Picross DS

What's in the Game?

The game’s main Picross Mode offers a staggering 300 puzzles available to play at your leisure. Ranging from the elementary five by five grids to highly complicated twenty by twenty grids, this mode will surely keep even the most hardened gamers happy.

Those less certain of their skills can opt to receive clues to help finish puzzles, or get a head start with a roulette-style hint function that reveals one line of the puzzle.

My Picross

Bring your individual talents to the table with My Picross Mode, in which you can design your very own puzzles to share with your friends (please refer to the section 'Share it with Friends' for more information.).

A variety of unlockable background themes ranging from nature to sports give you all the customisation tools you’ll need to make Picross DS fit your own style.

Daily Picross

Daily Picross Mode is where your day-to-day puzzle needs are met. With several quick challenges on offer every day and a chart plotting your progress, this is where you can see just how good you’re getting over time.

Plus, by playing Daily Picross Mode on consecutive days, you can unlock all-new gameplay modes, such as No X’s, Error Search and Memory.

Online Battle

You can take on another player anywhere in the world by playing the Online Battle Mode using Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. This is a free* online service that uses the wireless capabilities of the Nintendo DS to connect to the Internet via a wireless access point.

Using Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, you can even download extra official puzzles from Nintendo or from other players worldwide!

* A broadband Internet connection including wireless access point, or access to a hotspot are required to use Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. For more information, please visit www.nintendowifi.co.uk.

Share it with Friends

Because one Nintendo DS system can connect wirelessly with another, you can enjoy Picross DS together with your friends.

Compete directly with up to two other friends and see who can finish first, or tease their brains with your own original puzzles drawn with the stylus in My Picross Mode!

One Picross DS Game Card and multiple Nintendo DS systems are enough to start sharpening your brains the social way. For detailed information on how to set up a game of  Picross DS between more people, please refer to the game manual.

How to Play

With the stylus that comes with the Nintendo DS, you fill the cells of the grid displayed on the Touch Screen either with crosses (empty spaces) or squares (filled spaces).

Number clues next to each row and column tell you how many consecutive squares you need to fill in.

Tips & Tricks

What is the key to solving Picross DS puzzles quickly? We can give you some insights to this highly addictive game.

Think Big!

Look for the biggest number offered as a clue in the puzzle. In a 10x10 grid, if one clue is a 10, you can fill in the entire row and go from there.

In the same grid, you can solve at least one cell on a row when the row’s clue is 6 or higher. With a 6, you know 2 cells (the middle 2) will be a part of the solution and are mutually shared regardless of whether the row of 6 cells originates from the left or the right.

Start at the Top

The numbered clues on a row or column correspond to the position filled-in cells appear on that row from left to right or on that column from top to bottom.

If the clue is 3-1-2 and the first block of the row is filled in, you know that the two cells that come after it in that row will be filled in as well to complete the 3.

X It Out

When you have solved a row, take the time to X out the cells that are not part of the solution. Empty cells in the puzzle could cloud your thought process, making you think there are more eligible cells available than there really are.