Classic Battleship gets mashed up with Picross, and looks great (review)

There are tons of picross puzzle games out there for mobile phones. There are also tons of battleship games too – both games are timeless classics that have kept players entertained since the analog era. But what about a game that mixes both?

Warship Solitaire is Malaysian developer Nexx Studio’s take on a Battleship and picross puzzle mash-up. Players must find battleships in on a blank board, but instead of random trial and error, numbers running alongside indicate the number of “hits” in each row or column. This is where the picross element comes in. (If you don’t know what picross is, try it here.)

The brain teasing is taken a step further when the game informs you that no battleship piece may be found diagonally to another. This sounds simple but actually makes the picross challenge in the game a whole lot more difficult.

There are five difficulty levels in total for Warship Solitaire, with each difficulty housing 25 challenges. I admittedly haven’t gotten past the basic level because I suck at puzzles.

So what sets Warship Solitaire apart from the other battleship-picross mashup games out there?

One of Nexx Studio’s best performing games is Glow Puzzle, in which you have to trace patterns without crossing over the same points on the board. The game, while hardly the most flashy, has a calming, zen-like aesthetic which is replicated in Warship Solitaire. The main menu of Waship Solitaire actually makes you think otherwise, as it has an attacking ship in the background – but wait till you get into the puzzle-solving.

Warship Solitaire is available for US$0.99 on the App Store only starting from January 15, 2015. Is it worth the US$0.99? If you’re a fan of puzzles and aesthetics that are well put together, yes.

7.5/10.

We received a complimentary code for Warship Solitaire for review purposes.

See: Add a moment of zen to your gaming with Taijitu