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

Each clue indicates how many of the 9 surrounding cells, including itself, must be filled with the current colour.

When solving multi-colour puzzles the second rule becomes important:

A cell that contains a clue is either empty or filled with that same colour.

For more informations check the in-game Tutorial. Enjoy Picma Squared!

Basic usage

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

Marking empty squares only applies to the current colour.

Colour selection

Click the coloured icons (located in the bottom left corner of the screen) to select each colour.

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 blue button to toggle Pan mode, then click and drag the grid into the desired position.

Shortcuts: Pressing and holding "Ctrl" will temporarily activate Pan mode. You can also use the "W", "A", "S", and "D" keys to respectively move the grid up, left, down and right.

Zoom In/Out

Click the larger yellow button to zoom in, click the smaller one to zoom out.

Pause

Click the watch to pause. Clicking outside of the game will also stop the timer.

Shortcut: P

Hint

Click the "Hint" button and then select a cell to have itself and the 8 surrounding cells automatically solved. Click the button again to cancel. One use only.

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 Squared puzzles must follow a few constraints in order to be solvable. As a result, not all pictures can become a puzzle.

The validation tool embedded in the editor will automatically check images for the required technical aspects.

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.

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.