Piczle Cross: Story of Seasons

Working those fields, pixel by pixel.

Piczle Cross: Story of Seasons is the first nonogram puzzler I’ve played, despite there being quite a few to make an appearance on Nintendo’s hybrid console. However, being a fan of both Harvest Moon and Story of Seasons, I was lured into this puzzle game due to its attachment to bring the theme and appearance of Story of Seasons to its aesthetic. While its connection to the license is largely just for looks, the puzzle mechanics are serviceable, if a bit too repetitive to always shine.

Gameplay across Piczle Cross: Story of Seasons has you using numbers to gauge the location of pixels within a grid. The solution to the puzzle then becomes an image. These vary from a bag of seed, a mailbox, to the faces of many characters that make up the Story of Seasons world. Each puzzle varies in its complexity with some being only 5x5 or 10x10 to 15x25, making both the image and its depth that much more detailed. 

Piczle Cross: Story of Seasons works through eliminating the possibilities across the grid. Each row and column has a number that indicates how many pixels are located on that path. If the number 3 is at the top of the column, then a pixel appears 3 times but is connected as a group of 3 pixels. If it is 1, 1, and 1, then there are 3 instances of a single pixel. The same rules apply to both rows and columns. It’s a simple concept that becomes harder to figure out when you have a much larger playing field to work with.

What I enjoyed the most about Piczle Cross: Story of Seasons is that there are several accessibility features that aid in solving each of the puzzles. From checking if you have made a mistake to causing a random row or column to be auto-solved at the start of the round, these features come in handy for the more difficult endeavors. If you are not wanting those features, you merely turn them off, giving you the challenge you want on your terms. 

Piczle Cross: Story of Seasons features over 350 puzzles, with some as part of a large collage puzzle that you’ll unlock as you continue to play. Some puzzles can take anywhere from 30 seconds to solve to twenty minutes, all depending on the complexity of the size given and if you choose to use the accessibility tools provided. While some puzzles can be symmetrical to make figuring out the image that is being constructed with your guess, a few can be bizarre and the finished image can be a bit of a stretch in adapting what the result should be, such was the case with the seed bag which simply didn’t look like anything.

I am fairly shocked that Piczle Cross: Story of Seasons doesn’t utilize the touchscreen abilities of the Switch, given how perfect it would be for it. The cursor itself is also a tad slow, had the game featured touch controls, then it would have been a solid compromise. While this isn’t an issue in puzzles that are 5x5 or even 10x10, the 15x25 puzzles can take a while to scroll over, especially given each puzzle is meant to be a small diversion, not a lengthy endeavor. 

The appeal of what Piczle Cross: Story of Seasons offers is through the aesthetic of Story of Seasons. Each puzzle pulls from the people, the places, and the tools you’ll use through the inspired game. Days pass as you solve puzzles, and you’ll see the characters tending to the farm. This starts to show progress as you work through the seasons. I sort of wish each puzzle would have added something immediately following, making your progress feel more impactful. Again, the aesthetic of Story of Seasons is used fairly well here, but only visually and never as part of the game’s mechanics, and I feel that is a missed opportunity to now make this Piczle Cross stand apart from the rest. Sure, the Almanac is a nice touch, but it’s not something that really changes up the overall gameplay. 

While its use of the license is what it is, the gameplay itself is solid for a little distraction here and there. I played huge chunks of this game portably via a few lunch breaks and found a decent amount of enjoyment from it. It likely won’t be something I’ll obsess over but I may dive into some of the other entries in the series to see what I’ve been missing. If you enjoy nonogram puzzles and are looking for more, then Piczle Cross: Story of Seasons does enough right to offer you a wealth of puzzles in a fun farming-life aesthetic. 

Developer - Score Studios. Publisher - RainyFrog. Released - February 28th, 2024. Available On - Nintendo Switch, PC. Rated - (E) No Descriptors.
Platform Reviewed - Nintendo Switch OLED. Review Access - A review code for the game was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.