A fresh perspective from time to time can be illuminating (no, apparently french fries do not count as a serving of vegetables... even if smothered in cheesey, bacony goodness). No, Charlie, maybe you shouldn't try to kick Lucy’s football this time. And, sorry, new dad, standing behind your youngster while teaching him to swing an oversized teeball bat without paying attention was not a good idea. But, I will go get you a pack of frozen peas for what used to be your testicles.

The same is true in the casual game world (minus the frozen peas), where a sane, rational person can only search so many overly cluttered closets, trunks and backyard scenes for various apples, baby bottles and crossbows (yes, those were all in the same puzzle). So, I am typically especially excited when I come across a new style of game that thankfully lacks violent ninjas, exploding zombies and “dress up time” that is, frankly, quite creepy (in the “bad touch” way).

Enter Picma. It’s been around for a while, but an upcoming release of a new version peaked my interest in the original. And thankfully peaked I am (pull your minds out of the gutter). Picma is a traditional picross game with, for some reason, fantasy-themed twist. (Although, for some reason I would expect elves, dwarves and hobbits to be quite skilled at logic puzzles. But not goblins; those guys are notoriously stupid.)

Picross, for the unfamiliar (like myself), is a puzzle game combination of sudoku and paint-by-number where blocks in a grid are filled by row and column in accordance with the corresponding clues indicating colors, length of blocks and breaks in the pattern. If done correctly, a pixelated, sometimes questionable, picture should emerge (“should” emerge, mileage may vary, no returns or exchanges accepted). Initially benign, frustration and hurled objects can be expected on higher levels.

Picma has 60 timed levels of “oops, I didn’t mean to do that” excitement ranginf from 5x5 to 50x50 grids (dude, seriously hard) and including a Supervisor mode that penalizes (and seriously so, 1 minute per “oopsey”) for mistakes. So, make sure you read the instructions on this one (unlike the VCR, Tivo and digital watch sitting unused in your closet) and double check to make sure you have the right color selected before filling in your blocks! (If I could correct one thing in this game, it would be to make it more obvious for the oblivious like myself to recognize which color we currently have selected. Them penalties be harsh!)

If you too found yourself at the end of your paint-by-tricky-dicky-numbers palette, keep an eye out for Picma Squared, coming soon.