Travel Mosaics 3: Tokyo Animated

Genre: Picross Puzzle

Players: 1

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Review:

(Note: Due to the similarities between this game and the first two Travel Mosaics games, I’m copying most of this review from my Travel Mosaics: A Paris Tour review and changing the details that have changed)

Travel Mosaics 3, like the previous games in the series, is a Picross Puzzle game, with this one released on PC in 2018 and ported to Nintendo Switch in 2020. This game includes 140 puzzles in the Color Picross style, as well as 20 bonus puzzles in various styles (such as “tile swap” and “pair match”-style puzzles) that have nothing to do with Picross, and additional trivia questions about the game’s locale, Tokyo.

Despite that this game doesn’t appear to have been released on mobile platforms, its main menu seems very reminiscent of mobile games, complete with round, colorful buttons and anthropomorphic animal characters that look like knock-offs of characters from the Disney film Zootopia. However, digging a little deeper, you’ll find the rest of the presentation here is quite nice – the game makes use of some very nice artistic depictions of various famous locales in Tokyo, and completing squares in the Picross Puzzle causes little animations and flourishes to happen (Though despite the game’s title, it’s no more animated than the prior games). Add to this multiple skins players can choose to use for the various tiles, as well as some easily-readable numbers to indicate how many filled squares are on each vertical and horizontal line. Along with this, the game has a wonderful relaxing soundtrack that’s a joy to play to, and the result is that this may very well be the version of Picross with the best presentation I’ve played yet.

So then, the question is, how does the gameplay stack up? Well, firstly, while this game does present players with color picross levels, the way they’re done is a bit different than they’re usually done. Rather than having the numbers at the side and top indicate how many of each color is in that space, these numbers only show the number for the color currently selected. This makes for a challenge that’s not necessarily harder or easier than seeing everything at once, but different, with players having to go back and forth between different colors to see how that color’s board has changed now that you’ve filled in squares from other colors. It takes some getting used to, but it works very well, all things considered.

Another thing this game does somewhat differently is in how it gamifies its help systems. As players correctly mark down squares on the board, they gradually unlock different kinds of hints to help them complete the puzzle. Players needn’t use these if they want a more “pure” picross experience, but less-skilled players may find them to be a great addition to the experience.

Having said that, there are some areas that this version of Picross doesn’t quite do so well. Firstly, the control scheme here is a bit awkward and takes some getting used to. Multiple times, I pressed the wrong button and screwed things up. The game does support touchscreen, but the boxes are so small that players using a finger to select them will find they’re blocking the parts of the screen they need to see to play this way.

Another problem is that this game doesn’t seem to give players any ability to “test-mark” squares, something that’s a fairly standard feature in Picross games. However, perhaps the biggest issue is the way this game gates off its content – players aren’t allowed to play a puzzle until they’ve completed all prior ones first, making this an extremely linear experience. Stumped by a puzzle and want to come back to it? Too bad, deal with it.

It’s a shame that this Travel Mosaic’s flaws drag down the game, because a lot of what it does is brilliant – its approach to doing color Picross puzzles is fairly unique, its presentation is good, and the optional hint system is a clever way to make a game out of the elements in place to help newer players. For those looking for a good Picross game on Nintendo Switch, this one is worth a look, just be aware it does come with a few frustrations as well.

tl;dr – Travel Mosaics 3, much like the previous games in the series, is a Picross Puzzle game with a distinct way of doing color picross puzzles and a decent presentation (once you get past the main menu, anyway). However, it lacks the ability to “test-mark” squares, and refuses to let players continue past an incomplete puzzle. Were it not for flaws like these, this would be one of the better Picross games on the Nintendo Switch, but as it is, this is just a pretty good entry in the genre.

Grade: B-

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