Picross NP Vol. 1

Picross NP Vol. 1 was the first in a series of eight Picross NP games exclusive to the Nintendo Power service. All of these games were themed after Nintendo's most successful games and franchises.

In Picross, each puzzle—referred to by the game as a 'problem'—consists of a grid of squares. The player is given 30 minutes to complete a puzzle by shading in particular squares in order to make some sort of picture. In each puzzle, there are numbers adjacent to each row or column which indicate how many squares in each corresponding row or column need to be shaded.

The player can mark squares thought not to form part of the picture with an 'X'. If the player attempts to shade in a square that is not part of the picture, a time penalty will be incurred: 2 minutes for the first mistake, 4 minutes for the second, and 8 minutes for any mistake thereafter.

Depending on the difficulty level, each puzzle grid can be 5, 10, 15, 20 or 25 tiles in both length and width, and the grid is not required to be square.

The game features a How to Play (Japanese: あそびかた) and a Competition (Japanese: 対戦) mode along with the main puzzles.

Character

In the game's 'Character' round, there are 12 puzzles that are based on Pokémon.

Character (Japanese: キャラクター)
12 puzzles
A		ニャース	Meowth (Nyarth)
B		バリヤード	Mr. Mime (Barrierd)
C		コダック	Psyduck (Koduck)
D		ピッピにんぎょう	Clefairy Doll (Pippi Doll)
E		トゲピー	Togepi (Togepy)
F		マルマイン	Electrode (Marumine)
G		クサイハナ	Gloom (Kusaihana)
H		ピカチュウ	Pikachu (Pikachu)
I		サンダー	Zapdos (Thunder)
J		ギャロップ	Rapidash (Gallop)
K		ニョロモ	Poliwag (Nyoromo)
L		カブゴン	Snorlax (Kabigon)