Nonogram
Nonogram: Quick Guide and Game Info
Nonogram is a logic puzzle where numbered clues tell you which cells in a grid must be filled and which must remain empty. Choose from 5×5, 10×10, 15×15 or 20×20 puzzles and use the clues along each row and column to gradually uncover the solution. And there’s a little mystery waiting at the end: sometimes your completed grid reveals a recognizable hidden picture, and sometimes it doesn’t. You’ll have to solve it to find out. If you get stuck, Prof. Marty can Reveal a correctly filled cell but your supply of Reveals is limited. The clock starts immediately, so once you’ve mastered the clues, you can also try to beat your Best Time for each board size.
About Our Nonogram
Evergreen Arcade’s Nonogram gives you four puzzle sizes:
5×5 with 2 Reveals
10×10 with 3 Reveals
15×15 with 5 Reveals
20×20 with 7 Reveals
The larger the grid, the more information you’ll need to combine before the complete solution becomes clear. Use Fill when you know a cell belongs to the solution and Mark to place an X on cells you’ve determined must remain empty. You can also right-click a cell or press and hold on mobile to mark it directly. But on tablet and mobile it’s more convenient to use the Fill and Mark buttons.
Made a move you immediately regret? Undo lets you take back your previous action. Every puzzle gives you a new grid to solve, and you won’t necessarily know what you’re uncovering while you work. Some solutions reveal recognizable hidden pictures, while others form more abstract patterns. That’s part of the surprise — you won’t know which kind of puzzle you’ve been given until the solution starts coming together. Trust the clues rather than trying to guess what the final pattern is supposed to be.
Choose Your Puzzle Size
5×5
The smallest grid is a good place to learn how Nonogram clues work. With only five cells in each row and column, deductions are easier to see and puzzles can be completed relatively quickly. You have 2 Reveals available.
10×10
The 10×10 grid introduces considerably more possibilities without becoming overwhelming. Rows and columns can contain several separate groups, so cross-checking the clues becomes increasingly important. You have 3 Reveals available.
15×15
At 15×15, you’ll need to keep track of much more information across the board. A clue that doesn’t tell you much initially may become obvious after you’ve solved several of the crossing lines. You have 5 Reveals available.
20×20
The largest grid is the biggest test of patience and deduction in our version. With 400 cells to consider, progress often comes from gradually combining small pieces of information rather than solving entire lines immediately. You have 7 Reveals available.
Game Layout and Setup
Every Nonogram consists of a grid with numbered clues along the top and left sides.
The clues above a column describe the filled groups running vertically.
The clues beside a row describe the filled groups running horizontally.
Choose Fill when you want to place a filled square.
Choose Mark when you want to mark a cell with an X to show that you’ve determined it must remain empty.
Your timer begins as soon as the puzzle starts.
The objective is to determine the correct state of the entire grid using the numbered clues.
How to Read Nonogram Clues
Understanding the clues is the key to solving a Nonogram.
A single number tells you how many consecutive filled cells appear in that row or column. For example: 5 means there is one uninterrupted group of five filled cells somewhere in that line.
Multiple numbers mean there are several separate groups. For example: 3 2 means the line contains: three consecutive filled cells, followed later by two consecutive filled cells. There must be at least one empty cell separating the two groups.
The order always matters. In a clue of 3 2, the group of three comes first and the group of two comes later. The clues tell you the size and order of the groups, but they don’t necessarily tell you exactly where those groups begin. That’s what you have to work out.
How to Play Nonogram
Start by looking for rows and columns where the clues give you the most information. Fill any cells you know must belong to a group.
When you know a cell cannot possibly be filled, mark it with an X. Then look at the crossing clues. Every cell belongs to both a row and a column, so solving part of one line gives you new information about another.
Gradually, uncertain cells become certain.
Continue working between rows and columns until you’ve determined the entire grid. You don’t need to guess your way through a properly deduced solution. If one part of the board isn’t giving you enough information yet, work somewhere else and return to it later.
How to Improve Your Nonogram Strategy
Knowing what the clues mean is only the beginning. The real skill is recognizing which clues already give you useful information.
Start With Lines You Can Complete
Some clues account for every available cell in a line. On a 5-cell row, for example: 5 can only mean:
■■■■■
There’s no uncertainty at all. Multiple clues can sometimes do the same thing once the required spaces between groups are included. These are excellent places to start because every confirmed cell immediately gives you information about the crossing columns.
Use Overlap With Large Clues
A large clue can reveal guaranteed cells even when you don’t know exactly where the complete group begins. Imagine a 10-cell row with a clue of 7. The group of seven could begin toward the left or toward the right, but those possibilities overlap in the middle. Any cells covered in every possible position of that seven-cell group must be filled. This overlap technique becomes extremely useful on larger puzzles.
More Nonogram Strategy Tips
Mark Cells You Know Are Empty
Xs aren’t merely for keeping the board tidy. Suppose you’ve correctly completed every required group in a row. Every other cell in that row must now be empty. Marking those cells gives you additional information when you look at the crossing columns. Sometimes knowing where a group cannot go is just as useful as knowing where it can.
Remember the Required Gaps
Separate clue groups must have at least one empty cell between them. If a row has: 4 3
those groups can never touch. Once you’ve identified the end of the four-cell group, you know the cell immediately after it must be empty before the group of three can begin.
Cross-Check Constantly
Don’t try to solve all the rows first and then move on to the columns. Nonogram works because the two directions interact. A filled cell discovered from a row clue may solve part of its column. That column may then reveal an empty cell somewhere else. That empty cell may suddenly make another row obvious. Progress often travels around the board in a chain.
Work From Certainty
If you can’t prove that a cell should be filled, don’t fill it simply because it looks likely. Move to another clue. You may discover information elsewhere that removes the uncertainty. Logical deductions are much safer than guesses, particularly on a 15×15 or 20×20 grid where one incorrect assumption can affect many crossing lines.
Even More Nonogram Strategy Tips
Solve the Clues, Not the Picture
As the grid develops, you may start to recognize a picture. Don’t let that tempt you into filling cells simply because you think you know what the finished image should look like. Sometimes there really is a hidden picture waiting for you. Other puzzles may produce a more abstract pattern. Either way, the numbered clues determine the correct solution. Let the picture reveal itself rather than trying to complete it from your imagination.
Need a Hand? Ask Prof. Marty
If you’re completely stuck, Prof. Marty can give you a nudge. Press Reveal and he’ll correctly fill one cell that belongs to the solution. Reveals are limited according to puzzle size:
5×5 — 2
10×10 — 3
15×15 — 5
20×20 — 7
A Reveal doesn’t solve an entire row or explain the next deduction. It simply gives you one confirmed filled cell. That can be enough to break a deadlock and give you new information in both its row and column. Since you only have a limited supply, it’s usually worth trying the surrounding clues yourself before asking the professor to intervene. He already looks pleased enough with himself.
Can You Beat Your Best Time?
The timer starts as soon as a new puzzle begins. Your Best Time is recorded separately for each board size, so a quick 5×5 solution isn’t competing with the time it takes you to work through a 20×20 grid. When you’re first learning, don’t worry too much about speed. Accurate deductions are more useful than frantic clicking. Once reading the clues becomes more natural, the timer gives you another challenge: can you recognize the useful deductions faster than before? You can also make things harder for yourself by trying to complete a puzzle without using any Reveals.
A Little Bit of Nonogram History
Modern Nonograms emerged in Japan during the late 1980s, with Non Ishida and Tetsuya Nishio independently associated with the early development of picture-based grid puzzles using numerical clues.
Non Ishida’s version grew from the idea of creating images on a grid and was later introduced to a wider audience outside Japan.
Similar puzzles became known under several names as they spread internationally, including Nonograms, Picross, Griddlers and Paint by Numbers.
The picture-puzzle element remains one of the most enjoyable parts of Nonogram. A grid can begin as nothing more than numbers and empty squares, then gradually turn into something recognizable as the clues are solved.
Our version keeps a little uncertainty in that process.
Some puzzles have a hidden picture waiting to be discovered, while others lead to a more abstract solution.
You won’t know which one you’ve got when you begin.
Prof. Marty isn’t telling either.
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