The complete guide: how to read the number clues for rows and columns, fill in cells and mark empty ones with a cross, modes, checking your solution and controls on muta.pro.
A nonogram is a logic picture puzzle for one player. Using the numbers set beside the rows and columns, you need to fill in the correct cells so that a pixel image appears on the grid. The solution is unique and derived strictly by logic — no guessing. The game is won when the arrangement of filled cells exactly matches the reference.
Choose a field size — 5×5, 10×10 or 15×15 — and a level from the list on the right. In front of you is an empty grid: to the left of each row and above each column are the number clues. Solved levels are marked with a checkmark ✓, and your best time is stored next to it. The timer starts on your first action and stops when the picture is assembled.
Each number beside a row or column is the length of a solid block of filled cells. "5" means five filled cells in a row within that line.
If there are several numbers, the blocks go in the same order and are separated by at least one empty cell. "3 2" means three first, then a gap, then two.
Left click fills a cell (clicking again removes the fill). This is how you mark the cells that definitely belong to the picture.
Right click places a cross ✕ on a cell that is certainly empty. It is only a hint for you and does not affect the check — but it greatly helps you avoid confusion.
Solve starting from the most "dense" rows and columns: where blocks nearly fill a line, some cells are determined unambiguously. A completed clue gets crossed out.
After filling cells by rows, check the columns, and vice versa. Step by step the grid converges to its single solution.
The picture is considered assembled when every cell matches the reference: all the needed ones are filled and there are no extras. The "✓ Check" button highlights wrong fills in red and briefly shows how many cells are incorrect, after which it clears them. The results window shows the time, the number of mistakes and hints used; for a record time a "🏆 New personal record!" mark appears. The "Next →" button moves on to a new level of the same size.
Blocks that almost fill a line give guaranteed cells in the middle — start with those.
Mark the cells that are certainly empty: this way you won't fill anything extra and you'll see the block boundaries faster.
Solved a few rows — immediately check the columns. New information opens up the next moves.
In a nonogram everything is derived by logic. If you hit a dead end, look for a line with an unambiguous solution instead of placing cells at random.
The main nonogram technique is overlap. Mentally shift a block to its far-left and far-right positions within the line: the cells filled in both cases belong to the picture in any arrangement. You can fill them in risk-free, even without knowing the block's exact position.
A "4" block in a line of 5 cells: on the left and on the right it overlaps on the middle cells — those we fill in for sure.
The guaranteed cells are exactly "block length minus free space". A 4 block in a line of 5 gives 4−1=3 overlap, a 7 block in a line of 10 gives 7−3=4.
With a "3 2" clue, count the minimum length: 3+1+2=6. The remaining slack is the freedom the blocks have to shift.
The larger the sum of the numbers relative to the line length, the wider the overlap. Such rows and columns give the first correct cells without a single guess.
When a filled cell appears in a line, work from it. A cross at the edge or an already known block often pins the next block against the wall, and it is revealed unambiguously. The edges of the grid are the most fruitful place: there a block has nowhere to shift.
Clue "3" and the first cell is occupied: the block is pinned to the left edge, the rest of the line we close off with crosses.
Have a filled cell and a "4" clue? Count off four in a row in the possible direction — part of it is completed unambiguously.
As soon as the block length is reached, place crosses on both sides. This fixes the boundaries and opens up the neighboring lines.
A gap between crosses shorter than the nearest block — fill it with crosses: the block won't fit there.
When direct logic stalls, testing a hypothesis helps. Mentally fill in a disputed cell and follow the chain along its row and column. If a clue is violated somewhere — the cell must be empty; place a cross. This way the contradiction itself points to the right move.
If you fill in "?", the line will have a block of three cells instead of "2" — so there is a cross here.
Take not the whole line, but one specific doubtful cell. A short chain of consequences leads faster to a contradiction or confirmation.
Add up the not-yet-placed blocks with their required gaps. If the sum doesn't fit into the rest of the line — your hypothesis is wrong.
On a correct nonogram everything is derived by logic. If you have to guess several cells in a row at random — you missed a simpler move in another line.
Most failures come not from difficulty but from inattention to block boundaries and the order of the numbers. Let's break down the typical traps that cause the picture to "not come together" and the "Check" to highlight extra cells.