It was a real surprise to see the announcement of Piczle Cross: Story of Seasons. The series isn’t a stranger to puzzle-based spinoffs, but this was the first one in a long time, and a collaboration no less! The only problem was that, personally, I was never good at nonogram puzzles. So, how’s Piczle Cross: Story of Seasons fit for someone who’s more into farming than this particular kind of puzzling?

Presentation

From the outset, the game looks pretty familiar. Using mostly Friends of Mineral Town graphics, but with a new lighting system in the Unreal Engine. The new lighting can feel a bit strange with characters we’re so used to seeing in one particular way, but overall the game looks as pleasant as Friends of Mineral Town did. As you solve puzzles, your farm gets more lively, with new animals, crops, and Pete and Claire performing different tasks with the tools you’ve solved puzzles for. It’s a really cute set-up, and it’s fun to watch the farm change bit by bit, reflecting the passing seasons and matching your progress with the core gameplay. The only thing I found unusual is that none of the series’s characters visit your farm after solving their puzzles in the way the animals do. This would be understandable for the characters outside Mineral Town, as they would be in a different graphical style, but I can’t imagine why Marie can’t visit from time to time after solving her puzzle. Nevertheless, it’s fun to see the farm grow and become lively as you solve puzzles.

This isn’t the only way your progression is reflected, however. Each puzzle solved will also fill out your Almanac with artwork, which features characters, animals, and items from Trio of Towns, Friends of Mineral Town, Pioneers of Olive Town, and A Wonderful Life. The first Story of Seasons is also present, but has almost no associated puzzles to solve. The Almanac also features a music player which has several tunes from the games present, which will also play during puzzles. 

There’s also some nice accessibility features with a dyslexia font, reduced flashing, screen shake, and colour adjustments for those with protanopia, tritanopia, and deuteranopia. Each of the colour options can also be adjusted to better match the user, which is well appreciated even if colour isn’t a required feature for gameplay.

Gameplay and Features

As someone who loves sudoku but has never played a Piczle Cross game, these nonograms are wildly addictive. Even if you’re not a fan of math, it’s less about the numbers given and more about identifying the patterns and shapes, which is also a bonus for me. In my playthrough, I didn’t use hints, but having them available gave me a little more confidence if by chance I got stuck on one of the more difficult puzzles. 

Since part of the fun of solving a puzzle is finding out what the image is as you progress, it would’ve been neat to see puzzles based on pixel graphics from early games in the series! A lot of the items in this game are designed after Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town items and furniture and based on their artwork or 3D models. It’s nice to see villagers from each of the four games presented though, and it also makes it feel like the games are all in the same world by existing in the same almanac. As a fan of pixel art, the pixel designs for the puzzles based on the newer art is still pretty cute. 

Closing thoughts

Piczle Cross: Story of Seasons is a pretty good introduction of nonograms to newcomers, and makes excellent use of the iconography and relaxing vibes of the Story of Seasons series. At the asking price it has, it’s probably going to be a good way to relax whether you get into the process of solving the puzzles or if you just rely on the tools available for more of a “popping bubble wrap” sort of experience.

At least, that’s how a Nonogram Novice feels! We’ll be having a separate review soon from a player far more experienced in the field!

Review codes provided to Ranch Story staff by the publisher.