Play nonograms free online

A nonogram is a picture hidden in a grid. The numbers beside each row and above each column tell you how many squares to fill in that line, and in what groups. Fill the right squares and the picture appears. Choose Easy (8 by 8), Medium (10 by 10) or Hard (15 by 15). Every puzzle here has exactly one answer, and you can always reach it one row or column at a time, so you never have to guess: the computer works each puzzle through before you see it. There is nothing to sign up for, and a puzzle you start is saved in this browser.

Want the same puzzle as everyone else? Play the daily nonogram, a new one every day with a streak to keep.

How to play

The numbers are called clues. Each one is a block: a run of filled squares side by side. The clue 3 1 beside a row means that, reading from left to right, the row has a block of three filled squares, then at least one empty square, then a single filled square. Column clues read from top to bottom the same way. A 0 means the whole line is empty.

The blocks keep their order. In a row marked 3 1 the block of three always comes before the single square.
There is always a gap. Two blocks in the same line never touch, or they would be one longer block.
The edges are free. A block may start right at the edge, and there can be any number of empty squares before, between and after the blocks.

Begin with the lines whose clues nearly fill them, cross out the squares you know are empty, and go back and forth between rows and columns. Our guide to solving nonograms shows each step with pictures.

Controls

Tap a square to fill it, and tap it again to clear it. Drag along a row or a column to fill several squares at once. Switch to Cross to mark squares you know are empty: crosses are your own notes, and you never have to cross out every empty square to finish. With a mouse, the right button always crosses out. When a row or column holds exactly the blocks its clue asks for, its numbers fade, so you can see what is left to do.

With a keyboard, the arrow keys move around the grid. Space or F fills the square, X crosses it out, and Backspace clears it. Hold Shift with an arrow to carry a fill or a cross along the line. U undoes and H asks for a hint.

Two tools help when you are stuck, and the result says when you used them. Hint finds a row or column you can settle now, marks those squares for you and says why in one plain sentence; if one of your marks is wrong, it finds that first. Check shows in red any square you have filled or crossed out by mistake, without giving anything else away. A clue turns red as soon as your marks make it impossible.

Easy, medium and hard nonograms

Easy puzzles are 8 by 8, with big squares and pictures that fill much of the grid, so the clues are long and many lines can be settled straight away. A good place to learn.
Medium puzzles are 10 by 10. Fewer lines give themselves away at the start, and you will go back and forth between rows and columns more often.
Hard puzzles are 15 by 15, with more, shorter blocks. Expect to work with the edges and to cross out a lot before the picture shows itself.

Each picture is a pattern drawn by the computer with a mirror line or a turn through the middle, so once one side takes shape, the other often follows. At every size there is one answer and a way to reach it without guessing. On a phone, Easy and Medium give the largest squares; Hard is easiest on a tablet or a computer.

What is a nonogram?

Nonograms were invented in Japan in the late 1980s and spread through newspapers and puzzle magazines in the 1990s. The name joins the first name of Non Ishida, one of the puzzle’s inventors, with “gram”, as in diagram. You may know them as griddlers, hanjie, paint by numbers, pic-a-pix or picture logic puzzles: the rules are the same. Like sudoku, they need no arithmetic beyond small sums and no knowledge of words, just patience and a little reasoning, which is why many people find them a calm way to spend twenty minutes.

Tips for beginners

Start with the big numbers. In a row of 10, a block of 6 or more always covers some middle squares, wherever it sits.
Add up the clue. Add the blocks and one gap between each. If that equals the width, the row fits only one way.
Cross out freely. A cross is as useful as a fill: it tells the line crossing it that a block cannot pass there.
Finish lines. When a row has all its blocks, cross out the rest of it straight away.
Use Check before you are lost. One early slip can make every line after it look impossible. A red clue is the first sign.