Rules and controls

How to Play Meowdoku

Meowdoku is a Cat placement puzzle, sometimes described as cat sudoku. The colored areas divide the square board into regions. Find where every Cat belongs by the placement rules; you do not fill in numbers as in traditional Sudoku.

The three rules

Put exactly one Cat in every row and every column.
Put exactly one Cat in every colored region, regardless of its shape.
Cats cannot touch horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.

Mark a cell

Click or tap to cycle: empty → X → Cat → empty. Each click is one move: Undo changes Cat back to X, then back to empty.

Enter or Space cycles the cell; Shift+Enter places or removes a Cat. Starting clues have an outline and cannot be changed.

Check your progress

Play and level guides show Cats found out of the total, Undo, one hint, and Restart. Only Play shows elapsed time, lets you skip with New puzzle or continue with Next puzzle, and supports Z or Ctrl/Cmd+Z to undo. Play hints preview a small mark in the cell corner without making a move. Level guides keep their level navigation and checked answer. If your marks conflict, change a mark before asking for another hint.

You can reveal the checked answer on a level guide after trying its interactive board. If a guide shows a reference board and your board looks different, use the Solver with your exact regions and clues.