How to Solve a Meowdoku Puzzle, Step by Step

Oakever Games describes Meowdoku as a pure logic puzzle where guessing won’t save you: every cat has to be placed by reasoning, because a wrong double-tap costs one of your three hearts. This page shows what that reasoning looks like on a complete board, from the first cat to the last.

The board is our own example, not a Meowdoku level. It follows the three official rules exactly, and we checked by computer that it has one solution only. Real levels look different and are often larger, but the same steps solve them. If you need the rules first, read how to play; the techniques used here are introduced on the tips page.

What does the example board look like?

Six rows, six columns and six colored sections. We use letters instead of colors:

	1	2	3	4	5	6
Row 1	A	F	F	F	E	E
Row 2	F	F	F	F	E	E
Row 3	F	F	E	E	E	E
Row 4	B	F	F	C	C	E
Row 5	B	B	C	C	C	E
Row 6	B	B	B	C	D	D

The rules: exactly one cat in each section, no two cats in the same row or column, and no two cats touching, not even diagonally. On a board like this one, with as many sections as rows, six cats in six rows also means one cat in every row and every column. Tile positions below are written as row and column, so “r2c3” is row 2, column 3.

Step 1: Which cat is certain from the start?

Section A is a single tile, r1c1. Its cat has nowhere else to go, so that is the first double-tap.

Now clear everything the new cat rules out: the rest of row 1, the rest of column 1, and the tiles touching r1c1 (r1c2, r2c1 and r2c2). Clearing after every cat is the habit that makes the rest of the puzzle possible.

Step 2: What does the small section at the bottom tell you?

Section D has two tiles, r6c5 and r6c6, and both are in row 6. Whichever one holds D’s cat, that cat is in row 6, so no other section can put its cat in row 6. That rules out r6c2, r6c3 and r6c4 (r6c1 was already gone from step 1).

You haven’t placed anything yet, but this step matters more than it looks. Look at section B: its tiles in column 1 were cleared in step 1, and its tiles in row 6 were just cleared. Only r5c2 is left.

Step 3: Where does section B’s cat go?

r5c2 is B’s only remaining tile, so the cat goes there. Clear row 5, column 2 and the eight tiles around it, which removes r4c1, r4c2, r4c3, r6c1, r6c2 and r6c3 (some of those were already gone).

Step 4: Why do sections C and F now point at single rows?

Check section C. Its tiles in row 5 went with B’s cat, r6c4 went in step 2, and what’s left is r4c4 and r4c5, both in row 4. So C’s cat is in row 4, and the other open tile in that row, r4c6, is ruled out.

Section F is the same story higher up. Row 1 and column 1 were cleared by A, column 2 by B, and r4c3 because it touches B’s cat. F’s only open tiles are r2c3 and r2c4, both in row 2. So F’s cat is in row 2, and r2c5 and r2c6 can’t hold a cat.

Step 5: Which tile would leave a column empty?

At this point, column 3 has only two open tiles left: r2c3 and r3c3. Now imagine a cat on r2c4. It would rule out r2c3, because they share row 2, and r3c3, because it touches r2c4 diagonally. Column 3 would be left with no possible tile at all, which the rules don’t allow. So r2c4 can’t hold a cat.

This is the most useful test in the game: if placing a cat on a tile would leave any section, row or column with no possible tile, that tile is empty. It never costs a heart, because you do it in your head.

Step 6: How do the last four cats fall into place?

Once r2c4 is gone, every remaining choice is forced:

1. Row 2 has one open tile, r2c3, so section F’s cat goes there.
2. Column 4 now has one open tile, r4c4, so section C’s cat goes there.
3. Row 3 has one open tile, r3c6, which is section E’s cat.
4. Row 6 has one open tile, r6c5, which is section D’s cat.

The finished board has cats on r1c1, r2c3, r3c6, r4c4, r5c2 and r6c5. Check it against the rules: one cat in each of the six sections, one in every row and column, and no two cats touching, since every pair in neighboring rows is at least two columns apart.

What can you take from this example to real levels?

The solve used only five ideas, in this order of how often you’ll need them:

• Clear around every cat the moment you place it: row, column, section and all eight neighbors.
• Start with the smallest sections. One-tile sections are free cats; two- and three-tile sections narrow quickly.
• Watch for a section squeezed into one row or column. It claims that line, and everything else in the line is out. Steps 2 and 4 used this three times.
• Test a tile in your head when you’re stuck: if it would empty a section, row or column, it’s out.
• Look for the last open tile in any row, column or section after each change.

Bigger boards need the same ideas, sometimes extended: two sections that fit inside the same two rows claim both rows between them. The tips page explains that version, and common mistakes covers the slips that cost hearts most often. All guides are on the Meowdoku hub.