Picrastination

At this price point with seemingly no discounts on the horizon (price doubled in Nov '23, hasn't been on sale even during winter/summer sales) I don't think there's any reason for anyone to ever pick up this game. There's numerous other nonogram games on Steam at a fraction of the cost, and nothing Picrastination does even remotely justifies its price. You have almost no options for controls, graphics, or basically anything besides audio, resolution, and fullscreen/windowed mode. There's optional color palettes, but most of them are eyesores that make the game unplayable. The modes that attempt to offer replayability get stale very fast due to how simplistic and limited 7x7 puzzles are, so there's no reason to play more than a few besides annoying achievements. While it may be an odd gripe, I also wished there was more variance in the puzzle dimensions; everything in the Huge category and most of the puzzles in both level packs are 25x25, which ends up getting stale. Additionally, the optimization is rather poor and as stated there's very few options, so I'm not able to run this game alongside anything remotely demanding despite how minimal the puzzles themselves are.

At some of the former sale prices ($1-3) I think this is actually a pretty good deal, and even the former price ($6) isn't too bad, but to ask for $10 for a monochrome picross game with very few useful features is egregious.

Good picross game. Has lots of puzzles, and puzzle size goes up to 25x25. Par timings (needed for an achievement) are a bit annoying, but beyond the small puzzles I found the time thresholds to be on par quite reasonable.

I enjoyed this game, lots of picross designs to go through, different modes and unlockable features. Several achievements are tied to beating a 'par' time which can be off-putting for many people, but I enjoyed the challenge and spent time replaying levels to get those.

Fun and addictive puzzle game. I know people are complaining about the sound effects and general experience, but I personally don't think those are the most important features for this type of games. In all other aspects (level design, difficulty, modes, and extras), this game is satisfactory.
Purchase this game during discount if possible since it's more worth that price. Hope you enjoy!

Having played a couple of Picross games available on steam I have to leave a positive review for Picrastination as it ranks as the best. The differences probably aren't too apparent because at the end of the day "it's all picross", but QoL features where you click and drag to fill in squares and the game isn't confused by squares already X'd out. The row and column you're currently on being highlighted so you can easily see the corresponding numbers for those row/columns.

Many others use solutions where the pixelart features colours, but they are presented as B&W during the main puzzle solving, so the potential solution just seems like a giant smudge until the colours fade in post-puzzle. Picrastination's final sol...pictures are 2-bit, so you'll be able to understand what you're producing as you zero in on the climax.
I've seen other games also slap accolades (star ratings, finish time) over the top of the solution, like, damn, I know we've here primarily for the puzzles but I'd also like to look at and gaze and the finished product for a while. Picrastination understands this.
Also appreciate the humour in the puzzle names. Even when you think 'oh, it's just an "H"' it'll be revealed the puzzle title is 'Smeg Head' and it all makes sense.

This game rocks. One of the best nonogram/pixcross games on Steam!

Will add more to this review later.

Fun game, minimalist design, great sense of humor with lots of pop culture references!

An extremely fun and satisfying version of picross. Has really good graphics and sound effects, as well as a lot of bonus shit that's just honestly really fun and gives the game a lot of character

Decent picross game with loads of content. The presentation is fairly bland but it's functional and all about the puzzles.

Par times exist. What?!
Timers in a picross game that is supposed to be relaxing is just dumb.

Sure, you can turn the timer off BUT achievements are linked to beating par times. And the par times are NOT realistic. The tiny levels have par times of 3 to 5 seconds. You are gonna have to repeat the levels numerous times to beat the par as standard logic will have you always 1 to 2 seconds late. The only way to beat the par is to solve the puzzle then remember the layout and copy it again by memory. DUMB.

Very well made Picross game. Only downside for me is the set of tiny grid puzzles that (to get all achievements) you have to complete in mere seconds. That's not really a fun challenge. Other than that, prepared images are really fun to solve and some minor humorous additions only give this game more value.

I can't recommend this picross game for the following reasons:

-Font (hint number included) is hard to read. Yes I get that it's part of the design for the game but some puzzles with 2 and 5 really messes with my brain. I can read them, but I think I could read them faster with a different font.
-I found the tutorial to be lacking. What about 1 or two tips on how to solve rows/columns? It's not a bad tuto but it could be improved.
-I don't mind time to beat in picross game, but in this game I wonder if some are actually possible to do. E.g.: in the tiny puzzle, there is an empty heart shape (4 on 4 page) that need to be completed under 5 sec. Solving it with regular logic using 'x' for empty tile and all, takes at least 10 to 15 seconds. How I am supposed to solve it in 5?? I am suppose to solve it and then replay the level and paint it by memory? :/ meh
-I would have like more puzzle per page because I feel like the available space to display them is not used as its full potential, but instead I need to click 'next page' to see the next 8 puzzles. Maybe an option to display more per page or something could help.
-I coudn't find where to read instruction for a section twice. E.g.: what and how does endless mode works again? I read it once but there is no way to return to that information (there is only 1 save sloth so I can't create another profile to read it out from there either)
-Options are not changeable when in a puzzle, you need to navigate all the way back to change stuff (not a big deal but it could improve user experience to have it when on a puzzle to see the changes live)
-Some of the puzzle are still a mystery to me on what they are supposed to be. I get that most of the title are puns or funny/silly title but when I don't even know what is the final result of the painting (mostly from smaller puzzle), it remove the joy out of completing it
-Currently one of the highest price on steam market. If I compare puzzles (e.g. no color in completed display) and features (e.g. no workshop to create and share puzzles), I can only conclude that the price is high for what it currently offers.
-I'm not a big fan of the painting sound (too loud, not calm/subtle) but it's good that there is an option to mute it.
-In endless mode, I don't know how far I need to reach to get a mosaic piece, there is no indication of progression. Some basic output would be appreciated.
-Some of the background at the end of a puzzle are not very pleasing to the eye when playing full screen (pure red, lime green) + text (which is always white) can be hard to read.
-Menus animation is a bit slow for me

I did enjoy a few things
+I like the cubes rotation of the tile themselves
+Music is relaxing. Kinda wavy-calm vibe
+I like the option to change highlight of selected row/column
+Undo button
+Floppy disc to tell you which puzzle has saved data on it
+Picross snake game

Overall I find myself enjoying other picross game more.
I might come back and review it again if there is significant change to it.
Keep up the good work!

november 2023 edit: price suddenly and quietly got doubled to $10 without a reason. dick move.

an excellent nonogram/picross game with nearly 250 levels, ranging from 5x5 to 25x25, and even a few mosaics, which are still pretty unique in games like this, on steam the only other one I'm aware of is the similarly fantastic pepper's puzzles. and while regular levels (save for the last one) and level packs are all available from the get-go, unfortunately you have to unlock each mosaic piece by playing timed daily levels or untimed endless mode. both consist of random 7x7 levels and aren't fun in my opinion, but others might enjoy them. you can only unlock one piece a day, but the mosaics themselves are nice. there's also an endurance mode, which is timed and endless, as long as you don't run out of time. again, not for me.

the presentation is very in-your-face at first, huge letters, lots of colors, some of which are pretty nasty and might even be unpleasant, but there are several color palettes to unlock and choose from. some look fine, some are clearly there for... well, not sure why, more variety, I guess, because I don't believe anyone would be playing with the psychedelic one, for example. settings are plentiful, separate volume sliders, timer on/off, etc. the only thing missing is a number counting how many squares you're currently highlighting, and bigger puzzles should scale better, fill out more of the screen, but it's not that bad even on the biggest levels. there's no workshop either, but the game still provides dozens of hours of content.

there are always a few symmetrical or cascading puzzles in these games, those aren't fun, but I really enjoyed the rest, lots of references, puns and randomness in the solutions, plus unexpected unlocks I won't spoil. there are a few smaller bugs, but after fixing the saving issues recently, there's nothing that would make me not recommend the game, though after the sudden and quiet 2023 price hike, not at full price (not because it's too high but because of dev shadiness). just make sure to pick a color scheme that suits your needs.

Slick and enjoyable picross game. My only reservation is that it's a bit easy to misclick. If you have shaky hands you might find yourself accidentally converting a filled square to an X or vice-versa, and the mouse isn't constrained very tightly to a row, so dragging a whole row might go astray. Still this is colourful and imaginative with good puzzles, and unlocking colour schemes and music tracks is good fun.

This is a picross/nonogram puzzler, and out of the ones I've played on Steam, Picrastination has got to be one of my favorite ones out there. Picrastination has puzzles that mostly do not cross the fine line between challenging fun and tediously long, and the snide humor code made me laugh more than I can count. With a clean interface, interesting extras, and a handful of play modes (including a couple of randomized puzzles with infinite replayability), this game has kept me engaged for close to 40 hours so far.

A shout out to the developer Bearcat Games, who is very active on the Steam community forums and shows great dedication to fixing bugs and adding more content to their work. A recent big update added Endless mode and a level pack (A is for Anthrax), which is great content that comes with no extra cost.

If you are a fan of picross/nonogram puzzlers, you really owe it to yourself to try this gem out. Recommended.

If you're interested in Picross styled games, this one is excellent. The developer is on the ball with rolling out new features and bug fixes. And he has also started putting out new level packs for free. It's really great to see a dev care so much for their game!

Picrastination is not as complete as Pictopix, but I like its originality and its sense of humor. And there are various modes, so I recommend this game if you have gone through Pictopix!

Perhaps I would suggest to the developer that he had a button to mark temporarily the squares. It will be very useful in the big grids! (an Undo button would also be great)

This is great. I've played several Picross games on DS and 3DS mainly but I think this may be my favourite. It's just lots of fun. Most Picross games tend to be a bit dull - the puzzles are always fun, but the presentation is usually quite boring. This is a lot more lively and colourful. It's also packed with jokes. The captions when you complete a puzzle are the main thing - often being quotes from action movies, but also jokes and puns - but that also runs through the entire game with jokes in the names of colour and sound options, on the level select screen and so on.

My favourite thing is the selection of different sounds you can choose from - the bubble wrap popping one is genius. My only problem with these is I set it to choose at random, and a couple of them are annoying when they turn up - it would be good to choose which ones will appear.

I've heard a lot about picross but have never gotten around to trying it. This game came around right at the time I was thinking about it again so I got it.

So to be clear I have no other picross experience, but I've enjoyed this game immensely. Nothing stuck out as a bother or hindrance to completing the puzzles. I've finished nearly everything in this game by this point; I think I might look for other picross games because I've really enjoyed it as a puzzle type.

I tend to pick these games up because I love Picross games in general, but this is probably one of the ones that has rubbed me the wrong way from playing from the beginning for multiple reasons.

1) Sound choices are abyssmal. I play Picross games to relax. The sound effects in the game don't help in that regard at all. Sure you can change them eventually, but all of them are abrasive as hell when you perform an action.

2) Control scheme. Left click marks. Right click crosses it out. Cool. Don't make them quick override each other immediately. I've screwed up at least 3 puzzles in the hour I played because I accidentally changed a mark to a cross or vice versa while trying to par the puzzles (see below).

3) Par times. I don't know what the fascination with beating certain times is lately with Picross puzzles because you can literally stare at the puzzle after beating it the first time and memorize the locations, but if you're going to have a time to beat for puzzles. IT HAS TO BE VISIBLE. Again, I play Picross to relax. I know a lot of people that do it to... relax. This is not relaxing.

4) Endurance/daily modes look like a blatant ripoff of Pokemon's 3DS picross stuff. Sorry, if you're going to do something similar, don't make it so similar to what's in another game.

Overall, this game looks like a college project that some guy took, discounting the others that helped out with the project during the class, and tweaked to throw on Steam for some quick cash. I can't recommend it at the current price point without multiple fixes. Wait for a sale. Or hope that the creator cares enough about this game to fix it up. I'll still be playing it because I'm a completionist at heart for these types of things, but I seriously can't recommend it over something like Pepper's Puzzles if you want a Picross game at this time.