Picross returns to the DS, this time in the third dimension.
If you've played Picross before, or any nonogram variant, the basic idea of Picross 3D is the same: use logic to determine where to remove spaces in order to form a picture. Instead of working with a grid, however, you're working with a cube, and instead of forming a picture, you'll be forming a three-dimensional shape. You'll have numbers along the X, Y and Z axises. For instance, if a row is numbered with a three, it means there are three solid blocks in that row, and if you can figure out where they are, you can remove the rest of the row. Solving the puzzles in Picross 3D, however, simply won't be that easy.
The first step is eliminating any column or row that is marked with a zero, but not every column or row is marked with a number. This means that you'll have several rows that either contain or don't contain blocks for you to mark, and this is where the logic comes in. You have to use the information provided to whittle the cube down to size enough that you can safely mark those blocks.
There are also a couple of other bits of info that will help you figure out where things are. If a number has a circle around it, it means that there are two groups of blocks in that row or column. So, if you have a circled six, you could have either two groups of three blocks, or a group of two and four, or one or five. If there's a number with a square around it, though, then this means there could be a number of three or more groups. You have to be incredibly careful, though, because sometimes if you have the cube angled just right, the square will look like a circle, and you'll most likely get something wrong.
Playing Picross 3D with one block thick puzzles is easy enough, but when the puzzles have more layers to them, things get more interesting. You'll have blocks' locations that you cannot deduce by simply viewing the puzzle from the outside, so you'll have to cross-section the puzzle to move forward. You can cross-section it by moving an arrow forward and back, and up and down, but you cannot move them both at the same time. This inhibits your visibility at times, and makes for viewing the cubes' insides a little more cumbersome than need be. Also, moving giant puzzles around could be a little easier, because you cannot move the puzzle in space, only rotate it. Having the ability to zoom in and out would also have helped matters, so you wouldn't keep mistaking a squared number for a circled number.
Picross 3D's main puzzle mode is split up into four difficulties, with an option to play solved puzzles at random. Each difficulty contains 10 levels, eight of these being the main puzzles, and the remaining two bonus puzzles. The puzzles are timed, like the previous Picross, but this time, you have two time limits. If you exceed the first limit, you lose a star for your overall puzzle ranking (also new to Picross 3D), and if you exceed the second time limit, the puzzle ends. If you want to play the bonus puzzles, you have to amass a given amount of stars from each puzzle.
The completion of each puzzle is ranked from one to three stars. You're given one star for solving it, another for finishing it under the first time limit, and another for not making any mistakes. You're given a total of five mistakes to make, and the puzzle ends when you commit your fifth mistake. Puzzle players who don't work well under pressure will find themselves becoming frustrated with the game, as the time and mistake limits will prevent them from earning enough stars to play all the bonus puzzles. As expected, the puzzles become much harder to solve, and the time limits become much more punishing, which results in the player using more guess work than actual logic.
There are also challenge modes to be had in between some of the levels. They are One-Chance, Time and Construction Challenges. One-Chance is self-explanatory; make one mistake and it's game over. In Time Challenge, you're given five minutes to start with, but then are given more time based on how fast you can remove empty blocks. In Construction Challenge, you solve a number of smaller puzzles to reveal one giant 3D shape. They are a great way to add a bit of variety to the game.
Presentation wise, the game offers a lot more than its previous incarnation. The old Picross just added color to its pictures when you solved the puzzles, but when you solve puzzles in Picross 3D, your 3D shape comes alive with its own animation. These animations belong to their own theme, and you unlock new themes (backgrounds, really) when you discover a new shape that doesn't currently belong to a theme you have. The graphics are plain and simple, but honestly, you can't hold it against the game, since it's not its nature to dazzle you with special effects; it's simply a puzzler.
Picross 3D also gives you much more music to listen to. Not only will you have several more songs to play, you can select from different ambient noise tracks, such as rain or jungle sounds. There really isn't anything to mention in the realm of sound effects, though. There's just the blips of marking blocks and the breaking of blocks as you destroy them. The one major thing that seems to be missing is that the animations don't have sound effects at all. It would be nice to hear your newly solved 3D shape make some kind of noise.
As with the first Picross when it released, it's only twenty bucks, and it packs so much content for that price. There are 369 puzzles in the main game, with a puzzle maker mode that allows you to submit your own puzzles to Nintendo and win a chance for it to be featured in their DLC. This DLC is updated regularly so by the time you finish a new puzzle pack, there should be another waiting for you, and it's all free. Needless to say you'll be playing Picross 3D for a long, long time, unless you're one of the aforementioned puzzlers that get frazzled by mandatory time and mistake limits.