Picrites can be used to both refill your energy bar and expand it. Most 10×10 puzzles use around 45-70 squares, while some harder 20×15 puzzles can require close to 200, or more if you make mistakes along the way. Let’s talk about the ‘energy’ bar in Pokemon Picross, which is basically a meter that depletes whenever a square is filled in a puzzle. While I don’t fault this free-to-play game for including some form of premium currency… let’s just say, there are some pitfalls along the way regarding Picrites that are sure to ensnare plenty of new players. Using certain skills (or just bringing along a certain Pokemon) in the various puzzles rewards you with the game’s in-game currency, Picrites. Personally, with enough practice anyone can complete any size of Picross puzzle without having to resort to these hints, but I suppose they make the game easier for kids as well as people who aren’t looking for a challenge so much as a time-waster. For example, Treecko’s ability, Auto Fix, allows any mis-filled squares to be automatically corrected (thrice). Each Pokemon is assigned a special power - essentially, hints to make the puzzle easier - based on its type, which can be activated during the puzzle-solving process. So what does Pokemon Picross bring to the table for the relatively straightforward Picross? For one, each puzzle you complete reveals the cutely pixellated face of a Pokemon, and successfully finishing the puzzle means you capture it. It’s addicting and, as the grid increases in size, becomes extremely challenging. I ended up downloading versions of it on my smartphone, though nothing ever felt quite as satisfying as filling in every block with a stylus on my DS.įor newcomers to the game, Picross involves revealing a picture by manually filling in blocks on a blank grid, according to numbers on the sides of the grid. However it came about, nothing helps me while away the time like a game of Picross, which I fell in love with ever since I tried it on the Nintendo DS. I’ve always been a fan of logic puzzles, though I wonder if it was of my own accord or something that came along naturally with my mother forcing pages and pages of Sudoku on my ten-year-old self.