Nonogram.com Alternatives: Picross, Sudoku and Killer Sudoku

The closest thing to Nonogram.com is another nonogram game, such as Nintendo's Picross series on its consoles. If you want to stay on iPhone and get away from the ads and coins, the better move is a neighboring grid logic puzzle. Sudoku feels closest in how you think, killer sudoku adds the number clues back, and Crossmath swaps them for equations. Sudoku Royale plays classic sudoku with no ads and nothing to buy; it has no killer puzzles and no picture reveal.

Easybrain's Nonogram.com has been on the App Store since 2019 and has 196,139 US ratings. It is free with ads, and its listing sells Nonogram.com No Ads for $14.99. Its coins come in packs from Tiny Pack of Coins at $2.99 up to Enormous Pack of Coins at $99.99. People usually leave over those two things, or because they have colored enough pictures and want a puzzle with a different shape.

The App Store facts

From each app's US App Store listing, checked October 26, 2026. Prices and paid items change, so check the listing before you buy.

Nonogram vs sudoku: what carries over

Both are pure deduction on a grid, with one answer and no luck. The clues are where they differ. A nonogram tells you the lengths of the shaded runs in each row and column; a sudoku tells you nothing but the given digits and one rule. If you enjoy the moment in a nonogram when a long clue forces the middle squares of a row, you will recognize the same feeling in sudoku when a digit has only one place left in a box.

The biggest adjustment is the picture. Nonograms give you a reveal; sudoku does not. What sudoku gives instead is depth: the hard grids need named techniques such as naked pairs and X-Wing, which you learn once and use forever.

Habits that carry over

• Start where the clues are tightest. In a nonogram you begin with the longest runs. In sudoku you begin with the row, column or box that is nearly full.
• Keep track of what is left. Your X marks have a cousin in pencil marks: instead of ruling a square out, you note the digits a cell can still hold. In Sudoku Royale they clear themselves from the row, column and box when you place a number.
• Never guess. A good nonogram never needs a guess, and neither does a well-made sudoku. When you feel the urge, there is a pattern you have not spotted yet.
• Switch lines often. Solving one row in a nonogram opens up the columns that cross it. Placing one digit in sudoku does the same for its row, column and box.

What each alternative offers a nonogram player

The alternatives

Picross on Nintendo consoles

Picross is Nintendo's name for nonograms, and it has published several Picross games for its consoles. If you own one and want more pictures to uncover, that is the most direct swap. It is not an iPhone app, so we leave it out of the tables.

Sudoku Royale: the calm grid with nothing to buy

Our app. It is classic 9x9 sudoku with six levels, from Easy for your first week to Extreme, and a Daily Challenge with an archive of past days. There are no coins, no lives and no ads. A wrong number is rejected as you place it, a little like Nonogram.com's mistake handling but with no limit in Practice. The Journey takes you from the first rule to advanced techniques. Limits: no undo, no picture at the end, no killer or other variants, iPhone and iPad only.

Killer Sudoku by Sudoku.com: the number clues come back

If what you miss is reading numeric clues around the grid, killer sudoku is the nearest feeling. Cells are grouped into cages, each with a sum, and the usual sudoku rule applies on top. It is Easybrain again, so the ads and events will feel familiar. Our best killer sudoku apps page compares the options.

Sudoku.com

Easybrain's classic sudoku app, with the same daily challenges and seasonal events as Nonogram.com. It is a natural next step if you like the house style; it has ads too, and the same kind of one-time No Ads purchase.

Good Sudoku

Zach Gage's sudoku has a hint system that, per its listing, points you to the next technique, which suits a nonogram player who likes understanding why a move works. It sells a one-time full game unlock rather than coins.

Crossmath

A crossword-shaped grid where every row and column is an equation. It is more arithmetic than logic, but it keeps the feel of filling a grid until every line checks out. It has ads and sells coins, hints and a Premium item. See Crossmath alternatives for more.

When Nonogram.com is still the better pick

• The picture is the point. None of the sudoku apps reveal anything at the end.
• You want tournaments and seasonal collections. Its listing describes tournaments and postcard events. Sudoku Royale has a weekly belt league instead, which is a different thing.
• Grid sizes. Nonograms come small or large. Sudoku is always 9x9.
• Android. Nonogram.com is on Android as well; Sudoku Royale is not.

So which one?

For more pictures, look at Picross if you have a Nintendo console. For the same kind of thinking with no ads, download Sudoku Royale. For number clues, killer sudoku. Related reading: sudoku variants, Number Match alternatives and the full sudoku app comparisons.