Squeakross: Home Squeak Home
Last updated: 2025-06-08
- Excellent entry point for Picross newcomers.
- Rewarding puzzle-solving and customization loop.
- Extensive, charming rodent customization options.
- Logic-based puzzles eliminate random guessing.
- Cute, cozy, and relaxing game atmosphere.
- Unclear puzzle results and lacking controls.
Verdict
Mostly positive
Summary
Positive 98% · Negative 2%. Score: 2 / 100
Positives:
- The game is beginner-friendly, with in-depth tutorials, adjustable difficulty, and helpful features that ease players into the Nonogram system. Quality of life features enhance the puzzle-solving experience, making it accessible for newcomers while still offering depth for experienced players.
- The core gameplay loop involves completing plentiful and well-designed puzzles to unlock customization options for a virtual home and rodent characters. This combination of puzzle-solving and customization provides a rewarding and engaging experience, with the house decoration adding a charming element.
- The game features extensive and adorable rodent customization options, including dressing them up and influencing their personalities. This, combined with the home decoration aspect, adds a unique and enjoyable layer to the Picross gameplay, with many players expressing their love for the rats.
- The puzzles are designed to be solved using logic, eliminating the need for guessing. This ensures a satisfying and fair puzzle-solving experience, aligning with the core principles of Picross/Nonogram games.
- The game is described as cute, cozy, and relaxing, with a peaceful soundtrack and appealing art style. This creates a chill and enjoyable atmosphere for puzzle-solving.
Negatives:
- The solved nonogram puzzles often lack clear resemblance to the intended objects, especially the smaller ones. Additionally, the game lacks advanced control options and the puzzles don't create recognizable images.
- Players report not receiving the promised endless supply of seeds. This is a specific issue that impacts progression or gameplay as advertised.
- The game's music is described as aggressively upbeat and repetitive, leading some players to disable it. This negatively impacts the overall user experience.
- A feature that some players expected, Mega Picross puzzles, are absent from the game. This limits the variety of puzzles available.
- Players find the gameplay loop becomes stale over time. This is a general sentiment without specific examples.
Gameplay:
- The core gameplay loop involves solving nonogram/Picross puzzles to unlock furniture, decorations, and costumes for a customizable rodent character and its home. The game also provides helpful, toggleable assistance options for new players.
- The game offers a substantial amount of content with a large number of puzzles available in different sizes. This provides players with plenty of gameplay and challenges.
- The game has control issues on Steam Deck when using a keyboard and controller simultaneously. This makes the game difficult to play on that platform.
- The game features a chill jazz-fusion soundtrack that enhances the overall relaxing atmosphere. This contributes positively to the player's experience.
- The game provides optional hints to assist players who may be struggling with puzzles. This helps prevent frustration and keeps the game accessible.
Performance:
- The game is optimized well enough to run smoothly on older or less powerful laptop hardware. This is a positive for players who don't have access to high-end gaming PCs.
Recommendations:
- The game is compared favorably to other Nonogram games on Steam, with one reviewer suggesting it's the only one worth buying and another recommending it as a follow-up to Pictopix. This indicates a strong position within its genre on the platform.
- The game is described as wholesome and addicting. This suggests a positive and engaging player experience, though lacks specific details about the gameplay mechanics that contribute to this feeling.
Miscellaneous:
- The game emphasizes the charm of rodents through customization options and presentation. Players can extensively customize rats, their homes, and even the UI with stickers. The game also includes rat facts, enhancing the lighthearted and cute portrayal of rodents, such as a gerbil wearing an acorn shell as a hat.
- The game offers a substantial amount of puzzle content. With 650 puzzles plus challenge versions, players have a wealth of content to engage with, providing replayability and long-term engagement.
