the entire game in a few days. They will certainly enjoy the selection with a reduced feeling of musical repetition.

Summary

The game is $10. It includes approximately 350 puzzles. Even an average of three minutes per puzzle means that we have 18 hours worth of puzzles. At that price point, this game is a gem. I am the target audience since I am already a fan of nonogram puzzles. The ease of play, joyful (and seasonally related) music, and depth of characters make it enjoyable from start to finish. Somebody looking for more than just a nonogram puzzle game might want to look away from Piczle Cross: Story of Seasons. However, if you enjoy nonograms as much as I do, then this game will look perfect in your game library.

To hear me talk more about Piczle Cross: Story of Seasons, be sure to listen to the February 28 episode of The Gaming Outsider podcast around the 1:06:56 time stamp.

This review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy of Piczle Cross: Story of Seasons provided by PR Hound for coverage purposes. It is also available on PC via Steam.