Hungry Cat Nonogram (originally Hungry Cat Picross) is a puzzle video game, developed by Tuesday Quest for the smart devices. The game features a variety of color nonograms, assorted in an art gallery aesthetics. The game's mascot is Hungry Cat, which was featured in the studio's previous game Hungry Cat Mahjong. The game's full title was changed to Hungry Cat Picross: Purrfect Edition in June 2018, after receiving the titular major update. The game got its current name on March 2021, after the game was removed from App Store and North American Google Play due to a trademark infringement flag (supposedly from Nintendo).
Overview[]
The gameplay is generally color nonogram, with a twist: There are circled and non-circled numbers. Circled number(s) in a row/column indicate that there should be continuous group of the color in the row/column, while non-circled numbers indicate that there should be at least a break in the continuity of the color. There are "Magic Brushes" serving as hints, each revealing a full row and column, related to the cell chosen. Magic Brushes could be earned in bonus chests, or via in-app purchase.
There is no penalty for filling the cells wrong, but in case of any mistake, an error warning in shape of a red ! sign appears on the row/column where the mistake is happened. Filling a bunch of cells correctly in a short amount of time makes a random cell glitter (referred as Gold Tiles) which filling it correctly rewards the player with a few coins.
The game provides a new puzzle each Tuesday. Each weekly puzzle is available in a limited time - only within the week - but at the end of the year, all 52 weekly puzzles of the year are added to the 'Tuesday Seasons' section for permanent play. The size of the classic painting would range from 5×5 up to 10×15, and each weekly puzzle is consisted of 9 (10×15) puzzles.
Solving more puzzles increases the player's level. Bonus chests could be earned by leveling up, completion of a set (a gallery of Classic Paintings / a single Fresco / a weekly puzzle during its initial availability), earning the achievements, or watching an ad (ads could be watched once per 3 hours). Bonus chests may include Magic Brushes, coins, items for customizing Hungry Cat, or fishes for feeding him. Coins could be used for purchasing more customization items; If an item is earned that the player already has, coins are rewarded in place of it.
For unknown reasons (either due to the sense of humor, or due to getting rid of copyright issues) the solved puzzles show a little description as the answer, instead of the exact name.
The Purrfect Edition update added more elements to the game, such as gigantic Frescoes, which are consisted of 40 (10×15) puzzles, and fishes for 'feeding' Hungry Cat, resulting in a little chunk of level increase. Fishes could be earned in chests, or purchased with coins. There are two types of fish: Sardine Tin (costs 10 coins), and Super Fish (costs 50 coins), which has a stronger level-up.
The mode Picromania (aka Madness) is a time attack mode where the player should solve as many as possible randomly-generated grids, with the first four one being 5×5 and then the others being 10×10. The gameplay is much reminiscent of the arcade nonogram video games (e.g. Logic Pro series), with items such as time extension chip, Extra Points chip, or Madness Magic Brush (later replaced by Magic Yarn Ball, which unravels in a polygonal line consisting of a few cells) randomly approaching the grids. Similar to the normal game, keeping the streak of correct cells increases the probability of the item drop.