How to Solve a Nonogram: 5 Simple Tricks for Beginners
A nonogram looks hard the first time you see it. A big empty grid, and a lot of numbers on the sides. Where do you even start?
Here is the good news. You don’t need to be a maths person. You don’t need to guess either. A handful of small tricks does almost all the work, and once you see them, you start to spot them everywhere. Below are the five we use most. Each one has a picture.
If you have never played: the numbers tell you the groups of filled squares in each row and column, in order. “3 1” means a group of 3, then at least one empty square, then a group of 1. That’s the whole rule.
Trick 1: Push left, push right
This is the big one. Take a row and imagine the group pushed all the way to the left. Then imagine it pushed all the way to the right. Any square that is filled in both pictures is always filled.
Clue 7 in a row of 10:
Squares 4 to 7 are in both pictures, so you can fill them right away.
A quick way to use it: subtract the clue from the row length. Here that is 10 − 7 = 3. Now skip 3 squares from each side of the group. What stays is sure. If the clue is 5 in a row of 10, the answer is 0, so nothing is sure yet. That tells you to look somewhere else first.
Trick 2: Start with the easy lines
Some lines are free points. A clue of 0 means the whole line is empty, so mark it all with ✕. A clue that fills the line exactly is also free. In a row of 10, “10” fills everything, and so does “4 5”, because 4 + 1 space + 5 = 10.
So before anything else, add up each clue plus the spaces between the groups. If the total equals the length of the row, you can fill it at once. If it is just one or two short, trick 1 will give you a lot.
Trick 3: Use the walls
The edge of the grid is your friend. If the first square of a row is filled, the first group must start right there. So you know exactly where it ends, and the next square must be empty.
Clue 3 2, and the first square is already filled:
The 3 has to start at the wall. Fill it, then put ✕ right after it.
This works in the middle too, next to a ✕. A ✕ acts just like a wall.
Trick 4: Too small to fit
Look for short gaps between marks. If a gap is smaller than the smallest group in that line, nothing can go there. So the whole gap is empty.
Clue 3 2, with a gap of only 1 square:
The smallest group is 2. A gap of 1 can’t hold it, so mark it ✕.
Beginners often skip this trick, but it opens up a lot of stuck puzzles. The empty squares you mark with ✕ give you new walls for trick 3.
Trick 5: Switch between rows and columns
Every square belongs to one row and one column. When you learn something in a row, go straight to the column that crosses it. The new square is often the missing piece there.
So don’t finish one row at a time. Make one small step, then switch direction. Row, column, row, column. Good players move around the grid like this all the time, and it is the fastest way through a big puzzle.
When you are really stuck: In our game, the 💡 Hint button fills one square and tells you which row or column proves it. It never just shows the answer, so you still learn the move.
Why nonograms are good for your brain
Nonograms are pure logic. Every move has a reason, and you have to keep a row and a column in mind at the same time. That makes them good practice for focus, planning and patience. Many people like one puzzle with their morning tea, the same way others do a crossword.
We want to be fair with you: no game is proven to make you smarter or to stop memory loss. But a daily puzzle is a calm, screen-light habit, and finishing one feels great.
Where do nonograms come from?
Picture puzzles with number clues became popular in Japan in the late 1980s and then spread around the world. They go by many names. In German they are called Nonogramm, and you may also see Griddlers, Hanjie or paint by numbers. The rules are the same everywhere.
Practise now
Start with Easy 5×5 to try the tricks, then move up. There is also a daily puzzle that is the same for everyone each day.
More brain games: Sudoku, Arrow Puzzle and Mine Hunt.