Show HN: Nonoverse – Nonogram Puzzles for iPhone and iPad

https://apps.apple.com/pl/app/nonoverse-nonogram-puzzles/id6748441182

by merelysounds • 12 months ago

4 2 12 months ago

apps.apple.com

Hey everyone! I built Nonoverse, because I couldn't find a nonogram[1] puzzle game where the levels are not randomly generated, that works well on an iPhone and that is free and user friendly (no ads, no tracking, works offline, etc) - something that I could share with friends.

I'm a fan of Simon Tatham's Portable Puzzle Collection[2] and the list of No-Bullshit Games by Stavros[3] (thanks!) - this app is my small contribution.

While building this I prioritized UX/QOL. You can drag to select, there's undo and redo, you can switch between filling cells or flagging cells as empty, etc. I hope the result is pleasant to use and fun.

I'd love to learn what you like about the app or whether you'd improve anything - this will help me plan future updates.

Check it out and tell me what you think: https://apps.apple.com/pl/app/nonoverse-nonogram-puzzles/id6...

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[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonogram

[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44691935

[3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38429080

merelysounds• 12 months ago

Some anecdotes from building this:

- I released this initially as an iPhone only app. Someone ran it on an iPad via compatibility mode, they were disappointed that the app doesn't use the full screen and they left a 1 star review. I wish iPad reviews only counted for universal iOS apps - otherwise the user is also reviewing the iPad's compatibility mode (and its black bars). Still, I like that the user left some feedback, I now added iPad support and I hope for some more positive reviews in future.

- I tested using AI to colorize the 1-bit pixel art - I got bad results. The colors were not great, plus the AI ignored instructions to leave empty spaces unchanged, which is unacceptable in this context. The images were encoded as text, which may have been a factor. Still, I remember being very specific and it didn't help. To those familiar with The Good Place, I felt like Michael asking for Eleanor's file: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BDtrzYNutY . As of now all puzzles are built by hand.

jfengel• 12 months ago

I don't have an Apple so I can't evaluate yours.

I use Nonograms Katana. It was Reddit's consensus on the best one. Its UX is OK. The biggest issue is that it can be tricky to exactly tap with a finger. It has a tool for using a cursor rather than your finger, but it's a bit clunkier.

It has the advantage of user-contributed puzzles. There are a lot of them.

The biggest thing I really want is a save-and-restore feature. That way if I'm forced to guess, I can more easily revert to where the guess was.

Good luck on your app.

Show HN: Nonoverse – Nonogram Puzzles for iPhone and iPad

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