Kakurasu World

Genre: Puzzle

Players: 1

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Review:

Kakurasu World, released on the Nintendo Switch in 2020, is a Puzzle game in the Kakurasu style, which if you’re not familiar with, will require some explanation (that the game itself sadly does a poor job of providing).

The game plays a bit like Picross, but instead of numbers along the top and left, here the numbers line every side. The numbers on the top and left are row and column values – squares in the third row are each worth three points when tallying up values for the column the square is in, and values in the sixth column are each worth six points when tallying up values for that square’s row. Meanwhile, the numbers on the right and bottom are row and column targets. Those are the target values you’re aiming to get for that specific row or column. So, for example, if a row has a target value of one, you know that only the first column-box in that row will be marked, as that box has a value of one and completes the row.

If that sounds convoluted to you, suffice it to say it’s still more of an explanation than the game itself gives you. Yeah, this game really could have used a tutorial. In any case, once you understand the rules, the gameplay here is a fairly simple and straightforward process-of-elimination sort of puzzle much like Picross, the logic just works differently.

The presentation here is decent but unspectacular, featuring clean numbers backed by simple abstract art. This is accompanied by a simple, relaxing instrumental theme that does a good job fitting the relaxing tone of the game. All in all, this works, even if it’s not all that impressive.

As for the gameplay here, I actually think this is pretty compelling, perhaps nearly as much as Picross, but it’s sadly not quite as accessible. Even if that wasn’t an issue, the lack of an ability to check for mistakes is a huge oversight, and the inability to use touchscreen controls (that would have been well-suited to this game) is unfortunate.

Still, for a mere $3, this is an excellent, compelling Puzzle game, if you can wrap your head around the rules. My advice to you is this – if you like Puzzle games, look up Kakurasu online, where you can find plenty of other versions of the game to try out. If you like the game elsewhere, you’ll probably like it here too. This is a solid presentation of a solid Puzzle game, at a solid price. It’s just in a package that’s not very welcoming to newcomers.

tl;dr – Kakurasu World is a Puzzle game that’s similar to Picross, but with its own unique rules that the game doesn’t explain very well. I advise players who haven’t played Kakurasu to look up the game elsewhere online and see if the rules make sense to you. If you can figure it out, know that Kakurasu World is a solid version of the puzzle at an excellent $3 price, but this is not a game that’s welcoming to newer players.

Grade: B-

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