Nekograms is a cute and comfortable puzzle sport for the Nintendo Change. It options cats and cushions with the straightforward goal of serving to every kitty attain a cushion so it may take a well-earned nap. Did I point out it’s cute?
The sport started life as a substitute for Picross. Though it began out utilizing mild bulbs as the principle gimmick, throughout improvement, it developed right into a cat-based model. However don’t let the lovable aesthetics idiot you; this enjoyable puzzle expertise will nonetheless tickle your mind.
Nekograms is filled with 120 ranges, offering a lot to do. Each is brief and candy, depicting a variety of cats, cushions, and different objects in a grid-based format. The catch is that felines can solely be moved left and proper. These comfortable pillows, then again, solely traverse in a vertical course. Different objects like seaside balls and occasional cups are there to dam your path, including complexities.
Puzzles are unfold throughout three worlds, with forty ranges apiece. You start in a cat café, a really Japanese idea that enhances the sport’s title (“neko” is Japanese for cat, in spite of everything). From there, it’s off to the seaside for some enjoyable within the solar earlier than lastly heading to a stunning park space. And are these cherry blossoms within the park? Every world is adorned with colourful backdrops that pop off the display screen.
Nekograms retains issues cozy with no time restrict to emphasize you out, permitting you to assume by means of every puzzle at your individual tempo. Nevertheless, the problem lies within the set variety of really useful strikes assigned to every one. So, when you can take so long as you want, completionists (or perfectionists) will need to earn the highest ranking of three stars, achieved by hitting that par variety of strikes.
The menu supplies a neat overview of all ranges, depicting your star scores and making it simple to see which ranges you must revisit. New ranges are locked till the earlier one is accomplished, however you don’t want to gather a selected variety of stars to maneuver on. This balances the problem, permitting gamers to maneuver on comparatively simply by including a problem for anybody in search of extra to do. And if that’s not sufficient to maintain you busy, there’s an unlockable countless mode to maintain you hooked, nicely, without end.
The music is straightforward and candy, completely suited to the cartoony kitties and that enjoyable vibe. The cat noises originated from an actual cat, including to the expertise with an genuine really feel. In the event you’re a cat one that loves puzzles, this might be proper up your alley.
A puzzle sport like Nekograms screams for contact controls. Fortunately, the builders have finished a terrific job protecting this intact for the Change model. The contact controls work completely in handheld mode, permitting you to slip these kitties and cushions to your coronary heart’s content material. It’s intuitive and shortly turned my favourite technique to play. That mentioned, the controls are equally easy and simple to make use of, so enjoying on a tv is simply as accessible.
Total, Nekograms is an lovable puzzle sport all about serving to cats take a nap. It simply doesn’t get any extra lovable – however there’s extra to it than cuteness. Nekograms additionally presents a powerful puzzle factor with over 100 ranges to beat, together with a star ranking and countless mode to maintain you hooked. This enjoyable and well-designed puzzle outing is certain to please style followers.
Searching for much more? We additionally spoke to Hungry Sky, developer of Nekograms, at PAX Aus 2024.
