Magical.
In Picross 3D you play the role of an omniscient paleontologist who is presented with many mysterious stone cubes. These stone cubes are like living puzzles that require careful observation and investigation with the DS's stylus. The stylus is like a sculpting tool allowing you to chip away at the stone, voxel by voxel, until you have created a unique form that pops out like a living fossil! It could be anything...A comfy bed, a rocking horse, a coffee grinder; there are literally hundreds of unique forms to discover in this game.
Picross is a very beautiful game that fills me with joy, anticipation and surprise. I get giddy and excited every time I find a new form. I care about each puzzle and what is inside in a way that is difficult for me to articulate here. Maybe it is best summed up by the mistakes you can make. When you chip away a voxel that is part of the form you are trying to uncover, it cracks! I cringe whenever that happens, like I have dropped a precious vase. Thankfully the crack does not show in the finished form, but the dent to your pride may be more permanent!
Picross 3D is so elegant and warm and completely satisfying without being addictive. Each puzzle is like a gift. There is something surprising about how HAL makes simple graphics and objects that we see every day feel new and vibrant and full of life; cold, hard technology is made to feel like magic. Each object tells a personal story, or evokes a memory or emotion that is dependent on each individual player.
Picross is elegant and satisfying because it relies simply on your logic to solve the puzzles, and really asks for nothing more. There is a simplicity about its type of logical puzzle-solving that is pure and compelling.
Very special, and essential for the DS system. The only difficulty here is the steep learning curve, but once you get past it (It may take a while), it's smooth sailing.
