Picross vs Loomwork
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Picross
Solve logic-based picture puzzles by filling in grid cells according to number clues. Reveal colorful pixel art images, from animals to landscapes, with over 350 puzzles available. Enjoy a relaxing, ad-free experience with no timers or subscriptions.
- Over 350 logic-based picture puzzles
- Color nonogram puzzles with multiple colors
- Daily puzzles and weekly goals
- 'Name It' guessing game
- Living pixel scenes in 'Worlds to Fill'
- Relaxed and Challenge game modes
- Ad-free and no subscription
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Fill the grid, reveal the picture. Picross is a calm nonogram game with more than 350 puzzles, color picture packs, worlds to fill and a daily puzzle. No ads, ever. Each number tells you how many cells in a row or column are filled. Work out which ones, cross out the rest, and a pixel picture appears: a fox, a lighthouse, a Viking ship. Every puzzle can be solved by logic alone, so you never have to guess. 350+ PUZZLES • Free to play: First steps (5×5), Ten by ten (10×10), Halloween, the daily puzzle, a big weekend puzzle and the first 2 puzzles of every pack • Everything else in one unlock: Garden, Kitchen, Travel, Sports, Big pictures, Animals, Ocean, Space, Fantasy, Haunted, Grand (20×20), Panorama (25×25) and Epic (30×30) • Puzzles get bigger and deeper as you go, from quick warm-ups to hour-long showpieces NAME IT • Think you know what the picture is? Guess before you finish • Name it at half done or earlier for a gold early find • See how early everyone else named today's daily on the Game Center leaderboard WORLDS TO FILL • Ocean, Garden, Space and Haunted are living pixel scenes • Every picture you solve takes its place in its world, and early finds shine gold • Share your world as an image COLOR NONOGRAMS • Most packs use 2 to 4 colors, with colored clues • Runs of different colors can touch, which makes for richer pictures and new logic • Every solved puzzle turns into its full-color picture A DAILY HABIT • A new daily puzzle for everyone, always in Challenge mode • Your daily album turns each month into a scene; fill every day for a gold month • A weekly goal, streak freezes, and board themes you earn with your streak • An optional reminder, at most once a day • Catch up on missed days with Past dailies (in the unlock) PLAY YOUR WAY • Relaxed mode: nothing is checked, no pressure • Challenge mode: every fill is checked (your X marks never are) and you get 3 hearts; finish without losing one for a star • Hints that point out a mistake or fill in the next cell you can work out • Drag to fill whole lines, undo and redo, pinch to zoom on big boards FAIR BY DESIGN • No ads. No subscription. No timers or energy. • Hearts are never sold. Run out and you simply try again. • One purchase unlocks everything, and you can restore it on any of your devices. • No account, no tracking. Your progress stays on your device. Made by one developer who wanted a nonogram game without ads.
Loomwork
Solve logic-based picture puzzles with a calm and fair experience. Every puzzle is solvable by logic alone, with no guessing required. Enjoy a beautiful interface with original pixel art and seasonal content.
- Logic-based puzzles with single solutions
- No ads, lives, or penalty for wrong marks
- Over 280 original pixel art pictures
- Seasonal puzzle packs
- Color nonogram puzzles
- Intuitive touch controls for large grids
- Unlimited hints and undo
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Nonograms the way they should feel: calm, fair and beautiful. EVERY PUZZLE CAN BE SOLVED BY LOGIC Fill the grid from the number clues to reveal a hidden picture. Each Loomwork puzzle has exactly one solution, and a solver checks that it can be reached by line logic alone. No guessing, no 50/50s. NO ADS. NO LIVES. NO NAGS. No banners, no videos, no energy to wait out. A wrong mark never costs you anything. Choose Gentle (a wrong mark shows in soft red at once) or Classic (no checking until the grid is complete, as on paper). PICTURES THAT WEAVE INTO CLOTH Over 280 original pixel pictures, from 5×5 up to 40×40 showpieces, among them a Floating World of Japan, from a lucky cat to the Great Wave. Finish a picture and it weaves into its full-colour textile and joins your Loom gallery. SEASONAL PACKS Seasonal packs arrive through the year, each free to everyone in its season. A new picture comes out each day, with time after the last to finish them all. Weave a whole pack in its season and it becomes a keepsake quilt in your Loom. Pictures you start in season stay yours, and Loomwork Plus keeps every seasonal pack open after its season. PUZZLES WITH COLOURED CLUES In the colour packs, each clue number is coloured like its run. Runs of different colours can touch, and runs of the same colour need a gap, so colour becomes part of the logic. Paint with the puzzle's own threads. The free First Colours pack teaches the rules. BIG PUZZLES THAT FEEL GOOD ON A PHONE - Pinch to zoom and drag with two fingers to pan - Drag to fill a run, locked to its row or column - The row and column under your finger are highlighted - A magnifying lens shows the cells under your finger on big grids - The biggest grids open where their clues can be read, with the whole picture one tap away - Clue numbers cross themselves out as you complete runs, and finished lines cross off their empty cells - Lock finished lines if you like, so a stray tap can't change them - Soft, woven sounds and gentle haptics, each with its own switch ON IPAD TOO Play on iPad in any orientation, in Split View beside another app, in Slide Over or in Stage Manager. On a wide screen the grid takes the full height, with your tools beside it. HELP THAT TEACHES Stuck? A hint finds the next deduction and explains it in plain words, for example which cells a long run must cover. Hints and undo are unlimited (puzzles solved with hints are marked as assisted). ENDLESS AND DAILY - Endless: generated puzzles from 10×10 to 50×50, graded Easy to Expert, so there is always another - Each Endless puzzle is a named textile pattern, such as Herringbone, Tartan or Fair Isle, in one colour or in colour - The Sampler: a swatch book with a place for every Endless look at every grade, filled by the first one you weave - A daily puzzle, the same for everyone, with a streak and a calendar of the pictures you've woven - A daily reminder at a time you choose, if you want one (it's off until you turn it on) - A Home Screen and Lock Screen widget with today's puzzle and your streak - iCloud sync keeps your pictures, bests and streak in step across your devices - Times, bests and your solve history in Stats LOOKS THE PART Linen light theme and Indigo Night dark theme, both free, following your phone. Text scales with your system text size. LOOMWORK PLUS (ONE-TIME PURCHASE) Every picture pack and colour pack, every seasonal pack after its season, Endless from 20×20 to 50×50 in one colour and in colour, the Rosewater, Saffron and Graphite themes, your full solve history and the daily archive. The free game includes First Threads, the Garden and Kitchen packs, the First Colours colour pack, each seasonal pack in its season, the daily, Endless up to 15×15 in one colour and in colour, and every control and assist. Loomwork collects no data and works fully offline. iCloud sync keeps your records in your own iCloud account, not with us, and you can turn it off in Settings.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: Loomwork at free against Picross's free with in-app purchases. Picross's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.7). On price, ratings volume, update cadence 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
Both are free to download. Picross sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Loomwork sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Picross holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 3 respectively.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.
| Parameter | Picross | Loomwork |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better | 4.7 (3 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 3 — better |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Weekly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 16.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 7 MB | 45 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Mohamed Ali | Brendan Pan |
Customer experience
Picross
Loomwork
In-app purchases
Picross
- Full Game$3.99
Loomwork
- Loomwork Plus$2.99









