Review: Picross 3D Round 2 (3DS eShop)

Puzzle Books

This review was written by PN contributor, Jennifer Gould.

So most of you know that picross is basically a number puzzle where you choose which blocks will make up the final picture based on the numbers on the tops and sides of the square. Well, instead of a flat picture, these puzzles are a 3D cube! They’re sorted into dozens of books, which makes for hundreds of puzzles.

Multiple difficulty settings

A very detailed tutorial makes the nuances of the 3D challenge easy to grasp. There’s so much info in the tutorial, it took me nearly an hour to play through. There are also easy, medium and hard difficulty settings that you can change at each puzzle. For extra help there is a hint option and a bomb available. The bomb removes all cubes with zero moves from the puzzle. I found this helpful clearing out clutter at the start of the puzzle.

Enjoyable Music

The appealing graphics transform from blue, if the block is solid, and orange, if only part of the block is used, to a full color image that you can rotate and view in 3D. If you are unfamiliar with your finished product, not to fret, there is a description of each puzzle available. The background music changes from jazzy to relaxing sounds that fit the theme of each book. It’s refreshing to find a puzzle game that both challenges and refreshes you.

Full display

There are additional challenges besides the regular puzzles. Time trials give you only three minutes, although if you progress within the time limit fast enough, you can earn more time. Skill challenges are even shorter, lasting just a few seconds. In these, you will be asked to remove or mark blocks based on minimal information. These help you to sharpen your skills for the regular puzzles. Construction puzzles have you making up parts of a bigger picture. You may do up to 16 puzzles that will combine into a larger final piece. There are also some puzzles that have Nintendo characters unlocked through use of your amiibo, though sadly none of the ones I own were supported.

Picross 3D Round 2 was extremely entertaining. With the extensive, polished content, I absolutely think it’s worth $29.99. It’s a well put together game for an avid puzzle gamer like myself. Great for everybody, not just fans of the genre. And when you see the credits roll, you’ll surprisingly find more extensive content unlocked. It’ll take you a good while to beat Picross 3D Round 2. I’ve played it for over 25 hours. I’d score it a 9 out of 10.