I thought I would give this game a review since I have infringed its copyright with my avatar for this long and no one else has written anything about it.

Picross (in its 2D form) is such an amazing example of the kind of puzzles I like, very similar in mindset to a Sudoku. In these kinds of puzzles, you as a solver basically build up a repertoire of techniques and recognizable patterns, and systematically hunt for places to apply them. In a chain reaction, the cleared area of the puzzle slowly spreads as you narrow down the wide list of possible solutions to the only one that can actually be correct. Each puzzle follows the same rules, but the logic is so fun to suss out that I can play it nearly endlessly.

(Yes, this ugly-looking game on this ugly-looking console is good.)

Moving this formula to the third dimension is such a stroke of genius in large part because it expands the possibilities of how puzzles can play out so much, and adds a whole new layer of perception, but without really altering the rules fundamentally in a way that makes it waaay more complex. This kind of gameplay is possible with a controller, as shown with the Switch title "Voxelgram," but not ideal. The DS was the perfect platform to give players an object to rotate around, to slice into cross-sections, and see the logic of Picross in a brand new way that is not only interesting, but extremely intuitive to play with the DS stylus.

The game was polished up with new mechanics added in a 3DS sequel, but I prefer the purer original--don't shy away from trying it though if it's all you can get ahold of. The curve of difficulty works perfectly to slowly build up the player's bag of tricks until they can solve more complex shapes. You can still progress in the game even if you can't perfectly solve each puzzle. Mastering the game in this way is a very satisfying experience over dozens of hours. For me, it's just exactly what this kind of game should be.