About Nonograms (Picross)
Play free nonogram puzzles online — the picture logic puzzles also known as Picross, Griddlers and Hanjie. Each grid hides a piece of pixel art. The numbers along the edges tell you how many squares in each row and column are filled, and in what groups. Use them to work out which squares to shade, and the picture appears square by square until it bursts into color at the end.
Nonograms are wonderfully calm: there’s no time limit, no luck and no guessing — the clock only matters if you’re chasing a best time. Every puzzle here has a single solution you can reach with pure logic, and each one was checked by a solver before it went in the collection.
Start with a quick 5×5, settle in with a 10×10, or take on a detailed 15×15. There’s a daily nonogram with the same picture for everyone, a growing collection of more than 140 hand-drawn pictures to reveal, and endless random puzzles when you want something new.
How to play Nonogram
- 1
Read the clues
The numbers to the left of a row (and above a column) list the runs of filled squares in that line, in order. A clue of 4 2 means four filled squares in a row, then at least one empty square, then two filled squares. A 0 means the whole line is empty.
- 2
Start with the big numbers
Long runs overlap with themselves wherever you slide them. In a 10-square row, a run of 8 must cover the middle six squares whether it starts at the left edge or ends at the right, so you can fill those straight away.
- 3
Mark the empty squares
Once you know a square must be empty, mark it with an ✕ (right-click, long-press or the Mark tool). Marks are the key to solving nonograms: they box in runs and show where the remaining blocks can fit.
- 4
Switch between rows and columns
Every square you fill or mark in a row gives you new information for its column, and the other way round. Work back and forth, and the clues fade out as each line is completed.
- 5
Reveal the picture
When every row and column matches its clues, the grid flips into full color and shows you what you’ve drawn. Solved pictures are added to your collection for that size.
Controls
| Input | Action |
|---|---|
| Click / tap | Fill a square (tap a filled square to clear it) |
| Drag | Fill or mark a whole run in a straight line |
| Right-click / long-press | Mark a square with ✕ |
| Fill / Mark buttons or T | Switch between the fill and mark tools |
| Arrow keys + Space or X | Move the cursor, then fill or mark (hold Shift to paint while moving) |
| U or Ctrl+Z | Undo the last stroke |
| H or Hint | Reveal a square the clues force (3 free per puzzle) |
| P or Esc | Pause and resume |
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Nonogram tips and strategy
Add up the clues
Add the clue numbers plus one gap between each run. If the total equals the line length, the whole line is fixed: in a 10-square row, 3 1 4 needs 3 + 1 + 4 + 2 gaps = 10, so you can fill and mark every square.
Use the overlap trick
For any run longer than half the line, imagine it pushed as far left as possible and as far right as possible. The squares covered in both positions must be filled. The same idea works on groups of clues together.
Work from the edges
A filled square touching the edge of the grid must belong to the first (or last) clue in that line. Extend it to the full length of that clue and cap it with an ✕.
Cap finished runs
As soon as a run reaches its clue length, put an ✕ on both ends. Those marks often complete neighboring lines and give the next deduction for free.
Clear the zeros first
Mark every square in rows and columns with a 0 clue. On pictures with lots of background, this quickly narrows down where everything else can go.
Drag to save time
Press and drag to fill or mark a whole stretch of a row or column in one go. A drag that starts on a filled square clears instead, and one drag is a single step for undo.
Let the hints teach you
Stuck? A hint fills in one square that the clues force right now and highlights the row or column that proves it — a good way to spot the pattern you missed. Hinted solves just aren’t ranked on the leaderboard.
Nonogram, Picross or Griddlers?
They’re all the same puzzle. Nonograms were devised in Japan in the late 1980s, and the English name comes from Non Ishida, one of the puzzle’s inventors, plus the word “diagram.” British newspapers began printing them in the early 1990s, and they’ve been a fixture of puzzle pages and books ever since.
Over the years the puzzle has picked up plenty of other names: Picross (short for “picture crossword,” and the name Nintendo uses for its video game versions), Griddlers, Hanjie, Paint by Numbers and Pic-a-Pix. Whatever you call them, the rules are the same.
Our picture collection and the daily nonogram
Every picture in our collection is hand-drawn pixel art — animals, food, vehicles, symbols and everyday objects — in three sizes: 5×5, 10×10 and 15×15. Before a picture goes in, our solver checks that it can be solved line by line using logic alone, which also proves it has exactly one solution. The collection screen shows the pictures you’ve revealed in color and keeps your best time for each, so there’s always a next picture to unlock.
The daily nonogram is a 10×10 on weekdays and a bigger 15×15 at the weekend, and it’s the same picture for every player. Finish it to extend your daily streak, compare your time on the leaderboard and share a spoiler-free result grid. Want something different? The Random button creates a fresh puzzle of any size that’s guaranteed to be solvable without guessing.
Timing, mistakes and leaderboards
Your score is your solving time, and the fastest times for each size and the daily puzzle go on global leaderboards. With Check mistakes on (the default), filling a square that should be empty turns it into a red ✕ and adds to your mistake count, and completed lines can be crossed out automatically. Switch checking off in the settings for the classic, no-safety-net experience.
Your progress saves automatically, so you can close the page mid-puzzle and pick up where you left off. If you like picture logic, try Minesweeper, Sudoku, KenKen or the Logic Puzzles grids, or explore all our puzzle games.
Frequently asked questions
What is a nonogram?
A nonogram is a picture logic puzzle. Numbers beside each row and column tell you the lengths of the runs of filled squares in that line, and using those clues you shade the grid to reveal a hidden image.
Is Picross the same as a nonogram?
Yes. Picross is another name for nonograms, best known from Nintendo’s games. Griddlers, Hanjie and Paint by Numbers are other names for the same puzzle with the same rules.
How do you solve a nonogram without guessing?
Work one line at a time. Look for squares that must be filled in every possible arrangement of a line’s clues (like the middle of a long run), mark squares that can’t be filled with an ✕, and use each new square to unlock the crossing line. Every puzzle here can be finished this way.
What does a 0 clue mean?
A 0 means that row or column has no filled squares at all. Mark the whole line with ✕s — it’s a free start.
Does every nonogram have only one solution?
Not all nonograms in the world do, but every puzzle on this site does. We check each picture and each random puzzle with a line-by-line solver, which guarantees a single solution you can reach by logic.
Is there a daily nonogram?
Yes. A new daily picture unlocks at midnight your local time — a 10×10 on weekdays and a 15×15 on Saturdays and Sundays — and everyone gets the same puzzle.
Can I play nonograms on my phone?
Yes. Tap to fill, drag to fill a line, and long-press or use the Mark tool to place an ✕. The game fits on phone screens and works on tablets and computers too, with no download or account needed.