Gaming to Go: Picross DS (p3)
And there's the simple fact that it's fun, too. I've never been huge on number puzzles, but the ones included in Picross DS deftly combine good challenge and good entertainment, making it a great title to take with you whenever you're on the go. Amazon has it for a little under twenty bucks at the moment, which is a little higher than I had expected, but given the great wealth of content present in the cartridge, it's a pretty fair price.
Still a little leery about all of those numbers? I don't blame you. But puzzling my way through Picross DS's numerous challenges -- short and long! -- has helped me see the light, so to speak, or at the very least helped me enjoy a different kind of puzzler whenever I'm on my daily commute. I do love me some crazy block action, sure, but it's nice at times to go for a calmer, more logical challenge, and Picross DS provides that in spades.
Stat time!
Sleep time: Picross won't automatically pause the timer whenever you close the lid, so be sharp whenever you take the DS out of sleep mode. This won't seem too important until you're exactly one eight-minute mistake away from bumping your completion time over an hour. Every second counts!
Load time: Less than twenty seconds to jump into a Daily Puzzle, though that time can drop to a clean fifteen if you're loading Quick Save data from an unsolved puzzle. Short load times are glorious.
Play time: This one depends entirely on the puzzle and your personal skill level. I wish I could offer a general estimate, but trust me when I say this: some of the puzzles will fly by. Others will take forever.
