Sponsored by

Nikolis Pencil Puzzle

SCORE: 92

We have relationships with hundreds of game developers, publishers, and PR firms. We spend countless hours finding the best games for families. As much time as we spend searching, the sad reality is there will always be games that surprise us. There are games that literally come out of nowhere. We may have not found them initially, but once we do - we are all over it.

Nikoli's Pencil Puzzle is one of those games. We have given the Nintendo 3DS tons of coverage. We love to cover puzzle games. Yet we missed this game entirely. I take complete responsibility for that. But we are on top of it now. First off I just need to say WOW! Nikoli's Pencil Puzzle is one amazing and fun game.

Graphically speaking Nikoli's Pencil Puzzle is pretty plain. I have seen hospitals with more color than this game. Colors are used in appropriate spots to draw attention to things. I love how that is done with Sudoku. The 3D effects on the top screen are interesting, but eye candy at the best. To be blunt, it is only a distraction, so I kept it off so I could focus on the puzzle on the bottom screen.

I flipped through the various music tracks in Nikoli's Pencil Puzzle. They are all soothing, and mellow. This is needed when the frustration of a puzzle reaches a boiling point. It is difficult to be mad at a game when you hearing such relaxing sounds. I do believe the music in Nikoli's Pencil Puzzle brought my blood pressure down a few points.

Sudoku has 300 puzzles, Shikaku has 110 puzzles, Hashi has 70 puzzles, and Akari has 120 puzzles. How is that for replay value? In essence Nikoli's Pencil Puzzle contains four puzzle games in one cartridge. I can completely forget the lack of graphical prowess when I am given so many wonderful puzzles. I feel that Nikoli's Pencil Puzzle is worth the price of admission.

I would recommend going through the tutorial before playing the four puzzle games in Nikoli's Pencil Puzzle. It took me a few tries to figure out Hashi (the bridges game). Once I did, the others made sense. I really enjoyed Akari. The concept of putting lights down that covered every single square, but did not face another light (vertically or horizontally) is a lot of fun. This also required thought.

It feels good to exercise the brain. Nikoli's Pencil Puzzle will require diverse thought patterns. I appreciate Konami publishing this Hudson Entertainment title. I learned to think through my actions. I also learned to find problems when I had done something wrong. Nikoli's Pencil Puzzle is a really great games for families with a Nintendo 3DS.

Shikaku is the boxes game that I did not touch on much in my review. There are numbers on the grid. They represent how many blocks can be used to form a box. This can be a square or a rectangle. Getting all of the boxes in there properly is part of the challenge. All four of these games in Nikoli's Pencil Puzzle have a similar feel, but they need to be approached from different angles.
- Paul

Graphics: 77%
Sound: 100%
Replay/Extras: 100%
Gameplay: 92%
Family Friendly Factor: 90%
System: Nintendo 3DS
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Hudson Entertainment
Rating: 'E' - Everyone

Want more info on this product, or the company that made this product?
Set web browser to:
Link

Got a question, comment, or a concern regarding this review?
Email them to:
pbury@familyfriendlygaming.com