Welcome to our review of Link-a-Pix Deluxe, out now for Nintendo Switch. This game features brand new puzzles (a total of 240!) but offers a DLC package of 3.99 (€/$) for an additional 120 puzzles, previously only available on the Nintendo 3DS. So, let’s dive in!
Link-a-Pix Deluxe puzzles
The base premise of Link-a-Pix Deluxe is a coloring puzzle game. Every grid you play has a picture hidden inside. The aim is to reveal the picture by ‘painting’ pathways to link the clues (stated by numbers). To solve the puzzle is to connect pairs of clues which have the same number and color. There is a catch… each number shows the length of the line which will connect the two clues. So if you have red – 3 – you will have to draw a line of three red blocks. This can be a straight line, a curved line, etc. You can imagine this can be quiet puzzling if you get clues of the number 10 and above, especially in the more tight spots.
Stylus time!
Control-wise Link-a-Pix arrived just in time since it can be played with both the joy-cons and touchscreen. I found it very relaxing to play this game in handheld mode with my joy-cons attached to the screen. With the release of Dr.Kawashima’s Brain Training, the Nintendo Switch features a stylus once again, which can be a tremendous asset to a game such as Link-a-Pix. Graphically it’s not something you will have to root for. The puzzles are grid-puzzles, so in an 8-bit format. I personally never found this irritating, since it feels a bit like the old paint-by-numbers or diamond-paintings that were (and are) still popular.
Can we fix it?
Another asset of Link-a-Pix is that it always can be solved by using logic and deduction. You don’t ever have to guess! And if you don’t get the puzzle finished the way you want, you can always use the ‘Fix’ option. This option shows how many ‘errors’ you made, but will take away your gold medal for finishing the puzzle on your own. Puzzlegrids vary from 10×15 up to 100×65. The smaller problems can be solved in a few minutes, but the bigger ones take a lot more time. Luckily the game provided with a helpful ‘save’ function, so it’s an ideal game to play while you commute, eat breakfast or do… other stuff.
To conclude, Link-a-Pix is a beautiful puzzle game with colorful and challenging puzzles to relax and wind-down with. Since it offers a lot of content, including the Mono & demo levels (Christmas themed!), there will be a lot to gain with this package. Oh, and did I mention that the developers promised the release of extra add-on packs regularly (probably for a price).
