Nonogram Puzzle

A nonogram is a picture logic puzzle invented independently in the late 1980s by Non Ishida in Japan and Marianna Kye in Ukraine. You start with an empty grid and use numbered clues along the rows and columns to determine which cells should be filled in. When completed correctly, the filled cells form a recognizable picture — anything from a simple heart to a detailed animal portrait.

Nonograms go by many names depending on where you encounter them. Nintendo popularized them as Picross (short for "picture crossword") in their handheld game series. They are also known as griddlers, hanjie, paint-by-numbers, or Japanese crosswords. Regardless of the name, the core mechanic is the same: pure logical deduction, no guessing required.

This free online nonogram player includes 50 hand-crafted puzzles across five grid sizes — from beginner-friendly 5×5 puzzles that take under a minute, to challenging 20×20 grids that test even experienced solvers. A new daily puzzle rotates each day, scaling in difficulty throughout the week.

Start with the largest clues: Look for rows or columns where the clue numbers add up to nearly the full width of the grid. A clue of "8" on a 10-cell row means 8 consecutive cells must be filled — and the middle 6 cells are guaranteed to be filled regardless of where the block starts. This "overlap" technique is the foundation of nonogram solving.

Mark cells you know are empty: Use the X marker (right-click on desktop, long-press on mobile) to flag cells that definitely cannot be filled. This is just as important as filling cells — marking empties narrows down possibilities for adjacent clues and helps you avoid mistakes later.

Work from completed lines outward: Once a row or column is fully solved (its clues turn green), every unfilled cell in that line must be empty. Mark them with X and then check how those marks affect the crossing rows or columns. Solved lines often create a chain reaction that unlocks adjacent lines.

Use edge logic: When a clue's first number matches or nearly matches the grid edge, you can often determine exactly where the first block starts. For example, if the first clue number is 3 and the first cell in the row is filled, then cells 1 through 3 must all be filled, and cell 4 must be empty.