I don’t usually seek out puzzle games. I play sudoku in the airplane magazine when I forget my Switch. I do crosswords with my uncle at family vacations.
Picross is a different story.
I devour picross (also called nonograms or griddlers). I have a version of picross on nearly every system I own. In college, I got so into Pixelo that I didn’t study for a final exam and barely passed. Picross games are wonderful.
But which is the best?
More specifically, which free picross game is the best? There are plenty of paid versions of picross (like Picross S for the Switch), but the nine games I tried out for this video show there’s no need to spend any money for a high-quality picross game. Here’s the list of games I tried:
- Picture Cross
- CrossMe Color
- Picross Luna
- Picross Luna 2
- Pixelo
- Picma
- nonograms.org
- liouh.com/picross
- Pivross
I go into the pros and cons of each version in the video, but let me talk specifically about what makes Picross Luna 2 the best of the bunch.
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Behind the relaxing music and the lovely color scheme is a very solid mobile puzzle game. The controls feel good even when you get to the large puzzles, and the multiple game modes are a neat addition to a picross game. The story mode allows you to reveal a detailed larger image by completing smaller puzzles within the tableau. And if you want to do one-off puzzles, you can work your way through the six gorgeous “voyages.”
There are constant ads at the bottom of the screen, but since you’re getting over 3,000 puzzles for free, it makes those ads a little less annoying.
Do you have a good cheap game you love? Or did I forget about a great free picross game? Let me know!
