Nonograms

What is Nonograms?

Rocket Nonograms is a picture logic puzzle you play in your browser on phone, tablet or computer. The numbers beside each row and above each column tell you the lengths of the runs of filled cells in that line, in order. Use them to work out which cells are filled and which are empty, and a hidden pixel-art picture appears. Finish it and the picture lights up in full colour and goes into your album.

There's a new daily puzzle every day, the same for everyone, with a streak and a daily leaderboard. You can also play as many fresh puzzles as you like at five sizes, 5×5, 10×10, 15×15, 20×20 and 25×25, and four difficulties. The album holds hundreds of original pictures in themed collections: space, animals, the ocean, food, nature, vehicles, home and fun. Every puzzle has exactly one solution and can be solved by logic alone, without ever guessing.

How to play Nonograms

1. The goal: fill in the cells of the grid so that every row and column matches its clue. A clue of 3 1 means a run of three filled cells, then at least one empty cell, then a single filled cell.
2. Tap or click a cell to fill it, or press and drag to fill a straight line of cells in one go. Switch to Cross to mark cells you know are empty, or to Dot to note a cell you're unsure about. On a computer, right-click crosses a cell.
3. A clue turns grey once its line is done, so you can see at a glance which lines are left. With error checking on, a wrong fill is flagged straight away; turn it off in Settings to play without help.
4. Stuck? Hint shows the next cells you can deduce and explains why, line by line. Undo and Redo step back and forth through your moves.
5. On a phone, pinch or use the zoom buttons to enlarge the big 20×20 and 25×25 grids, and drag with two fingers to move around. The clues stay pinned to the edges while you scroll.

Nonograms tips and strategy

• Start with the big numbers. In a 10-cell row, a clue of 7 must cover the middle four cells wherever the run sits: this overlap is the first move in most puzzles.
• Zeros and full lines are free: a row with no clue is all empty, and a clue that adds up to the whole line (counting one gap between runs) fills it exactly.
• Cross out empty cells as you go. Crosses are what let the clues of the other direction push their runs into place.
• When a filled run is as long as the biggest number in its line, it's complete: cap it with a cross on each side.
• Work back and forth between rows and columns. Every cell you settle in a row is new information for a column.
• Use maybe-dots to mark cells you're thinking about without committing, and Undo freely: there's no penalty for exploring.

Nonogram rules

A nonogram is a grid of empty cells with a list of numbers beside every row and above every column. Each number is the length of a run of consecutive filled cells in that line, and the numbers come in the same order as the runs, left to right or top to bottom. Between two runs there is always at least one empty cell. A line with no numbers has no filled cells at all.

When every line agrees with its clue, the filled cells form a picture. Nonograms are also known as griddlers, hanjie, paint by numbers or picture logic puzzles, and the rules are the same under every name.

Sizes and difficulty

Puzzles come in five sizes. 5×5 is a quick warm-up, 10×10 takes a few minutes, and 15×15, 20×20 and 25×25 grids are longer pictures with more to work out. Every size from 10×10 up offers Easy, Medium, Hard and Expert.

Difficulty is graded by the logic a puzzle needs, not by its size. Easy puzzles fall to overlaps and simple counting. Medium needs edge pushes and capped runs. Hard needs you to slide every run of a line into its leftmost and rightmost places, and Expert needs you to consider every possible arrangement of a line. The game solves each puzzle the way a person would before you see it, always using the simplest step available, which also proves the solution is unique.

The daily nonogram and the album

The daily puzzle changes at midnight and is the same for every player, so you can compare times on the daily leaderboard and share your result. Solve it each day to build a streak. Its size and difficulty follow the week, from a quick 10×10 early in the week to a bigger Hard puzzle on Sunday.

The album collects the pictures you reveal. Pick any collection, choose a picture you haven't solved yet and its puzzle opens; once solved it's shown in colour with your best time. Daily and unlimited puzzles go into a sketchbook of their own.

Nonograms FAQ