Strategy · step 2 of 5
Forced moves
Every unit — row, column, or region — must contain exactly one cat. So when crosses whittle a unit down to a single survivor, the puzzle has made the move for you.
Three of the green region’s four squares are crossed out. The survivor is a cat — no thinking required.
This is the deduction that finishes boards. The rhythm of the whole game is: harder techniques produce a cross or two, and forced moves cash them in for cats, whose shadows produce more crosses, which force more moves. A well-played endgame is usually a chain of nothing but forced moves.
Where to look
- Small regions first. A two- or three-square region is nearly forced from the start — one or two crosses finish it.
- Crowded lines. Any row or column that just absorbed a cat’s shadow is a candidate — count its survivors.
- After every single cross, check the three units that cross belongs to. This is the checklist most human mistakes come from skipping.
The near-miss that pays even more
A unit down to two squares is not forced yet — but it is a tripwire. If those two squares sit in the same row, column, or touch each other, other squares can often be eliminated anyway. That idea grows into confinement, the next rung of the ladder.