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 every cell is settled without a single guess.
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.
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.
On Pocket Games
You play through levels, and the level number decides the size of the grid: fifty levels for each size, from 5×5 up to 15×15, which then stays the size of every level after that.
| Levels | Grid |
|---|---|
| 1–50 | 5×5 |
| 51–100 | 6×6 |
| 101–150 | 7×7 |
| 151–200 | 8×8 |
| 201–250 | 9×9 |
| 251–300 | 10×10 |
| 301–350 | 11×11 |
| 351–400 | 12×12 |
| 401–450 | 13×13 |
| 451–500 | 14×14 |
| 501 onwards | 15×15 |
- Each grid is generated on the spot and kept only if it can be solved all the way by reasoning one row and one column at a time. No row or column is ever empty.
- Below the grid you pick a tool, Fill or Empty, and tap one cell at a time.
- You have three lives. A wrongly marked cell costs one and is corrected at once, so you see what the right answer was.
- To win you only need to fill the filled cells: crosses are optional, and when a row or column is complete its remaining empty cells are crossed out automatically.
- There is one free hint per level, which solves a cell of your choice.
- You cannot skip a level: if you left one halfway, the start screen only offers to continue it, with grid, lives, hints and time as they were.
- Your records are the level reached and the best time for each size, listed on the start screen under Best time by size.
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.
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, look at the open rows, not the finished ones. Here a marked cell is always right, because mistakes are corrected on the spot: what is missing is never a miscounted run but a deduction not yet made.
- Never guess. Every grid closes by deduction, and a random tap that goes wrong costs one of your three lives.
Frequently asked questions
Is level 30 always the same grid?
No: the level number only decides how big the grid is, the pattern is generated on the spot. Two people on level 30 have different puzzles. You only get the same grid again if you retry it after running out of lives, or choose Restart from the menu.
What happens if I run out of lives?
In the app, once per level, you may be offered a video to carry on with one life. Otherwise, and always in the browser, the level ends and you can retry it: same grid, from scratch, with three lives, one hint and the timer back at zero. Three lives are plenty if you only mark cells you have deduced: they go when you start guessing.
How does the hint work?
Press Hint below the grid, then tap the cell you want solved: it is marked correctly, filled or empty, without costing a life. Pressing the button again before tapping a cell cancels it. Once the free hint is used, in the app the same button offers another one in exchange for a video, as many times as you like; in the browser there are no more.
Does my progress survive if I change phone?
Yes, with a Google account: the level reached and the best times for every size are stored on the account, and on the other device the higher level and, for each size, the lower time count. A level left halfway, on the other hand, stays only on the device where you started it.
More games to try
See the full list of games, or open Pocket Games in your browser: they are free and you don’t need an account.