I have certainly heard of mosaics but I did not know that it is a type of computer games as well. More specifically the World’s Greatest Places Mosaics is an interesting combination of a sudoku -type numbers game and “drawing” with tiles. So apparently there is a word that describes exactly these kind of games and they are known as nonograms. This was really the first time I’ve heard of the term and the reason why I had to look it up is that these games are so damn difficult. In other words, I was not making any progress and was trying to find some help online. If you are a regular reader, you have probably figured out already that I am not a big fan of puzzle games. That being said, I do like to try out different things and Worlds Greatest Places Mosaics was definitely fitting into that “let’s just try it out” -category. These nonograms originated from Japan and typically they are grids with an underlying image which can be figured out by deducting the “correct” blocks from the numbers on the rows and columns. Again, this is one of those games that is really difficult the describe and just have to be played to understand fully.

So, long story short. I started playing this puzzle and realized that I can’t even crack the first the level on the easiest difficulty. As I said, I’m not a big fan of puzzle games, but I like to think I am pretty good at computer games in general, whatever the genre. This was just too much. Think of Minesweeper but a lot more difficult. You are trying to figure out “blocks” from the numbers on each row and column and on top of that you have three colours which correspond to different areas. So a little bit more reading I found out that there are several “solution” techniques and it probably becomes a lot easier once you know how to apply them. But for a casual gamer like me, this is way too much. I do not understand people who enjoy Sudoku either, that’s like having fun with Excel in my mind. What I learned that even if this game is about revealing the underlying image, you should never trust your guts. In other words, do not try to guess where the blocks are. By definition nonograms are logic puzzles and you are very like to make a mistake if you do not check properly. And if you make too many mistakes, it is game over and start again.

The game itself is fine. The idea is to travel around the world to these magnificent places by solving the nonograms, it is just way too hard for me to personally enjoy. But if you are a hardcore fan of logic puzzles, go right ahead, you are going to love this game. It seems that there are several hundred levels, so this is going to be a giant load of puzzle entertainment for those who can enjoy.

After about a hundred tries, I managed to solve level one, see the video below.

World’s Greatest Places Mosaics Verdict

This a tough one to judge. Personally I actually hated the game, only because it is so freaking difficult (or I just dont get it). On the other hand, I can definitely see that logic puzzle lovers are going gaga over this. I will settle somewhere in between and give this a six out of ten. The gameplay is solid and this will provide hours of “fun” for those who can enjoy such.

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