Published by Kalmasca

Pastimes

Reveal Pieter Bruegel’s Children’s Games one cell at a time, alone or together.

  • Logic puzzle
  • 1–2 players
  • PC

About the game

Pastimes is a large logic puzzle set inside Children's Games, the famous painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder from 1560.

At first there is only a vast grid and numbers. Then, cell by cell, the painting comes into view: children rolling hoops, spinning tops, playing leapfrog, blind man's buff… until the whole scene reappears.

Colored regions emerging on the Pastimes grid

A quiet grid that slowly brings the painting back.

Pastimes gameplay on a vast logic grid
Close focus on a Pastimes puzzle region
A completed scene note unlocked in Pastimes
Pieter Bruegel's Children's Games revealed in Pastimes
Animated solo gameplay in Pastimes
Animated two-player gameplay in Pastimes
Animated region progression in Pastimes
Ping markers used to coordinate on the Pastimes grid

How it plays

The rule is simple: each number tells how many cells must be filled in the 3×3 square around it, counting the number's own cell. By cross-checking the clues, you gradually work out which cells to fill and which to leave empty.

The entire painting is one large play area, divided into scenes inspired by the different games Bruegel painted. Finish a region and unlock a close-up of the scene, plus a few lines about the game or pastime it shows.

Play together

You can work through the whole painting solo, or share the grid with a partner on the same PC. In split-screen, each player has their own camera, zoom, and cursor. With Steam Remote Play Together, that local co-op can also be shared remotely.

Local co-op split-screen in Pastimes
Pastimes accessibility settings with color blindness options

Accessibility

Adjust the theme, neighboring-cell highlight, cursor size, and color blindness mode to make the grid comfortable to read.

Key features

  • A vast logic grid to solve
  • The gradual reveal of Children's Games by Pieter Bruegel the Elder
  • Scenes to complete, with short historical notes
  • Fully playable as a solo experience
  • Local co-op split-screen
  • Compatible with Steam Remote Play Together