Review 2

I shamelessly have to admit that I am officially addicted to this new game. Released on October 13, 2009, Picma is a puzzle full of numbers and ‘painting’ pictures that keeps your mind thinking. The original name of this type of game is called, Nonograms; also referred to as paint by numbers type of mathematical game. The point of the game is to color in the correct cells in the grid to unveil a picture according to the numerical cues at the top of each row and column.
What I liked best about this game was the range of levels that one could play. At the easiest level there were square boxes ranging from 5 X 5 to 50 X 50 at the hardest level. The easiest level was simpler because you could figure out where to start much more straightforward. You didn’t have to think far ahead because there were only a few options to choose from. If the numbers were 2/2 at the top of the grid, you knew you would have to start with filling in 2 squares, leave one space, then color in another 2 squares; therefore, not making the puzzle too ‘puzzling’ and quick to solve. You know there is only one option because in the beginning level you are using one color and when there is only color if there is a more than one number listed for the column there must be a space between them. However, on the higher level if you have a column of 15 squares with 3/4/2/1 all listed in different colors there are numerous results you could come up. To begin with, when you have different colors listed they can touch together, so it may not be as easy to interpret where the spaces are to go. Therefore, you need to determine where you color in your squares based on the rows going down the side.
Another aspect of the game that changed as the game became more difficult was the detail of the pictures. In the first level you colored the squares to create pictures like a castle, a cactus, a water drop, and etc. things that we have all seen easily drawn in a program like Paint. As the levels continue, the details in the pictures also become more vivid. You begin to reveal pictures with 2 and 3 colors like a martini glass, a dragon, to an hourglass, and etc. The creativity of the pictures gets more complimented; therefore, become even more difficult to solve.
Trying to place the colors in the correct square was not the only thing you were trying to accomplish with these puzzles. You also wanted to solve the puzzle in as little amount of time as possible. The time started as soon as you clicked on the game and ended when the puzzle was completed. Before you began the puzzle it showed you the amount of time that it should be completed in. The time was a realistic time to beat however, there was one tricky part. Every time you clicked on a square to color in and it was not supposed to be it added a minute to your time. So if you clicked on the wrong square 5 times, then you automatically added 5 minutes to your score. So on the more difficult levels, which required thinking ahead and using math, it was very easy to see your time go from 3 minutes to 10 minutes quite quickly.
One of the helpful aspects of this game was that you could use an X to mark a spot you knew for sure you were not going to fill in. This was very helpful again on the more difficult levels because you could use process of elimination to mark out the squares you wouldn’t use.
The best part of this game was after you solved all the puzzles they provided, 60 in total, you could design your own puzzle. It was fun to create and solve your own. The ironic part of this was that even though I was the one that designed the puzzle, it was extremely difficult to solve. I had made my puzzle on a 30 X 30 grid and put so much detail into it that it took me so much longer that the other puzzles to solve.
Overall I'd say:Try it! This game was fun to play but I don't think I'd spend money to play it on anything but free on my computer. It kept me busy and I got more addicted as I played, but at the same time I wouldn't give up rent money to buy the full version of the game. However, if you really enjoyed puzzle and thinking games, Picma may be right up your alley.