Picross
Loading today's picture…
What Is Picross?
Picross — known generically as a nonogram, or "Japanese crossword" — is a picture-logic puzzle. Beside each row and above each column sits a list of numbers describing the filled runs hidden inside it. Fill the right cells and a pixel picture emerges: a cat, a coffee cup, a spaceship. Nintendo's Picross series made the format famous, and the same rules work perfectly in a browser.
How to Play Picross: Reading the Number Clues
- A clue of 3 1 means, in order: a run of 3 filled cells, at least one empty cell, then a run of 1. Gaps of exactly one cell are mandatory between runs.
- A clue like 2 4 can slide left or right — but the runs keep their length and order.
- Use ✏️ Fill for cells that must be on and ✕ Mark X for cells you've proven are off (right-click also marks X). A clue's numbers turn dim once its line is fully determined and consistent.
- Fill every cell the clues demand — the finished picture is the win screen.
Picross Strategies: Logic, Not Guessing
Begin with big numbers: in a 10-wide row, a clue of 8 fills at least six cells no matter where it slides (the overlap trick — place the run as far left, then as far right, and the shared cells are certain). Combine overlapping runs, then mark X wherever a run provably can't reach. When a line stalls, its completed clue numbers tell you to X out the leftovers. Every puzzle here is checked to have exactly one solution, so there is always a deduction available — no coin flips required.
Picross vs Nonogram: What's the Difference?
None at all — nonogram is the puzzle's generic name (after Non Ishida, one of its 1980s inventors), while picross is the best-known trademarked brand, short for "picture crossword". Griddlers, Hanjie and Japanese crosswords are the same animal too. Whatever the name, the rules here are identical: number clues in, pixel picture out.