Comparison

JCross Nonogram vs The Magic Brush

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

JCross Nonogram

Solve logic puzzles where numbers guide you to fill in cells and reveal a hidden picture. Offers thousands of puzzles in various sizes with helpful tools like zoom and undo.

Highlights
  • Thousands of free puzzles
  • Multiple grid sizes
  • Zoom mode for large puzzles
  • Undo option
  • Light and dark themes
  • Portrait and landscape support
Features
Read full description

More than 100,000 nonograms, from quick 10×10 puzzles to giant 100×100 ones. Play at your own pace, with no timers and no limits: every puzzle is a hidden picture you reveal cell by cell. Nonograms (also known as Picross, Griddlers, Hanjie, Japanese crosswords or Paint by Numbers) are logic puzzles where a picture is hidden instead of words. Every puzzle in JCross has exactly one solution, and you can reach it with pure logic, no guessing. HOW TO PLAY The numbers on the left and at the top give the lengths of the blocks of filled cells in each row and column. Blocks are separated by at least one empty cell and appear in the same order as the numbers. Fill the cells you are sure about, mark the ones that must stay empty with a cross, and the picture will appear step by step. FEATURES • More than 100,000 black-and-white nonograms grouped by size: from a two-minute warm-up to large canvases for several evenings. • Hints: stuck? The game shows your mistakes or the next cells that follow by logic. • Pinch to zoom and pan, so even 100×100 puzzles are comfortable to solve. • Undo (up to 100 moves). • Automatic crosses and clue marks: less routine, more logic. • More than 20 color themes, light and dark. • Portrait and landscape, iPhone and iPad. • Share a solved puzzle as a picture, a link or a QR code. • Game Center leaderboards and achievements. • Your progress is saved to the cloud and synced across your devices. Detailed instructions and solving techniques: https://popapp.org/Apps/Details/3#tutorial Sign in to Game Center in your device settings for leaderboards and achievements. To save your progress to the cloud and sync it across devices, sign in to Game Center and turn on iCloud Drive.

About

The Magic Brush

Engage your brain with over 5,000 custom logic puzzles. This pixel art game challenges you to deduce numbers and paint squares to reveal hidden pictograms. Enjoy a fun and addictive experience with various play modes and difficulty levels.

Highlights
  • Over 5,000 custom optimized levels
  • Hidden picture reveal
  • Brain training logic puzzles
  • Easy to learn gameplay
  • Multiple play modes
  • Create pixel art
Features
Read full description

Logic puzzle game is always tricky? No way! Here comes pixel logic over 5,000 custom optimized level. Have you ever heard picross,hanjie,nonogram, pic a pix or griddlers? The Magic Brush is the funniest and most addictive pixel logic picross game ever. Picross(also called hanjie,nonogram or griddlers)is a deductive logic puzzle using numbers like sudoku,riddle or minesweeper. You will enjoy this joyful brain training with an amazing picture puzzle you've done. It is easy to learn and play this pixel logic in The Magic Brush! Paint some of the square(grid) depending on logic numbers. Complete and find a hidden pictogram(picture) you painting. Joyce the fairy of brush will do magic to make your picture looks great like an artwork. What are you waiting for? Download now and paint the pixel art puzzle NOW! Gameplay Features - The smartest logic game ever! - All stages have a hidden picture! - Over 1,000 stages to play! - Create your own artwork by completing stage and episode - Three modes of level selection in a stage for personalized play - With a choice of two play types (Home, Studio) by picture size for standard and hard play The Magic Brush is free to play but in-game currency and some items will require payment.

Screenshots

JCross Nonogram4 screens
The Magic Brush4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: JCross Nonogram at weekly against The Magic Brush's every 5 weeks. JCross Nonogram also leads on review sentiment (82% vs 71%). The Magic Brush's advantage is iOS requirement (9.0 vs 16.0). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. JCross Nonogram sells 6 one-off in-app purchases and The Magic Brush sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for JCross Nonogram against 4.6 for The Magic Brush. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 78 and 119 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 82% of JCross Nonogram's written reviews are positive against 71% of The Magic Brush's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

JCross Nonogram ships an update weekly, The Magic Brush every 5 weeks. Both last shipped on November 1, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
JCross Nonogram versus The Magic Brush: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterJCross NonogramThe Magic Brush
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (78 ratings) — better4.6 (119 ratings)
Positive reviews81.6% of reviews — better71.0% of reviews
Number of ratings78119 — better
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 5 weeks
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.09.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size39 MB95 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAmir KadyrovThe JoyPlus Soft, Inc.

Customer experience

JCross Nonogram

All ratings78 ratings
Positive94.9%
Neutral1.3%
Negative3.8%
Written reviews152 reviews
Positive81.6%
Neutral5.9%
Negative12.5%

The Magic Brush

All ratings119 ratings
Positive90.8%
Neutral7.6%
Negative1.7%
Written reviews31 reviews
Positive71.0%
Neutral9.7%
Negative19.4%

Bugs and requests

JCross Nonogram

Reported bugs

8 issues
  • App freezes and kicks users off mid-puzzle
  • Crashes when selecting certain grid sizes
  • Puzzle display obscured by notch on newer iPhones
  • Control buttons unresponsive at screen edges
  • Music continues playing after ads stop
Show 3 more
  • Data loss when reinstalling app
  • Unsolvable puzzles due to incorrect numbering
  • Display issues in landscape mode on iPhone XR

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ruler or row/column tracker for larger boards
  • Redo button for undoing undo actions
  • Hint system showing completed picture
  • Ad blocker in-app purchase functionality
  • Fix for music playback during gameplay

The Magic Brush

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

6 purchases

JCross Nonogram

One-time6
  • Turn off ads$0.99
  • XSmall puzzle solution$0.99
  • Small puzzle solution$0.99
Show 3 more
  • Medium puzzle solution$0.99
  • Large puzzle solution$0.99
  • XLarge puzzle solution$0.99
10 purchases

The Magic Brush

One-time10
  • 1 Hour Unlimited$0.99
  • 100 Gold$0.99
  • 3 Golden Keys$0.99
Show 7 more
  • One More Chance$0.99
  • 1 Day Unlimited$4.99
  • 510 Gold$4.99
  • 1,130 Gold$9.99
  • 5 Day Unlimited$11.99
  • 2,400 Gold$19.99
  • 4,900 Gold$39.99

Questions

Is JCross Nonogram free?
JCross Nonogram is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is The Magic Brush free?
The Magic Brush is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, JCross Nonogram or The Magic Brush?
JCross Nonogram is rated higher. JCross Nonogram averages 4.7 out of 5 from 78 ratings, while The Magic Brush averages 4.6 from 119 ratings.
Do JCross Nonogram or The Magic Brush have ads?
Both JCross Nonogram and The Magic Brush show ads.
Which is updated more often, JCross Nonogram or The Magic Brush?
JCross Nonogram ships an update weekly, and The Magic Brush every 5 weeks. Most recently, JCross Nonogram was updated on November 1, 2026 and The Magic Brush on November 1, 2026.

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