Strategy guide

Five techniques solve every valid board. They are listed in the order a human should try them — which is also exactly the ladder MeowSolver's hint engine climbs, so each article explains a hint you will actually see.

The ladder

1. Mark the crosses — every cat casts a shadow. Write it down before doing anything else. (Reflex level)
2. Forced moves — a row, column, or region with one square left is a free cat. (Beginner)
3. Confinement & locked sets — when a region is trapped inside one line, the rest of that line dies. (Intermediate)
4. The color squeeze — a square is impossible if placing a cat there would suffocate another region. (Advanced)
5. What-if chains — suppose a cat, follow the dominoes, reach a contradiction. The technique of last resort. (Expert)

The golden rule

Never guess. Every square you mark should have a one-sentence justification you could say out loud. If you cannot say the sentence, go back down the ladder — there is always a simpler deduction hiding somewhere, and hunting for it is the actual game.

Stuck on a real board right now? Import a screenshot and the hint engine will find the lowest rung of the ladder that applies to your exact position.