Picma is a picture logic game. Your goal is to discover the image hidden within each puzzle using nothing but logic and three simple rules:

Each clue (the numbers at the top and left of the grid) indicates a group of contiguous cells filled with a single colour.

There must be at least one empty cell between each group of the same colour, while groups of different colours do not necessarily have empty cells between them.

Clues are always given in the correct sequence.

That's all you need to known in order to play Picma!

Basic usage

Click an empty cell to fill it with the currently selected colour/shape. The cross icon is used to mark cells as "empty". Click a non-empty cell to remove the colour/shape.

Colour/Shape selection

Click the coloured icons (located in the bottom left corner of the screen) to select each colour/shape. Pressing the Colours/Shapes button will toggle between the use of simple colours or varied shapes to identify cells and hints.

Shortcuts: Pressing "Z" will cycle through all available colours. Pressing the numeric keys "1-7" will switch to the corresponding colour. Pressing and holding "Shift" will temporarily select the cross/empty marker.

Panning the view

Click the "Pan" button and then click and drag the grid into the desired position. Click the "Pan" button again to resume play.

Shortcuts: Use the "W", "A", "S", and "D" keys to respectively move the grid up, left, down and right. Pressing and holding "Ctrl" will temporarily allow you to click and drag the grid.

Zoom In/Out

Click the respective buttons to change the size of the puzzle.

Pause

Click the watch in the top right corner of the screen.

Hint

Click the "Hint" button and then select a row/column to have it automatically filled. Click the button again to cancel. One use only.

Game Mode

Free Mode is the default and will not correct any mistakes. Supervised Mode will correct mistakes at the expense of a time penalty. You can toggle between the two game modes in the Options screen.

What if?

Entering "What if?" mode allows you to try out a partial solution. Changes made to the puzzle within this mode can then either be applied or discarded.

Display

You can view the colours within the game as a "Sketch", "Simple" or as "Shapes", allowing colourblind users to enjoy Picma. You can choose the Display mode in the Options screen.

Exit

Pressing the green X button in the right bottom corner saves your progress (if any) and exits the current game. You may resume play from the Main Menu.

It really is easier than you might think. Just think of a subject and start drawing! When you're finished you should name your picture, press the "Validate" button and then submit it.

Your puzzle will be reviewed and in most cases added to the puzzle library, making it available for others to play and crediting your account.

Puzzle review

Picma puzzles must follow certain constraints in order to be solvable. As such, not all pictures can actually become a puzzle.

The validation tool embedded in the editor will automatically check images for the required technical aspects, simply asking you to tweak any areas it finds problematic.

When you submit your puzzle it enters a triage area where we can review and if necessary tweak either the name or the puzzle itself.

Your puzzles appear under the "Own" tab, with those under review showing an orange outline. Only you (and us) can view those puzzles. Any submitted puzzles that are missing from this list have sadly been rejected.

Basic guidelines

While we do make occasional exceptions you should always try to follow these guidelines:

Recognizable image

To put it simply, your puzzle must actually look like something other than random lines or patterns, as these do not make a very interesting puzzle.

Limited text

Your puzzle may have some text, but it must always be accompanied by a picture. Text by itself, including single letters/numbers, will not be accepted.

Simplicity

In an effort to maintain some quality standards, very simple puzzles (particularly at larger sizes) may be rejected. This is however the least common reason for a puzzle to be rejected.

Given that many flags would not be accepted due to their simplicity, and in order to be impartial, we do not accept any (real-world) flags.

Fill-ins

Due to the way Picma puzzles are solved, complete fill-ins are trivial and therefore very boring to "solve". Always leave some empty spaces to make your puzzle more interesting.

Duplicates

We strive not to have any exact duplicates in the puzzle library. When found, the most recent puzzle will be removed. Puzzles based on game characters are the ones most prone to this issue.

Sensitive subjects

Our community is global and includes both young and old. Generally offensive puzzles, as well as those with obscene, political or missionary pictures will not be accepted.