If you’re one of the many people who hate math then you’re probably thinking that a mathematic puzzler wouldn’t be your cup of tea. Chances are, though, you’d be surprised by just how entertaining and addictive Picross DS is.

Years and years ago, Nintendo released Mario’s Picross for the Game Boy, which for all extensive purposes bombed in North America. While the Big N decided not to bring the game’s sequel to the Americas after the seriously lackluster sales, thankfully it’s giving North America another chance to fall in love with nanogram puzzles with Picross DS. And if you give the admittedly simple-sounding-game a chance, chances are you’ll do just that: fall in love.

Picross challenges you to solve puzzles by using a bit of math and a bit of creative thinking. There are hundreds of puzzles in the game, and it features a wide variety of difficulties for players of all ages. Each puzzle starts out as a blank canvas – a grid. Outside of the grid-based canvas, each column and row has a number or numbers displayed next to it, signifying how many blocks of the grid you are supposed to color in. Using those numbers, you have to figure out which blocks to fill in (but you can also guesstimate fairly well by paying attention to the shape of the picture you’re forming along the way). If you select a block and it’s incorrect, an “X” will appear in that block. Additionally, since you have to solve each puzzle within 60 minutes, any time you select a block incorrectly you’ll lose a couple of minutes. However, if you correctly identify a block it will then be colored in. The goal is to color in all the correct boxes, eventually revealing a hidden picture of some sort.

Admittedly, Picross DS sounds pretty simple, but the game quickly hooks you with its just-one-more-puzzle nature, and it even gets incredibly challenging in the higher difficulties. It’s nearly impossible to solve one puzzle and just stop – you’ll want to keep playing and playing and playing. However, while it’s addicting, this is a perfect game to keep on you at all times, as it’s fast enough and accessible enough to play while you’re waiting for the bus, in the bathroom or during any period when you need to kill time.

Unlike many puzzle games, Picross DS has a wide level of appeal, and thus just about anyone can find themselves entertained by its rudimentary mechanics. There are some downsides, though. In higher difficulties, having to zoom in and out on puzzles, due to the sometimes huge size of the puzzles, becomes irritating and even a bit cumbersome. Worse, perhaps, because Picross is basically all about discovering what picture each puzzle hides, once you complete a puzzle, it has little to no replay value. There is a huge amount of puzzles to solve off the bat, but you probably won’t find yourself resolving puzzles any time soon.

Once you’ve completed all the puzzles in the game, there are some other ways to stay entertained. The game sports an online mode in which you can play other Picross addicts, racing to finish puzzles in the fastest time possible. There’s also local Wi-Fi play, which brilliantly allows nearby DS owners to play with you using a single copy of Picross DS. Meanwhile, offline, there is Daily Picross, which challenges you to solve a number of puzzles in a set time frame. Daily Picross is likely to become a favorite for all who pick up and play this picture puzzler.

You can even create your own Picross puzzles using an intuitively quick puzzle builder and challenge your friends with them.

Picross is indeed a very simple game at heart. However, like many puzzlers it offers entertainment in its purest, most elemental form. If you love puzzles games or simply want a DS game that you can keep on you at all times, you need to check out Picross DS. You won’t be disappointed.