History VideoGame / Picross

* ''Mario's Super Picross'' (1995, UsefulNotes/{{SNES}}, JP only (but has since received an EU VirtualConsole release))

* ''[[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario's]] Picross'' (1995, GameBoy)
* ''Mario's Super Picross'' (1995, {{SNES}}, JP only (but has since received an EU VirtualConsole release))
* ''Picross 2'' (JP only, GameBoy)
* ''Picross NP'' (eight volumes for the "Nintendo Power Super Famicom Cartridge Writer", a rewritable {{SNES}} cart; JP only)
* ''Picross DS'' (2007, NintendoDS)
* ''Picross 3D'' (2009 JP/2010 US and EU, NintendoDS)
* ''Picross-e'' series (2012-16, seven downloadable installments for Nintendo3DS)
* ''Picross 3D: Round 2'' (2015 JP/2016 US and EU, Nintendo3DS)
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Picross'' (2015, Nintendo3DS)
* ''My Nintendo Picross: VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' (2016, Nintendo3DS, rewards program exclusive)

* DamnYouMuscleMemory: ''3D'' only has options to destroy blocks or mark them to prevent them from being destroyed by accident; marking was optional and didn't yield any penalty if you marked a block that's supposed to be broken. ''Round 2'' spices things up a bit by having two colors of paint, and this time marking them with the right color is mandatory; it's easy to forget about it and mark a block with the wrong color, thus earning a penalty, by accident until you get used to it.

** Whereas the first game used stars to rank your performance in a puzzle (One for completing the level, one for doing it with no penatly and one for doing it quick enough), the second uses plain points and jewels. In addition to making some puzzles easier to access, it removes a lot of stress when solving a puzzle, as you don't necessarily need to do a NoDamageRun to get the best jewels anymore.

** There's no five-srike system anymore; you can mess up as often as you need without fear of losing (one-chance challenges notwithstanding).

* TitleDrop: Done subtly and sneakily in ''Mario's Super Picross''; when put together, the first eight puzzles in the game on Mario's Level 1 form マリオのピクス (ma-ri-o-no-pi-ku-ro-su), aka "Mario's Picross".

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: ''3D Round 2'' introduces two; a hint function that tells you what row or column you should work on next, and a bomb to automatically remove all rows and columns marked with a 0, saving quite a bit of time.

* PlayEveryDay: Since ''DS'', the 2D installments have included "Daily Picross", where once a day you're challenged to solve a series of 7x7 puzzles in the lowest time possible. In ''Pokémon Picross'', this mode awards Picrites and is the only reliable way to farm them without paying real money.

* ''Picross-e'' series (2012-15, six downloadable installments for Nintendo3DS)
* ''Picross 3D: Round 2'' (2015 JP/2016 US and EU, Nintendo3DS) See also Toys/{{amiibo}}, as ''Round 2'' is compatible with some of the figures.

* AllegedlyFreeGame: ''Pokémon Picross'' runs on this model with "Picrites", a currency that needs to be spent to do anything beyond just solving available puzzles. Picrites can be received for progressing through the game or by completing the daily challenges, not very quickly; on average it takes about a week and a half to unlock each new set of puzzles. Unlike other games, Nintendo does put a cap on how much real money you can spend (after which Picrites are free), but that cap is around $30 when each ''Picross-e'' download is only $6.
* BonusFeatureFailure: The Alt-World in ''Pokémon Picross'' rehashes all of the puzzles into Mega Picross puzzles. Keyword is ''rehashes''; all of the puzzles are more or less the same, just with a Mega Picross gimmick. In addition, you gain absolutely nothing from solving Mega Picross variants of puzzles.

* FakeLongevity: The recent ''Picross-e'' games, ''Pokemon Picross'' and even the ''Twilight Princess Picross'' titles have had the Mega Picross puzzles be re-hashes of the normal Picross puzzles, which means basically solving the same puzzles twice for full completion. In the earlier ''Picross-e'' titles, both modes had different puzzles.

* OldSaveBonus: Some of the later ''Picross e'' games unlock new puzzles or sets of puzzles if you have save data of the earlier games.

* ''Picross 3D: Round 2'' (2015 JP/2016 EU, Nintendo3DS) See also Toys/{{amiibo}}, as ''Round 2'' is compatible with some of the figures.

* ''Picross-e'' series (six downloadable installments for Nintendo3DS)

* AllegedlyFreeGame: ''Pokémon Picross'' runs on this model with "Picrites", a currency that needs to be spent to do anything beyond just solving available puzzles. Picrites can be received for progressing through the game or by completing the daily challenges, but unlock costs are much higher than the rate that Picrites can be earned. Unlike other games, Nintendo does put a cap on how much real money you can spend (after which Picrites are free), but that cap is around $30 when each ''Picross-e'' download is only $6.

* ''Picross 3D 2'' (2015, Nintendo3DS, JP only (for now, anyway)) See also Toys/{{amiibo}}, as ''3D 2'' is compatible with some of the figures.

* AntiPoopSocking: ''Pokémon Picross'' uses an Energy system to limit the amount of time the player can play at once. Energy is spent by playing Picross, and 1 Energy is deducted for each square you fill in. Deviously, you can't ''gain back'' Energy by removing squares, forcing the player to think twice about wild guessing lest they waste much more energy than necessary and thus not have enough to finish a puzzle. The cap can be raised by spending Picrites, and can be done five times, the fifth time upon which the gauge simply becomes infinite.

* AllegedlyFreeGame: ''Pokémon Picross'' runs on this model with "Picrites", a currency that needs to be spent to do anything beyond just solving available puzzles. Picrites can be received for progressing through the game or by completing the daily challenges, but it'll take some time to get the hundreds you'll need to unlock everything. Unlike other games, Nintendo does put a cap on how much real money you can spend (after which Picrites are free), but that cap is $32 when each ''Picross-e'' download is only $6.

** Pokémon Picross = Pokecross.

* DivorcedInstallment: The original games were ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' spinoffs, but since ''DS'' the series has been its own thing.

* {{Mons}}: Used in ''[[CaptainObvious Pokémon]] Picross'' as the game's primary gimmick. Pokémon you complete Picross of are caught and collected, and Pokémon can then be added to a team. The team supports the player by providing a variety of support abilities that make the game easier.

* FreeToPlay: "Free To Start", rather; ''Pokemon Picross'' is this with {{Microtransactions}}.
* GottaCatchEmAll: The goal of ''Pokemon Picross'', except you do it by solving Picross puzzles.

* {{Mons}}: Used in ''[[CaptainObvious Pokemon]] Picross'' as the game's primary gimmick. Pokemon you complete Picross of are caught and collected, and Pokemon can then be added to a team. The team supports the player by providing a variety of support abilities that make the game easier.

* {{Mons}}: Used in ''[[Captain Obvious Pokemon]] Picross'' as the game's primary gimmick. Pokemon you complete Picross of are caught and collected, and Pokemon can then be added to a team. The team supports the player by providing a variety of support abilities that make the game easier.

The games in the overall ''Picross'' series are:
* ''Mario's Picross'' (1995, GameBoy)
* ''Mario's Super Picross'' (1995, {{SNES}}, JP only[[note]]The game was eventually released as part of the Wii and Wii U's Virtual Console service, but the original SNES version is Japan-exclusive[[/note]])

* ''Picross 3D 2'' (2015, Nintendo3DS, JP only (for now, anyway))

* SpiritualSuccessor: As of ''DS'', Nintendo has dropped the Mario branding, but that game had ''Mario's Picross'' level packs available for download.

[[redirect:VideoGame/MariosPicross]]

->''"Hi, Kids!! It's time for us to solve the mystery of "Picross"!"''
-->-- '''Mario'''

In this picture puzzle game for the GameBoy, the player helps [[SuperMarioBros Mario]] discover hidden pictures by filling in blocks in a grid. The numbers along the top and left side of the grid provide clues as to which blocks should be filled in.

The puzzles in this game are just like [[http://www.conceptispuzzles.com/index.aspx?uri=puzzle/pic-a-pix Conceptis' Pic-a-Pix puzzles]].

The games in the overall ''Picross'' series are:
* ''Mario's Picross'' (GameBoy)
* ''Mario's Super Picross'' ({{SNES}})
* ''Picross 2'' (GameBoy)
* ''Picross NP'' (eight volumes for the "Nintendo Power Super Famicom Cartridge Writer", a rewritable {{SNES}} cart)
* ''Picross DS'' (NintendoDS)
* ''Picross 3D'' (NintendoDS)
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'''Tropes Used in Mario's Picross:'''
* ConsoleCameo: Both ''Mario's Picross'' and ''DS'' include puzzles of Nintendo systems (''Mario's'' just has one of the GameBoy, ''DS'' has a whole series of them).
* FollowTheLeader
* GridPuzzle
* NoExportForYou: ''Super Picross'' was eventually released in the PAL regions via {{Wii}}'s Virtual Console service, but ''Picross 2'' and ''Picross NP'' were only in Japan.
* SpiritualSuccessor: Nintendo has recently made Picross games for the Nintendo DS without the Mario branding, but made ''Mario's Picross'' level packs available for download.
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