Are nonogram and Picross the same thing?

Yes — Picross is Nintendo's trade name for its nonogram games. Together with labels like Griddlers, Hanjie and Paint by Numbers, they are all different names for exactly the same rules.

Where does the name "nonogram" come from?

From the puzzle's inventor, Japanese designer Non Ishida. British collector James Dalgety derived it — "Non" plus "gram" (drawing) — when he started publishing the puzzles in The Sunday Telegraph in 1990.

Are nonograms good for your brain?

Nonograms are built entirely on deduction, so they actively exercise logical thinking, sustained attention and working memory. Most players treat them as both a mental workout and a relaxing focus break.

About

What is Nonogram?

Nonograms — also known as Picross, Griddlers, or Hanjie — are addictive logic puzzles of Japanese origin. By using row and column numbers, you reveal hidden pixel art. It is the perfect blend of Sudoku and creative logic.

WHY NONOGRAM?

A nonogram is the perfect blend of sudoku and pixel painting: every move is found by pure logic, but the result is a picture rather than a table of numbers. Two rewards run in parallel while you solve — the small "got it" of every certain deduction, and the slow reveal of a hidden image taking shape cell by cell. That is why it feels as cerebral as a chess problem and as calming as a colouring book. Regular solvers read clues faster over time, quietly exercising attention, working memory and systematic thinking. And the entry barrier is wonderfully low: the three rules take five minutes to learn and your first 5x5 falls the same day — while finishing a 25x25 giant is a satisfaction of an entirely different order.

HISTORY

1988

Invention

Tokyo graphic designer Non Ishida designed these grid puzzles after creating pictures with lit windows in skyscrapers, publishing them in Japan in 1988. Around the same time, puzzle author Tetsuya Nishio invented near-identical puzzles independently.

1990

Getting the Name

British puzzle collector James Dalgety coined the name "nonogram" — from the inventor's name — when he began publishing the puzzles in The Sunday Telegraph in 1990. From those newspaper pages, the name spread worldwide.

1995

Nintendo Era

Nintendo brought the genre to console players with "Mario's Picross" for the Game Boy in 1995. The Picross (Picture Crossword) brand stuck so well that many players still know the genre by that name today.

2020+

Modern Age

Today nonograms are played in browsers and on phones by millions of people of all ages. Modern platforms like Nonogramly keep the genre growing by pairing classic black-and-white grids with colorful pixel art collections.

TYPES OF NONOGRAM

Classic (Black & White)

The original form: every cell is either filled or empty, in a single color. All the attention goes to pure logic, and puzzles can be generated at any size from 5x5 to 40x40. This is the main training ground for building speed and technique.

Solve a classic nonogram →

Colored (Pixel Art)

The modern take: cells are painted in different colors, and finishing the puzzle reveals a genuine piece of pixel art. The same logic rules apply, but the reward is visual — every solve feels like completing a tiny painting.

Browse pixel art puzzles →

OTHER NAMES

Picross

Griddler

Hanjie

Paint by Numbers

Japanese Crossword

Logic Art

They are all names for the same game: Picross is Nintendo's brand; Hanjie is the Japanese-derived name; Griddlers and Paint by Numbers are common in the English-speaking world; in Russia the genre is known as the "Japanese crossword". Whichever name you search for, the rules are identical — you reveal a hidden picture using the row and column numbers.

COMMON QUESTIONS

Ready to solve the logic?

Play Now →

Left click to paint · Right click to mark empty · Drag to select multiple