Pocket Games
Nonogram
The numbers beside each row tell you how many filled squares there are and in what order, not where. You make progress by ruling things out: the cells a block cannot occupy are worth more than the ones it can, and when the arithmetic is done a picture comes out.
What the clues mean
Every row and every column has a sequence of numbers in front of it. Those numbers are the runs of consecutive filled squares, in the order they appear, separated by at least one empty square.
A row of 10 marked 4 2 contains four filled squares in a row, then at least one empty, then two filled in a row. You do not know where: you know that much, and in that order. Fill in the right cells and a picture emerges, which is also the quickest way to notice a mistake — when the result looks like nothing, something is wrong.
Cells get marked two ways, and using both matters: filled for the ones you are sure about, crossed for the ones you have ruled out. A puzzle solved with filled cells only becomes impossible halfway through, because the exclusions are half the information.
The techniques you need
Overlap. This is always where you start. In a row of 10 with a run of 8: push the run all the way left and note where it lands, then push it all the way right. The cells covered in both cases are filled for certain, whatever happens. With 10 and 8 that is six free cells. Rule of thumb: it works whenever a run is longer than half the row.
Counting from the edges. If the first clue in a row is 3 and the first cell is filled, then the first three are filled and the fourth is empty: the run cannot be any longer. It works from all four directions, and it is the technique that makes the best use of information you have just gained.
The trapped run. If you have an isolated filled cell between two crosses and the free space is shorter than the run that should go there, that run does not fit: cross the whole space out. Big grids almost always break open this way.
Completion. When the sum of a row’s clues plus the mandatory gaps between them equals the length of the row, the row is already determined: fill it in without thinking.
How it works on Pocket Games
You play through levels, and the grid grows as you go: the first fifty levels are 5×5, then 6×6, climbing all the way to 15×15. The level you reach and your best time for each size are saved, and with a Google account you find them on your other device too.
Below the grid there is a tool selector: pencil to fill, cross to rule out. Pick the tool, tap the cell.
The game does not let you be wrong quietly, though: you have three lives, and every cell marked incorrectly costs one — the cell is immediately corrected, so you see what the right answer was. When a row or a column is complete, the empty cells left in it are crossed out automatically. There is one free hint per level that solves a cell of your choosing.
Grids are generated on your device, so you can play with no connection, and a level in progress saves itself if you close halfway through.
Advice for not getting bogged down
- Start with the rows that have the biggest numbers, not the ones at the top. They are the only ones where overlap gives you something straight away.
- After every cell you fill, look at the column crossing it. The game moves in crossings: a row gives you a cell, that cell unlocks a column, that column unlocks two more rows.
- Mark the crosses. It feels like wasted time and it is the opposite: they are what makes trapped runs visible.
- If you are stuck, re-check a row you have already "finished". Nine times out of ten the mistake is there, in a miscounted run.
- Never guess. A well-generated puzzle always closes by deduction, and a square placed at random costs twenty minutes of downstream errors.
Frequently asked questions
Are nonograms, picross and griddlers the same thing?
Yes. The name depends on where and when you first met them: they were invented in Japan in the 1980s and reached Europe as griddlers, then arrived on consoles as Picross.
Do I need to count quickly?
No, the sums involved are tiny. What you actually need is the patience to mark exclusions instead of holding them in your head.
Why does a picture appear?
Because the solution is a black-and-white image: it is how these puzzles confirm that everything adds up.
Is level 30 always the same grid?
No: the level number decides how big the grid is, but the picture is generated fresh every time. Replaying a level does not mean replaying the same puzzle.
What happens if I run out of lives?
The level closes and starts again. Three lives are plenty if you only mark cells you have deduced: you lose them when you take a chance.
More games to try
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