family picross   Instruction Manual

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Controls
3. How to Play
4. Normal Mode
5. Random Mode
1. Infinite Random
6. Gameplay
7. Credits

Family Picross brings the fun of picross puzzles (also known as nonograms, among various other names) to the Nintendo Entertainment System.

Menus

• Directional Pad: Move cursor
• Select button: Credits (Main Menu only); nothing otherwise.
• Start button: Accept/Move on
• B button: Cancel
• A button: Accept/Move on

Gameplay

• Directional Pad: Move cursor
• Select button: Nothing
• Start button: Pause/unpause game
• B button: Mark Tile (Up→X;   X→?/Dot;   ?/Dot→Up)
• A button: Swap Tile (Up→Down;   Down→Up)

If you haven't played picross before, it's pretty simple once you get the hang of it.

We begin with a 5 by 5 puzzle. The numbers above the playing field represent how many tiles must be knocked out in that column. The numbers to the left of the playing field serve the same purpose for rows. Solving a picross puzzle depends on being able to properly decode these numbers.

Since two columns and a row in this puzzle have 0, they are not used, so we can mark them with the B button. The X represents tiles that you should not hit, while the question mark (or dot, with smaller tiles) represents tiles that you're not sure of.

With the rows and columns marked, we can now begin. The row with 0 tiles helps us solve the column with 3 and 1, since the only tiles remaining in that column match the numbers perfectly.

With that column taken out of the way, you can mark the remaining tiles in the rows with 1 tile as X, since the only tile has been knocked out. From here, the puzzle should be easy to solve, since the remaining tiles match the numbers on top of the columns.

Normal Mode can be played at your leisure, with mistakes not costing any extra time. There are 256 levels to solve (9 in the first demo), and your best time for each level is stored. The maximum time limit for each puzzle is 60 minutes (1 hour), which should be more than enough.

Random Mode features a life meter; Each mistake made will subtract one from this meter. Restarting will also subtract a life. (The game will prevent you from restarting if doing so would take away your last life.)

The last difficulty in Random Mode allows for infinite^* levels.

The goal of Family Picross is to uncover the correct tiles. The A button swaps a tile from up (or question mark/dot) to down. The B button toggles a tile's state between Up, X, and Question Mark/Dot.

Block Types

Up

The default block state. Some of these will need to be turned into Down tiles in order to complete the level.

Down

When you hit the A button on an Up tile, you get this. In Random modes, you may not be so lucky...

X

The X tile is player-placed, marking a spot that does not need to be turned into a Down tile.

Question Mark/Dot

The Question Mark/Dot is used for tiles where you're unsure of the state it should be. If you find yourself needing to take a bit of time for a puzzle, make sure to check for positions where you can use this tile, if needed.

Constant Down

The Constant Down tile is only found in Random Mode. (It is not in the current demo version of the game.)

Constant X

Another tile that's only found in Random Mode. The Constant X appears when you make a mistake. You aren't able to re-flip it, nor re-mark it (unlike the normal X tile). If you uncover this tile, you'll lose a life for your troubles.

Pause Menu

The pause menu allows you to toggle X Protection, restart the level, or quit. Please note that restarting in Random or Infinite Random modes will cost you one life.

Information shown includes the game mode (Normal/Random/Infinite Random) and puzzle size. The middle frame's contents vary depending on the game mode.

Normal Mode

The top line shows which level number you are playing. Below that, the level's name will be printed (if the level has been beaten before). Otherwise, the name will be replaced with question marks.

Random Mode

In Random Mode, the top line shows the difficulty and the current level number.

Random Infinite Mode

In Random Infinite Mode, the top line shows the current level number out of Infinite^*.