Pixel Grid

Pixel Grid is a picross puzzle game — also known as nonograms or griddlers — where number clues along the rows and columns encode a hidden pixel picture. There are 200 boards in the campaign: the first twenty are hand-drawn patterns, and the rest are generated by a seeded system, so puzzle 137 is the same board for every player. Solve a grid and it colors in to reveal its picture.

Each puzzle is a quiet chain of deductions. You flip between FILL and MARK modes, painting the cells you can prove and flagging the ones you can rule out. Three hearts hang over every board — a wrong fill costs one, and losing all three fails the puzzle — while a running timer feeds a score that starts at 1,000 and rewards clean, fast solving. Two free hints can each reveal a correct square when a board stalls.

Difficulty climbs steadily: 5×5 tutorial grids give way to 6×6 and 7×7 mid-tiers, and the expert stretch runs 9×9 to 10×10 with denser fill patterns that demand longer deduction chains. A small board takes a minute or two; a late 10×10 can take five or more. There is also a daily puzzle — one date-seeded board per calendar day with its own streak counter, separate from campaign progress.

How to play Pixel Grid

Pixel Grid follows standard picross rules: the clues describe every row and column exactly, and logic alone is enough to solve each board.

Read the clue numbers: each number is a run of consecutive filled cells in that row or column, appearing in order, with at least one empty cell between runs.
Start with certainties — a clue of 5 on a 5-wide row fills the whole line, and any run longer than half the line guarantees some middle cells.
Tap a cell in FILL mode to paint it. If the solution says that cell is empty, you lose one of your three hearts.
Switch to MARK mode to flag cells you know are empty — marks are free and never cost a mistake.
Stuck on a line? Spend one of your two free hints to reveal a correct square anywhere on the board.
Fill every correct cell to finish — the completed grid colors in as the hidden picture.

Tips and strategy

Open every board with the overlap trick: when a clue is more than half the line length, the middle cells are guaranteed — a 7 in a 10-wide row always fills its center four.
Work rows and columns together — each fill adds information to the crossing line, so alternate directions instead of grinding a single row.
Use MARK aggressively: eliminating cells is as informative as filling them, and a mark can never cost you a heart.
Never guess while a deduction remains — every puzzle has a pure-logic solution, and a wrong fill costs both a heart and 100 points.
Speed is score: you start from 1,000 points and lose 2 per second plus 100 per mistake, so a brisk clean solve beats a slow perfect one.
Bank your two free hints for the 9×9 and 10×10 boards, where one revealed square can crack open a stalled corner.

Features

200 picross puzzles, from 5×5 starters to expert 10×10 grids
The first 20 boards are hand-crafted pixel pictures; the rest are seeded-deterministic, identical for every player
Daily puzzle mode — one fresh date-seeded board per calendar day, with a streak counter
Two free hints that each reveal a correct square when you're stuck
Three-heart mistake system with FILL and MARK input modes
Timer-based scoring out of 1,000 with saved best results per puzzle
Level progress, high scores and remaining hints stored in your browser, so you continue where you left off
Loads once and then keeps playing without a connection

Frequently asked questions

Is Pixel Grid free to play?

Yes — all 200 puzzles and the daily board are playable free in the browser, with nothing to install.

How many puzzles are there?

200 campaign puzzles plus a separate daily board. Grids grow from 5×5 at the start to 10×10 in the expert tier.

What happens if I make a mistake?

A wrong fill costs one of three hearts and 100 points. Lose all three hearts and the puzzle fails — marking cells as empty, though, is always safe.

What should I do when I'm stuck?

Re-scan the crossing lines for overlaps first; if nothing budges, spend a free hint to reveal one correct square. Guessing is the last resort, since every board can be finished by logic alone.