Original Picross developers are releasing their next nonogram puzzler on Steam
Logiart Grimoire in Early Access
There are a lot of Picross-style nonogram games available on PC these days, but many of them fail to inspire the easy, compulsive fugue of Picross itself. I'm hoping Logiart Grimoire will achieve such numbing delights when it launches into Steam Early Access next month. It's got the pedigree for it, given that it's made by Jupiter Corporation, the creator of all those original Picross games for Nintendo devices.
It seems that this time you're not simply selecting the nonograms from a menu. Instead, each puzzle is held within a mysterious book, the custodian of which is the hat-wearing weirdo in the trailer above. Solved puzzles serve as resources you can combine to unlock more puzzles, but you'll need to find the necessary recipes by using clues inside the tome.
According to its Steam page, Logiart Grimoire will remain in early access for around six months, during which time they'll add polish, better controller support, a tutorial, and replace temporary English translations "with official ones". All of the puzzles will be available from launch.
Alas, the Steam page does note that the game won't be playable comfortably on Steam Deck at first. That will come later, which means I'll have to wait to fully relive my Nintendo DS days.
If you're not familiar with them, nonograms are puzzles in which you colour-in grid squares by using numeric hints adjacent to each row and column. At the end of each puzzle, you'll normally have drawn a picture of some kind. They're typically not difficult once you've learned the knack, but they are stimulating and relaxing, and perfect for second screens.
Logiart Grimoire launches on September 11th.