Know a new Picross-like game you’re looking for?
I have reviewed many Picross games over the years. I would call it one of my favorite types of games or puzzles for its thoughtful, logical design and ability to be both relaxing and mentally taxing. I didn’t know anything about tents and trees being used to play this game on Switch. Apparently this is a type of puzzle I didn’t know before, but the basis of it reminds me of the nonogram style of picross. That said, it has a different itch, and thanks to a fun presentation and an incredible number of puzzles, Tents and Trees is incredible.
All puzzles are gridded, starting at 6×6 and going up to 19×19 (some daily puzzles exceed that). Trees are scattered everywhere and your job is to place the tents across the grid so that every tent only touches one tree while no tent touches another. Like picross, each row and column has a number representing how many tents it can hold. It took me a while to wrap my head around the details, but once I clicked, I was hooked. A helpful hint system. You can also save the state of the puzzle to come back to later, or revert to that saved state if you make a big mistake. My only small complaint is that as you get to grips with the tricks and intricacies of the puzzles, the initial setup for every puzzle starts to get a little workmanlike. In particular, the game lets you autocomplete lines, making the mechanical aspect of solving puzzles more automated. I hope you will
Chill’s presentation belies how deadly some of the later game’s puzzles can be, especially when you start introducing missing numbers in columns and rows. It’s even better with both button controls, works well, and can be swapped on the fly. It’s hard to tell exactly how good everything about this interacts. Themes and music tracks are also unlocked. An achievement system and several daily puzzles add depth to the base game. The base game has over 500 puzzles right from the start. Plus, you can even solve puzzles jointly thanks to the 4-player local co-op mode.
If you’re looking for a more than standard-issue Picross on the Switch from a Jupiter release, Tents & Trees is a surprise, offering a fresh twist on the classic logic puzzle game. With excellent style and enough daily puzzles, this is one of his that I will revisit for a long time.
