Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Publishers Naptime Games and By Aliens have delivered a fun, casual puzzle game in Logic Pic. Using a form of numeric crossword called a “nonogram”, players are challenged to reveal pixel art pictures on a variety of canvas sizes. Using only number clues, players have to figure out what needs to be filled in. This style of game has been brought to life by a number of publishers and websites. Logic Pic in particular is a polished adaptation of By Alien’s earlier Android and iOS game of the same name. Claiming over 5 million downloads reported on the Android version alone, this is a game with proven appeal that has now arrived on the Nintendo Switch.
You'll solve these using a single-color grid, but once you finish a picture it will come to life with color.
Tutorial
Logic Pic includes a quick three-part tutorial that is intended to introduce players to the fundamentals of the game. For players like myself who have done at least a few nonograms previously, the tutorial feels adequate. It serves as an adequate introduction (refresher?) on the concepts and a chance to get familiar with the game controls. Notably, the game skipped a few items that make it unique from other nonogram offerings. Mostly, these appear to be adaptations of what were likely in-app purchasable items in the mobile game. In particular, there is a menu to gain various hints on the puzzle, but what the different hint options were was never explained.
Great, so do I need to do anything here? Logic Pic's tutorial could be clearer about when the player needs to step in and do something rather than just read and watch.
I ran a test to see how Logic Pic’s tutorial held up for players new to nonograms. For both brand new players, it quickly became clear that the tutorials were insufficient. In particular, the tutorials were not clear on what was expected in order to proceed at times. The tutorial would state something like ‘full rows are a great help in solving a puzzle’, but wouldn’t actually prompt the player to fill the rows in to progress.
I watched both new players repeatedly waiting for clear instructions of what they were expected to do. This usually occurred after a series of reading-only screens, leaving them puzzled why the information flow had stopped. Since Logic Pic seems aimed at casual gamers who may not be used to unwritten norms in how game mechanics work, this oversight could prove to be a barrier to the game’s intended audience.
Single Player
The core of Logic Pic is the number and variety of puzzles it can provide to a solitary player. In this area, the game shines, with the game’s website claiming over 1,000 puzzles included with the game at release. Released alongside the game were 3 DLC packs that offer a combined 800+ additional puzzles to play through. Puzzles range in size from simple 5x5 grids (25 tile) to giant 15x20 (300 tile) grids.
Solving the larger puzzles can take a considerable amount of time! Although I’m sure that solution times will vary between players, the smallest puzzles took only a couple of minutes. Large puzzles, however, could easily approach half an hour of careful concentration. All told, that implies hundreds of hours of content available to the player, providing excellent value for the purchase price.
This many tiles is going to take a while, especially in the early stages as you try to find spots to fill in tiles.
Co-op and Versus Modes
I was happy to see that Logic Pic managed to incorporate both cooperative and head-to-head competitive play for every puzzle. In cooperative mode, each player has their own controller active simultaneously with a different color highlight to differentiate it. All players work together to fill in tiles, keeping only a tally of the errors made by each player visible. Each player’s contributions are marked in the corner with a slash of color, so you can can keep track of what you did and see who has contributed to the solution.
Co-op mode, where you can see who did what, and errors are tracked in the top left.
Versus mode in Logic Pic feels like an excellent party mode where everyone in the family can participate. Each player gets a set amount of time to fill in as many tiles as they can, alternating between up to four players. The game tallies points in this mode, granting a point for every correct tile and subtracting one for every error. The timed element in this mode vastly changes the feel of the game. Overall, the mood changes from a casual puzzle to a tense race against the clock to claim tiles.
Versus mode, with the point tallies in the top left again. The screen background changes to the active player's color.
Conclusion
Playing through Logic Pic, I can see why the original game from By Aliens has amassed millions of downloads on mobile. Naptime’s adaptation for the Switch hits the target as a fun, casual puzzle game. The choice to eliminate in-app purchases is a good one on a console with significant usage among underage players.
The co-op and versus modes included with the game play well with the multiplayer capabilities of the Nintendo Switch, and will appeal to players who want a game the whole family can enjoy together. Finally, the breadth of content included with the game will keep players satisfied for hours, making this a great choice for value-conscious players.
Summary
Naptime and By Aliens have delivered a fun casual puzzle game in Logic Pic. Dropping for the Switch free of the mobile version’s in-app purchases, Logic Pic packs in tons of content with the base game. Co-op and Versus modes turn this previously solitary style of puzzler into fun with friends or family, and extra puzzle packs are available from day one in case you somehow manage to finish the 1,000+ included with the base game.
A great choice to round out your Switch library with something you won’t feel awkward sharing with any generation of player.
Score: 8.5 / 10
