At the end of November, both the Wii U and 3DS will see major releases. My games of the month for November are neither of those things. Instead, I shall be focusing on eShop releases for this month. My 3DS Game of the Month for November is actually the fifth entry in this particular series of puzzle games.
Picross e5 was recently released on the eShop, and it is the game that gets the honour of being my penultimate Game of the Month for 2014.
Since it is the fifth installment, you would be accurate in guessing that I am quite a fan of picross. It is a ‘picture crossword puzzle game’.
You are presented with a grid, which has a series of numbers running above and beside it. The numbers indicate which squares you have to fill in on a grid, and the end result is a picture.
It’s a little tough to explain, but it is really easy to pick up once you get in to it.
Picross e5 also sees the return of Micross, Mega Picross and 20×15 Picross from the previous games in addition to the standard puzzles. There are more than 150 puzzles to solve.
In addition, having save data on your 3DS from the previous games in the series unlocks extra puzzles.
In Micross, each square on the grid is its own puzzle, which all combine to make up a famous painting.
In Mega Picross, you will find numbers that act as clues for two rows or columns. This affects the way in which you fill the grid in.
20×15 Picross is exactly as it sounds. The standard puzzles are 5×5, 10×10 and 15×15. Obviously, the 20×15 grids are the biggest you will find in this game.
Since the way in which you play Picross is so simple, there isn’t really much else to say about it. The games are addictive, and well worth investing in if you have some spare funds on the eShop.
Rory Muses 