🖼️ Picture Logic

Free nonogram puzzles online

Picture Logic is a free nonogram game, a type of logic puzzle that's also called picross, griddlers or hanjie. Each puzzle starts as an empty grid with numbers along the edges. Use the numbers to work out which squares to fill, and a hidden picture slowly appears: a cat, a rocket, a whale. It takes only a minute to learn, and big grids can keep you busy for much longer. Every puzzle here can be solved by logic alone, so you never need to guess.

What is a nonogram?

A nonogram is a picture puzzle in which numbers describe the groups of filled squares in each row and column. A clue of 3 1 means there's a group of three filled squares, then at least one empty square, then one more. Nonograms were invented in Japan in the 1980s, and they were named after Non Ishida, one of their creators. They became popular around the world, partly through newspapers and partly through handheld games, and many people now know them as picross, short for picture crossword. The word nonagram with an A is a common spelling, and you'll often see them called griddlers or hanjie as well.

How to solve a nonogram

Start with the big numbers. On a 10-wide row, a clue of 10 fills it all. A clue of 8 must cover the middle six squares, however you slide it. Count overlaps. Imagine the group as far left as it can go, then as far right. Any squares covered both times must be filled. Use the edges. A filled square next to the wall has to be the start of the first group, so you can fill the rest of it. Mark the empties. Once a line is finished, put ✗ in the rest. These marks are as useful as the fills, because they stop groups spreading across other lines. Keep switching direction. Each new square you find in a row gives you a new clue for its column, and so on until the picture appears.

Four sizes, from tiny to giant

Tiny 5 x 5 puzzles take about a minute and are perfect for learning, with simple pictures like a heart or a boat. Small 10 x 10 puzzles need real logic, and they open at 6 stars. Big 15 x 15 puzzles, which open at 24 stars, are long, relaxing and satisfying. Giant 20 x 20 puzzles open at 60 stars and can keep you happily busy for a good while. On a phone the board scrolls, so the squares stay big enough to tap: use the Move pencil to slide around. Each picture earns up to 3 stars: one for solving it, two for solving it with no failed checks, and three for doing that with no hints. When you finish, the picture appears in colour and joins your collection on the puzzle menu.

Why people love picture puzzles

Nonograms mix the calm of colouring with the thrill of solving something. There's no timer here, so you can go at your own pace and come back to a puzzle later. They build careful reasoning and concentration, and the reveal at the end is its own reward. Children enjoy them because the answer is a picture and not a number, and adults enjoy them as a quiet break. You can also use them to practise for other logic puzzles, since the same habit of finding what must be true applies everywhere.

Handy tools

Drag across squares to fill many at once. Use Undo if you change your mind. The Check button tells you how many squares don't fit, without showing you which ones, and the Hint button fixes a wrong square or fills in a right one. Grey numbers show that a line matches its clue, but be careful: a line can match its clue and still be in the wrong place, so check it against the other direction too.

A worked example

Take a 5 x 5 grid and a row with the clue 4. Four squares in a five-wide row can start at the first square or the second. Either way, the middle three squares are covered, so fill those now, even though you don't know where the group ends. Now say a column running through the left side has the clue 1 and you've worked out that it's already used further down. Then that left square of your row must be empty, so mark it with a ✗, and the group of four has to end at the far right. That single step gave you a fourth fill and a new empty square, and each of those is a fresh clue for the columns they sit in. Solving a nonogram is just this, again and again: slide each group in your mind, fill the part that's always covered, and pass what you learn across to the other direction.

Nonograms for kids and classrooms

Picture Logic suits children from about seven, once they can count confidently. Start with the 5 x 5 puzzles together, and talk through each step: why must this square be filled? Why can't that one be? There's no time limit, no lives to lose and no reading needed once the rule is clear, so it's a gentle way to introduce logical reasoning. Teachers can put a tiny puzzle on a shared screen as a morning starter, with the class calling out which squares must be filled. Because the reward is a picture, children stay motivated to finish, and the collection on the menu gives them something to build up over time.

More logic puzzles

If you like logic, try Logic Grid Detective, Battleship Solitaire or Number Nine. If you just want to colour, visit the Coloring Games. Every puzzle is on the Brain Games page.

Free and safe

Picture Logic is free to play, with no download, no sign-up and nothing to buy. There is no chat, and your progress is saved only on your own device. See the Parents & Safety page for more.

Frequently asked questions