Nonograms are amazing.
They’re Japanese-made like sudoku, but actually fun.
I know you agree.
They’re also very unique.
You get to exercise your numerical and logical right brain AND your creative left brain – at the same time.
If you haven’t heard of picross or nonograms yet, here’s a quick description:
Imagine a grid filled with empty boxes with numbers at the start of each row and column.
Actually, thanks to the power of modern screenshot technology, you don’t need to imagine. This is what it looks like:
Each of those small boxes are fillable and the numbers tell you which are the right ones to fill. Simple enough.
A single number means you need to fill that number of consecutive boxes like so:
If there are 2 or more numbers, then you need to leave at least a single box as a gap between filled out squares. For example:
The best part is, you get an actual reward after you correctly fill out all rows and columns.
“But, Geekygeek, the real reward of puzzles is the sense of pride and accomplishment you get from solving the challenge!”
What?
No, the real reward is seeing all those boxes you filled up come together to form a coherent cultural picture that you wouldn’t know how to make otherwise.
Your final picture when you complete a puzzle can be small, like so:
..or medium-sized:
…or absolutely huge:
Very kawaii.
Let’s be very clear: You don’t solve puzzles in nonograms. You make art.
Because much like the cocoons that human souls are, even hopeless voids built from darkness and scorch marks like this:
Can transform into butterflies like this:
With enough sustained effort.
Yeah that doesn’t make sense. The other examples were better.
Where to try:
- On PC/laptop: Nonogram.org
- iPhone/Android: Sky Castle Nonogram