Game: Piczle Colors
Genre: Puzzle
System: Nintendo Switch
Developer| Publisher: Score Studios/ Rainy Frog
Age Rating: EU 3+| USA E
Price: £10.00|€ 12,00|$12.00
Release Date: January 31st 2019 ( recently updated)
Review Code kindly provided by Rainy Frog
There’s no shortage of Nonogram type games for Nintendo Switch. Picross SE from Jupiter and Pic-a-Pix from Lightwood are particular favourites of mine. Another such title is Piczle Colors from Score Studios which seeks to add a nice twist to the genre.
How to Play
The image below consists of what looks like a typical nonogram grid. Situated above and beside the grid are numerical clues which tell the player how many blocks within each row and column must be painted a particular colour.
Row 1 across consists of 9 turquoise and 6 grey, while row 1 down contains 2 turquoise, 6 teal blue, and 2 grey blocks. By cross-referencing through both sets of clues, players can identify which colour belongs where and gradually uncover a hidden picture. Sounds familiar huh?
Well yes and no. You see, Score Studios have added there own unique spin to the typical formula. If a circle surrounds the clue number, then the blocks must be together, but if not, they could be placed anywhere within each row or column. It’s also important to note that the order circular clues are listed doesn’t suggest the sequence of colours within the grid.
But Does it Work?
Oh Yes! The development team have done a great job mixing up the nonogram formula. Piczle Colors gives players a nice change if they want more of the same with a nice twist. My only complaint is that now and then, I felt that guessing took the place of logic, but I wonder if that says more about me than the game itself. The team at Score Studios assured me that each puzzle could be solved by logic, so maybe I need to improve my overall game.
Content and Usability Options 😊
The game contains lots of content for picture puzzle fans. There are 300 puzzles to enjoy across 6 different categories. Grid sizes range from 5×5 to 15×10 in size and puzzle difficulty gradually increases as you progress. Upon completing a set number of puzzles, new categories and additional features can be unlocked such a 3D viewer and gameplay statistics.
Before its recent update, the game suffered from several issues such as colour clashing. Version 1.1 introduced many improvements via the games usability menu, including the ability to change background colours, highlight rows and columns, and retain greyed out cleared hints. The options menu also proves useful if players should wish to toggle the game’s sound, in-game clock or hints feature.
Piczle Colors also supports touchscreen, joy-con and pro-controller support. While playing in hand-held mode, players can take advantage of both options if preferred. For example, I like to navigate around the grid using my left joy-con, and selecting colours using the touchscreen.
A Husband’s Opinion
Overall I like Piczle Colours a lot, but the game feels unpolished in both visual and control departments. Visually, the game lacks the finesse of Jupiters’ Picross titles, and there appears to be a control glitch that tends to annoyingly shift the in-game pointer to a random surrounding cell. The visual issue is simply a personal opinion, but I hope its control issues, in particular, can be remedied in a future update.
@ScoreStudios I've installed the latest Piczle Lines patch but the cursor seems to be randomly skipping to the next square upon pressing A.
— Jonah (@weloveninty) March 27, 2019
A Wife’s Opinion
I think it’s only fair to allow my wife to share her opinion. She was left disappointed by the game’s “bright, gaudy colours” and finds “Pic-a-Pix more visually appealing.” She also feels that the game involves a certain amount of guesswork, but as highlighted above, I do wonder if that’s more of an issue with us rather than the game.
Final Grade
On balance, I think a like grade is a fair outcome, taking into consideration the opinions expressed above. I would love to see Score Studios produce another title but pay more attention to presentation and in-game controls. The fact that the game was released in January and control issues still exist is somewhat disappointing. But Piczle Colours boasts lots of content and provides hours of puzzle fun for those that are willing to overlook its shortcomings. So, not an I like it a Lot, but still an I like It!
