For those of you looking for a change from killing aliens, high-speed racing, leaping over spike pits, or rescuing princesses, this may well be right up your alley. Yes, Grid Pix is a Picross clone and, amid the sterling presentation, there is a comprehensive guide detailing the rules of the game for the uninitiated, which are semi-regurgitated here for your pleasure.

Each puzzle is made up of a series of pixels on a grid, and starts off at a fairly easy to grasp 5 x 5 size, gradually getting larger as you progress through the hundred puzzles available. Around the edges are clues to determining which squares should be filled, based on a series of numbers. Each series indicates the number of continuous blocks of filled squares in multiple groups. So on a 5 x 5 grid, seeing the number 5 means all the squares in that particular row or column are filled. A zero would mean none of them are. Seeing 1,1 means one square filled, then a gap of at least one square, and then another square filled. It sounds complicated but you soon get the hang of the rules.

Controls are designed to make marking out the grid as simple as possible - pressing the Fire button cycles each square between filled, a cross (an aid to mark cells that can't be filled) or empty, and holding the Fire button and moving the joystick block fills in the direction you hold so you don't have to individually press the button on each cell.

There are no scores and no time limits, so you can take as long as you need to solve each puzzle, although there is the kudos of having the fastest time for completion. Solving one unlocks the next, and so forth until all one hundred are done.

I've been a fan of Picross for a long time, although it's a puzzle type oddly missing from the Commodore library until now, so Grid Pix is a welcome addition to the fold. The presentation really helps new players, being clean and crisp, with a handy play guide and dissolve effects on top, together with the password facility to return to where you left off.

Puzzles have been well thought out, starting small and gradually expanding to fill the entire available area, and if you find one too hard, you can always come back to it later.

Sure, once you've gone through all one hundred puzzles, you've only got your best times to beat, but reaching that point is going to take you slightly longer than an afternoon or two! By which time you may have forgotten how to solve them.

I while away the hours on these type of games on the daily commute and I love them. There's no pressure, just a bit of mild mental gymnastics to start the day. Gridpix is a particularly well-crafted version of the genre with the most soothing of soundtracks I've come across serving as great background music.

It's well thought out with a nice interface, progressive difficulty as the grid expands and good use of the essential password system. There's also the possibility of player-suggested puzzles being added at a later date which is a nice touch. This game has staying power!

The only real niggle I have is that the pictures are monochrome, it would have been nice to see some colour in there but it's not a deal breaker. A great puzzle game to while the hours away.

This might sound weird, but I'd never played a Picross game before this. As a result, I have nothing to judge it against, but I can say that it's a fine, addictive little game. Solving the puzzles is quite straightforward at first, but the pictures soon prove trickier to fathom out. I'm not often a fan of using my brain to play games, but this is a more relaxing way to do it and I found it really enjoyable to play in short spells. It's not a game for those who want fast action, but everybody needs some down-time and Grid Pix is perfect for whiling away a chilled-out Sunday afternoon or for unwinding after work on an evening. Do give it a go.

Presentation 80%
Clear instructions, good control method and a useful password system.

Graphics 70%
Plain, but very clear and they do the required job well.

Sound 80%
A selection of pleasant, soothing tunes.

Hookability 84%
It's quite compulsive - complete one level and you can't resist trying the next.

Lastability 75%
100 levels will last, add-ons planned.

Overall 82%
A splendid little Picross variant.