Pokemon Picross is Pokemon's third foray into the Freemium landscape. It's dubbed "Free-to-start" and certainly meets that standard.
For those not familiar with Picross, or what a nonogram puzzle is, it's basically a logic-based puzzle based on numbers. You're given a board, somewhere between 5x5 and 20x20 blocks, and you have to fill in the appropriate blocks. Basically, it's the picture below. You're bound by certain guidlines. Column 2 in the picture shows 2 over 3. This means you fill in 2 blocks in that column somewhere and then after the two, you fill in 3. That's the basic premise, and it never really exceeds that. But it doesn't. It's fun as hell if you love puzzles and it doesn't need to go any further.
What sets Pokemon Picross apart from other Picross games is the use of Pokemon. Every puzzle you complete, you obtain a Pokemon. These Pokemon have abilities that you can use to help solve the puzzle. Abilities like; changing wrong placements, randomly filling in the grid before you start, or even giving you hints.
This isn't a straight forward game, however. There is a freemium model attatched. For starters, you're limited to a bar of energy. Every time you fill a square, you lose one energy. This doesn't count towards "x"s though. At first, you only have about 100 energy, but you have to upgrade it at some point because certain puzzles cost more than 100 energy. In addition, you have to spend Picrites in order to progress to more levels. Picrities are naturally gained through beating levels under certain circumstances or completing the training mode every day. It isn't a bunch of Picrites however, and you basically have to complete every mission in order to not pay for the most part. Picrites are also used to refill your energy bar immediately, expand your energy bar, and obtaining more slots for Pokemon.
This free-to-start model is capped! You can't spend more than $30-35 on the game (I forget exactly how much). After that, you have an infinite amount of Picrites. So while it does have a freemium model, it's more or less an overglorified demo that you can potentially never pay for and still 100%. It might take you forever if you never pay, but that seems to be an option. However, if you decide to use real money to buy Picrites, you'll have to go through a few hoops. Unfortunately, the normal method of paying just whatever you owe is not possible. Instead, you're limited to increments of $10, $20, $50, and $100. Considering the two best options are less than $10, I find this really awful. It's a pretty obvious cash grab.
Conclusion:
Pokemon Picross may seem annoying at first with all of it's micro-transactions, but in reality, it isn't too bad. There are some pros and cons, however.
Pros:
-Incredibly enjoyable if you like puzzles
-Enough content to warrant the $30 cap
-Can be challenging
Cons:
-If you spend Picrites on unlocking levels, you won't have enough energy to play more than 1 or 2 levels per sit down
-If you spend Picrites on energy, you'll eventually run out of stages and Picrites
-It will take you ages to get through this game without paying
-The Picross shop doesn't allow you to spend the exact amount of money required. You have to go through hoops to only spend 99 cents
Long story short? I enjoy the game. It's a good puzzle game and I love the addition of Pokemon abilities. I mean hey, it's free. Can't hurt a download to try it out.
For those not familiar with Picross, or what a nonogram puzzle is, it's basically a logic-based puzzle based on numbers. You're given a board, somewhere between 5x5 and 20x20 blocks, and you have to fill in the appropriate blocks. Basically, it's the picture below. You're bound by certain guidlines. Column 2 in the picture shows 2 over 3. This means you fill in 2 blocks in that column somewhere and then after the two, you fill in 3. That's the basic premise, and it never really exceeds that. But it doesn't. It's fun as hell if you love puzzles and it doesn't need to go any further.
What sets Pokemon Picross apart from other Picross games is the use of Pokemon. Every puzzle you complete, you obtain a Pokemon. These Pokemon have abilities that you can use to help solve the puzzle. Abilities like; changing wrong placements, randomly filling in the grid before you start, or even giving you hints.
This isn't a straight forward game, however. There is a freemium model attatched. For starters, you're limited to a bar of energy. Every time you fill a square, you lose one energy. This doesn't count towards "x"s though. At first, you only have about 100 energy, but you have to upgrade it at some point because certain puzzles cost more than 100 energy. In addition, you have to spend Picrites in order to progress to more levels. Picrities are naturally gained through beating levels under certain circumstances or completing the training mode every day. It isn't a bunch of Picrites however, and you basically have to complete every mission in order to not pay for the most part. Picrites are also used to refill your energy bar immediately, expand your energy bar, and obtaining more slots for Pokemon.
This free-to-start model is capped! You can't spend more than $30-35 on the game (I forget exactly how much). After that, you have an infinite amount of Picrites. So while it does have a freemium model, it's more or less an overglorified demo that you can potentially never pay for and still 100%. It might take you forever if you never pay, but that seems to be an option. However, if you decide to use real money to buy Picrites, you'll have to go through a few hoops. Unfortunately, the normal method of paying just whatever you owe is not possible. Instead, you're limited to increments of $10, $20, $50, and $100. Considering the two best options are less than $10, I find this really awful. It's a pretty obvious cash grab.
Conclusion:
Pokemon Picross may seem annoying at first with all of it's micro-transactions, but in reality, it isn't too bad. There are some pros and cons, however.
Pros:
-Incredibly enjoyable if you like puzzles
-Enough content to warrant the $30 cap
-Can be challenging
Cons:
-If you spend Picrites on unlocking levels, you won't have enough energy to play more than 1 or 2 levels per sit down
-If you spend Picrites on energy, you'll eventually run out of stages and Picrites
-It will take you ages to get through this game without paying
-The Picross shop doesn't allow you to spend the exact amount of money required. You have to go through hoops to only spend 99 cents
Long story short? I enjoy the game. It's a good puzzle game and I love the addition of Pokemon abilities. I mean hey, it's free. Can't hurt a download to try it out.