Picross vs Nonogram vs Griddlers vs Hanjie
There is no difference: Picross, nonogram, griddler, and hanjie are four names for the exact same puzzle — you fill in a grid using the number clues along its rows and columns to reveal a hidden picture. Nothing about the rules or the way you solve it changes from one name to the next; only the label does, depending on which site, app, console, or puzzle book you first met it on. (Paint by numbers and picture cross are two more names for the very same thing.)
Nonogram
"Nonogram" is the most common English-language name and the one used throughout this site. Despite the puzzle's Japanese origin, the word itself was coined in Britain by puzzle collector James Dalgety, who built it from its Japanese originator, Non Ishida — "Non" from her name plus "-gram" from "diagram." It caught on after The Sunday Telegraph began publishing the puzzles in 1990, and it's now the closest thing this puzzle has to a neutral, international name, which is why it's the default term in most English puzzle apps and books today.
Picross
"Picross" is short for "picture crossword," and it's the name most people recognize first — thanks to Nintendo's long-running Picross video game series (starting on the Game Boy in the 1990s and continuing through the 3DS/Switch era). If you first met this puzzle on a Nintendo console, "Picross" is almost certainly the name you know it by. The puzzles themselves are identical to any other nonogram.
Griddler
"Griddler" (sometimes "griddlers") is a trademarked name used heavily in UK and European puzzle books and magazines. It's a blend of "grid" and "riddle," and shows up often on printed puzzle-book covers and in newspaper puzzle sections outside the US.
Hanjie
"Hanjie" is another common name in the UK, used interchangeably with griddler in some puzzle publications. The etymology traces back to Japan (han-, related to "picture," plus -ji) — like several of this puzzle's other names, it reflects the format's Japanese puzzle-magazine origins in the late 1980s.
Paint by numbers / picture cross
"Paint by numbers" and "picture cross" are more descriptive, generic names rather than brands — used especially in casual mobile-app store listings, since they explain what the puzzle does (paint a picture using numbers) without assuming the reader already knows any of the other names.
It's all the same puzzle
Whichever name you know it by, the rules and solving techniques are identical: number clues next to each row and column tell you the length of each run of filled cells, in order, and every properly designed puzzle has exactly one logical solution — no guessing required. Every puzzle on Nonogram Hub, regardless of what you call it, follows these same rules.
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Is Picross the same as a nonogram?
Yes. "Picross" is short for "picture crossword" and is simply Nintendo's branding for the same puzzle type sold under "nonogram" everywhere else. The grid, the number clues, and the solving logic are identical.
Why does Nintendo call it Picross?
"Picross" is Nintendo's contraction of "picture crossword," the name it coined for its long-running video-game series that began on the Game Boy in the 1990s and continued through the DS, 3DS, and Switch. It's the same puzzle as a nonogram — only the branding is different.
What is a griddler?
"Griddler" (a blend of "grid" and "riddle") is a name used mainly in UK and European puzzle books and magazines for the exact same logic puzzle. There is no rule or format difference between a griddler and a nonogram.
What is hanjie?
Hanjie is another UK-common name for the same puzzle as nonogram, Picross, and griddler. Like several of the other names, it traces back to Japanese puzzle magazines from the late 1980s.
Why does this puzzle have so many names?
The puzzle format spread internationally through different channels at different times — Japanese puzzle magazines in the late 1980s, UK puzzle-book publishers, and Nintendo's video game series — and each picked its own name rather than adopting a single standard one. All of them describe the same mechanic.
Which name does Nonogram Hub use?
"Nonogram" — it's the most widely recognized neutral term in English. Every puzzle on this site works exactly the same way regardless of which of these names you'd use to describe it.