• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Piczle Lines DX |OT| Puzzle-ing by numbers

jonno394

Member
abRlo58.png

z19RmbR.png

WyNjmVl.png

OiG2GVO.png




F2t1VEF.png

f0vgfqE.jpg


Pricing info said:
Piczle Lines DX is a port of a F2P mobile game of the same name. The mobile version comes with a very small amount of puzzles, and you pay for additional packs. If you were to buy all of the puzzle packs then the mobile version would cost more that the Nintendo Switch Version. In addition to this, as mentioned above the Nintendo Switch version will recieve periodical FREE UPDATES containing new puzzle packs. These will also come to mobile but will be paid for additions much like the other puzzle packs.

Reviews said:
NindieNews (Me!) 7/10
Nintendo World Report 8/10
BitShiftTV No score (but recommended)
 
I don't think I've seen this kind of puzzle before.
Looks cool, will buy.

Off topic. I love the idea of Slitherlink but I am so terrible at it. I can't really beat any of those puzzle types.
 
I'd never heard of this but now I need it. I love me some Kakuro-esque puzzling.

I don't think I've seen this kind of puzzle before.
Looks cool, will buy.

Off topic. I love the idea of Slitherlink but I am so terrible at it. I can't really beat any of those puzzle types.

Glad my effort promoting smaller indie titles on Gaming Side is already bearing fruit, someone has to do it because Nintendo don't :p
 
Played a little on my phone this morning. Bought it on the Switch just now because of the promise of a cheaper price for all the content.
 
Is this fucking Picross!?

At its core it feels like a picross/sudoku style game. You have to look round for the obvious 2s and 3s, and sometimes the 4s can only be done one way.

Other numbers/lines you can't do until you've got many of the ones around then because there are too many ways to do them.

The story mode puzzles start off easy and are a nice introduction, but dive straight in to a 64*64 puzzle and I've no idea how you'll do lol!

Ooh, reminds me of Picross. Looks fun, nice polish. Assuming it's digital only?

Yup digital only.
 
At its core it feels like a picross/sudoku style game. You have to look round for the obvious 2s and 3s, and sometimes the 4s can only be done one way.

Other numbers/lines you can't do until you've got many of the ones around then because there are too many ways to do them.

The story mode puzzles start off easy and are a nice introduction, but dive straight in to a 64*64 puzzle and I've no idea how you'll do lol!
Damn, that sounds awesome!

Can I play this touch only?
 
Hands-down, this is my favorite game to play on mobile. Very excited it's coming out for Switch, and I will definitely be double dipping.
 
Thanks, guys! We worked really hard on it and are proud and elated we managed to finish it and put it on Switch!
Great OT, too, thanks!!

As mentioned above, it's Picross-ESQUE, in that it uses number (and colour) hints on a grid to create an image. It's easier to fix mistakes though, and there is no time pressure or penalty, so it's kind of relaxing and brain taxing at the same time.

Touch screen is supported, but also tablet and TV mode with joy-con and pro-con inputs!

We're working on the free updates with more content, and sketching out Switch exclusive content too!
 
Huh, as a fan of Picross and other puzzle games such as Hexcells, this looks neat. Installing it to my phone and gonna try the free version first, but if I like it I'll probably pick it up on Switch!
 
Yup. This is definitely the kind of game I needed on my Switch for my commute.

Also, I gotta say, I didn't expect the love the art as much as I do. It's very vibrant and looks awesome on the Switch's screen. The item you de-pixalate getting a short cutscene after you solve the puzzle is also a super cool touch.
 
Since I'm broke, but swimming in Google Play credit I bought this on my phone. Really enjoying it, and of the Switch gets exclusive content I'll most definitely double dip!
 
f the Switch gets exclusive content I'll most definitely double dip!

Shh, between you and I.... what I really hope is that the game sells gangbusters on Switch so I can convince Nintendo to let me do puzzles based off NES sprites of their games. I did a few as a test and they. Would. Be. Awesome!
Obviously tho I'm a nobody and they would rather not. With significant sales they might rethink. :)
 
Shh, between you and I.... what I really hope is that the game sells gangbusters on Switch so I can convince Nintendo to let me do puzzles based off NES sprites of their games. I did a few as a test and they. Would. Be. Awesome!
Obviously tho I'm a nobody and they would rather not. With significant sales they might rethink. :)

Would it be possible to add an in-game puzzle creator? Of course I understand that could cut into IAP sales for the mobile version, but it could be a Switch exclusive feature. Then people could create and share such puzzles without needing to go through Nintendo.
 
Would it be possible to add an in-game puzzle creator? Of course I understand that could cut into IAP sales for the mobile version, but it could be a Switch exclusive feature. Then people could create and share such puzzles without needing to go through Nintendo.

Imagine all the penises that would have to be edited out! 8(

It's something I've thought about a LOT. It's something that would work a lot better on mobile, actually. Use the camera, reduce the colours/stylize, save image, turn into puzzle. On Switch it would turn into a drawing application type thing, which is honestly a bit more than is feasible right now.
 
I actually saw this two days ago when I was browsing the eShop, and was very intrigued! Seeing this OT cements my desire to buy it, but we'll see.
 
This is just up my wife's alley as she LOVES Picross.

Does it come out in physical? This would be my first digital game purchase if not
 
Played through three different versions of this on my iPad under the name of Pathpix. Had puzzles with grid sizes over 100x100. It was fun and these can be as challenging as a good picross. Any word on max puzzle size?
 
Played through three different versions of this on my iPad under the name of Pathpix. Had puzzles with grid sizes over 100x100. It was fun and these can be as challenging as a good picross. Any word on max puzzle size?

I'm doing a 128x128 right now (with a dinosaur). That's the largest I found.

BTW, doing such huge puzzles aren't practical with a control IMO.
 
I've played about 12 puzzles on my phone and enjoy it, they seem a bit easy but hearing that he puzzles can get much, much larger does make things interesting if that increased size corresponds with increased difficulty as well. What I've found so far is that this game seems to be much more intuition-based than Picross, where there's rigid rule-based strategies to follow. I have picked up on some rules here so far, so perhaps with harder puzzles intuition won't carry as much. I'll probably finish chapter 1 of the story on phone and see about buying it on Switch sometime next month.
 
Played through three different versions of this on my iPad under the name of Pathpix. Had puzzles with grid sizes over 100x100. It was fun and these can be as challenging as a good picross. Any word on max puzzle size?

128x128 are the largest puzzles. There will be more of those coming with the future free updates. They take a WHILE to get done, trust me. :)
 
I've played about 12 puzzles on my phone and enjoy it, they seem a bit easy but hearing that he puzzles can get much, much larger does make things interesting if that increased size corresponds with increased difficulty as well. What I've found so far is that this game seems to be much more intuition-based than Picross, where there's rigid rule-based strategies to follow. I have picked up on some rules here so far, so perhaps with harder puzzles intuition won't carry as much. I'll probably finish chapter 1 of the story on phone and see about buying it on Switch sometime next month.

They do start off nice and easy, yes, but they do ramp up! Some of the later, larger puzzles can really stump you, as you're trying to figure out how to redraw lines to fit that last unfinished bit.

I found that you start seeing patterns after a while. And you form your own tactics on how to approach the puzzles. Not just "clear the smaller hints first" but working from the outside in, hugging the walls, trying to stay optimised as you work your way through.
I find it is similar with games like Picross. Basically the approach never changes, and you just find the hints you CAN complete which eventually leads to those you cannot yet. In Piczle Lines you end up stumped with that one 20-long line until you've filled in enough to sudden understand how it has to fit. This becomes a LOT harder when you have a cluster of long lines together, like several 15-15 lines in one area.

Sorry, I babble on. :) But I am personally very addicted to logic puzzles of all kinds and am, for obvious reason, rather invested in this particular kind of puzzle. :)
 
Completed the first 128x128 puzzle now. It was very large and took quite a while, but it wasn't that hard, since color changes and 1-4 blocks splits the puzzle into sub-puzzles.

The situation that was the most tricky for me was clusters with many 6 or 7 of the same color.

Do the later 128x128 puzzles get more difficult?
 
Messed around with this a bit and cleared the first two chapters in story mode. It's fun outside of the terrible music.
Shame the trophies are glitched. Decided to erase my progress and revisit the game once it gets a patch so I can properly unlock those.
 
Messed around with this a bit and cleared the first two chapters in story mode. It's fun outside of the terrible music.
Shame the trophies are glitched. Decided to erase my progress and revisit the game once it gets a patch so I can properly unlock those.

What trophies glitched for you? I know there are issues with the tutorial and credits ones.
 
What trophies glitched for you? I know there are issues with the tutorial and credits ones.
Those two along with the Starter Pack trophy and the Genius trophy for clearing a puzzle without deleting any lines failed to unlock for me.
Only had the consolation ribbon, chapter clear trophies and puzzle completion trophies unlock without issue.
 
Those two along with the Starter Pack trophy and the Genius trophy for clearing a puzzle without deleting any lines failed to unlock for me.
Only had the consolation ribbon, chapter clear trophies and puzzle completion trophies unlock without issue.

Genius trophy unlocked fine for me :/
 
Messed around with this a bit and cleared the first two chapters in story mode. It's fun outside of the terrible music.

Yes, I think this is the first game where I've turned off the music The approach to music in this game doesn't work for a console game. It might work as a phone game to have a 30 second loop, but for a console game the music needs to be more ambient and in longer loops.

Another thing that could enhance this game as a "console game" would be to have 2-player modes, for example small 2-player split screen battles.
 
We're working on a patch for the trophies. *Shouldn't* require starting from scratch though!

Noted on the music. It's the single most mentioned bugbear by all reviewers. Will see what can be done about it.

Another thing that could enhance this game as a "console game" would be to have 2-player modes, for example small 2-player split screen battles.

Occasionally we get ideas from people on extra features, and sometimes they mention battle or 2P modes, but honestly I can't imagine it for a game like this. Sure, it could work for some people but it'd be a bit like competitive, simultaneous crosswording. The game itself is more a relaxing brain teaser and I felt was important to keep the penalty for mistakes or taking your time non-existent.
I might experiment a little with new playmodes on the mobile version, we'll see. I do have a couple of ideas that might work, but it'a a bit of a gamble.
 
Picked this up yesterday. Didn't see any reviews of it, but impressions were pretty positive and I've been wanting a new picross/sudoku style number puzzle game for a while now.

It's pretty fun. Seems like plenty of content for the price tag too.
 
Bought and played a bit of it today, as I've always enjoyed picross and the like.
I like the art, characters (score is cute) and gameplay but I have to agree that the music is somewhat grating. The title music isn't all that offensive, but the one that plays when you start story mode and continues to play throughout it (which may be a contributing factor?) eventually becomes maddening. I wish I could give better feedback than that but it's just got a few tones that you can't tune out.

One small suggestion though: would an option to auto-connect 2s be viable? While I enjoy puzzling the other values out, the 2 connectors don't seem to require any thought and just feel like busywork to me.

Other than that though, fun stuff :3
 
Will pick this up eventually. Tried out the phone version, having the bigger screen will help out a ton. This should scratch the puzzle itch while waiting for another Picross e game. Look forward to seeing what the future free content will contain.
 
Does this include larger/hard puzzles? I like the mobile one, but compared to the iPad Conceptis puzzles, most of these are pretty brainless. I want some hard stuff! ;)
 
Does this include larger/hard puzzles? I like the mobile one, but compared to the iPad Conceptis puzzles, most of these are pretty brainless. I want some hard stuff! ;)
One of the puzzles I did (#20 from the starter pack) was a HUGE 128x128 picture & took over a few hours for me to complete because I had to keep going back to figure out what the correct connections were.

I think what you'll want are the 64x64 & 128x128 ones, because a small mistake you made in one corner can cause a giant ripple effect later on causing you to retrace your steps in figuring out which line you need to readjust.
 
I guess the other obvious question I have is where the heck the "Starter Pack" is in the Switch version of the game. Can it even be accessed? I know the trophy is there but I'm thinking it may not have been patched into the game yet.
 
Today, I completed puzzle 20 (the last) of the 128x128 ones (it wasn't a picture of a dinosaur BTW). It was harder than puzzle 1 in the 128x128 section, but it still wasn't that hard.

I think one reason why it wasn't that hard was because there were many section with even numbers, and those sections simplified things. (Even numbers give hints on how to connect, while odd numbers don't.)
 
I tried this out on my phone and uh... I kind of have to buy this on Switch now. Picross has me totally stumped without hints on the larger puzzles but I tried a 64 x 64 one in this game and found it extremely manageable. I also really like the idea of free DLC that keeps me coming back. BRAVO SHANKS

Only complaint I have is the music, which I see has been taken into account. I wonder if perhaps the composer could take the themes already present but remix them into a bit of a smoother groove that fits the game's slower paced atmosphere? I'm doing some music for a puzzle game right now with pretty short loops and I've found that around a minute of that type of jam is a good sweet spot for just enough length without being too repetitive.

EDIT: Bought it! And if I had to make one other tiny suggestion, I'd love the option to use the right stick solely for moving the puzzle camera around rather than as a second way to move the cursor.
 
I tried this out on my phone and uh... I kind of have to buy this on Switch now. Picross has me totally stumped without hints on the larger puzzles but I tried a 64 x 64 one in this game and found it extremely manageable. I also really like the idea of free DLC that keeps me coming back. BRAVO SHANKS

Gosh thanks guys! :)

Only complaint I have is the music,
I hear ya. And everybody else who mentioned it, which seems to be the vast majority of people. To be honest, I dropped the ball there big time. When I designed it as a mobile game the music was added to "have something there" knowing full well most serious players would turn it off anyway. One of those "listen to music / podcasts while playing on your commute experiences". And almost nobody mentions the music in the mobile reviews.
I really should have taken the time to revisit this when we made the Switch version, but it kinda slipped under the net. :( *
We're working on a few bug fixes now. This is on the list but might not get addressed any time soon. Sorry. :(

EDIT: Bought it! And if I had to make one other tiny suggestion, I'd love the option to use the right stick solely for moving the puzzle camera around rather than as a second way to move the cursor.
That decision was made so that you could play one-handed, in lazy sofa slouch pose. You don't find with the shoulder button it works as well?
When I went through controller input designs I just couldn't reconcile the two joystick input. What happens when you move both? Etc.
I might revisit this if I end up doing a Steam version.


* I have a jolly good excuse as for why getting this game to market was needlessly harder than it needed to be but that is a story for another day, and will require booze.
 
Today, I completed puzzle 20 (the last) of the 128x128 ones (it wasn't a picture of a dinosaur BTW). It was harder than puzzle 1 in the 128x128 section, but it still wasn't that hard.

#20 in the dinosaur pack? It..kinda is a dinosaur tho. ;)

Future updates will include a pack of 64x64s and 128x128s that WILL challenge you. Not just huge but full of long (and uneven) hints.
And white spaces. It gets a lot harder somehow when not every single square of the puzzle grid needs to be filled in to complete the puzzle. :)
 
I hear ya. And everybody else who mentioned it, which seems to be the vast majority of people. To be honest, I dropped the ball there big time. When I designed it as a mobile game the music was added to "have something there" knowing full well most serious players would turn it off anyway. One of those "listen to music / podcasts while playing on your commute experiences". And almost nobody mentions the music in the mobile reviews.

Yeah, I can see why it'd be a low priority for the mobile version. A game can have a top tier 10/10 soundtrack but If I'm out and about while playing it on my phone I've probably turned the sound off entirely regardless. It's definitely a great podcast game though, and timely too since I haven't had any games to fill that niche on Switch since I beat Implosion.

I have a jolly good excuse as for why getting this game to market was needlessly harder than it needed to be but that is a story for another day, and will require booze.

I know that feel bro, pass the bottle D:
 
Top Bottom