Solve Meowdoku

How to solve Meowdoku

Every Meowdoku! level can be solved by deduction alone. These five techniques cover almost every step, from the first cat to the last.

The rules

  • Put one cat in every row, every column and every colour region.
  • Cats can’t touch each other, not even diagonally.
  • Each level has exactly one answer, so a correct deduction never needs a guess.
A solved 5Ă—5 board: one cat per row, column and colour, and none of them touch.

Work with crosses. Every time a cell can’t hold a cat, cross it out. Most techniques below don’t place a cat directly; they cross out cells until only one spot is left somewhere.

1. Last open cell

Look along each row, each column and each colour. When everything except one cell is crossed out, the cat has to go in that cell. Then cross out its whole row, column and colour, plus the eight cells around it.

Row 4 has one open cell left, so its cat goes there.

2. A colour stuck in one row

If every open cell of a colour sits in the same row, that row’s cat must be that colour. Nothing else can use the row, so cross out every other cell in it. The same works for columns.

Every green cell is in row 4, so row 4’s cat is green. Cross out the rest of row 4.

3. A row inside one colour

The flip side: if all the open cells of a row are the same colour, that colour’s cat lives in that row. Cross out the cells of that colour everywhere else.

Row 5 is all yellow, so yellow’s cat sits in row 5. Cross out the yellow cells above it.

4. Two colours in two columns

Scale technique 2 up. If two colours fit entirely inside the same two columns, those two columns are used up by them. Any other colour’s cells in those columns can be crossed out. Three colours in three rows works the same way.

Orange and blue both fit inside columns 4 and 5, so those columns belong to them. Cross out the green cells there.

5. The cell that touches them all

Pick a small colour and look at the cells around it. If a cat on some cell would touch, or share a row or column with, every open cell of that colour, the colour would have nowhere left to go. So that cell can’t hold a cat.

A cat on either crossed cell would rule out every blue cell, so both are crossed out.

When you’re still stuck

On the hardest levels you may run out of obvious moves. Pick the colour with the fewest open cells and ask, for each cell, “if the cat went here, what breaks?” If one choice leaves another row, column or colour with no open cells, cross it out. The solver labels these steps so you can see exactly where the logic gets hard.

Get a hint for your level

Questions

Is Meowdoku the same as Queens on LinkedIn?

The rules are the same: one piece in every row, column and colour region, and no two pieces touching, even diagonally. Meowdoku uses cats instead of crowns. Boards from either game work in this solver.

Does every Meowdoku level have exactly one answer?

Yes. Levels are built so only one arrangement of cats works, which is why you never need to guess. If the solver finds more than one answer, a colour was probably read wrong from your screenshot.

Can I get a single hint instead of the whole solution?

Yes. The solver opens in hint mode: each tap shows the next deduction and explains it. Show full solution is a separate button.

What if the solver reads a colour wrong?

Tap Edit board, repaint the cells that differ from your game, and solve again. You can also send a report with the đź‘Ž button so the reader improves.

Does it work with Android screenshots?

Yes. Screenshots from iPhone, iPad and Android phones all work. A full-screen screenshot, not a photo of the screen, reads best.

Which board sizes are supported?

Every size the game uses, from 4Ă—4 up to 12Ă—12.

Is the solver free?

Yes. There is no account and no limit on hints.