Level 17 walkthrough

Meowdoku Level 17 Walkthrough: Cracking a Small but Hard 6x6 Board

Meowdoku Level 17 is a compact 6x6 board rated hard, where column locks, touching tiles, and a pair of reserved rows all combine to reveal the matcha cat.

Do not let the small size fool you. Meowdoku Level 17 is only a 6x6 grid with six colors, yet it is rated hard, and it asks for every advanced technique in this free cat puzzle game, right up to T5. You still follow the same simple rules: one cat per row, per column, and per color, with no two cats touching, even diagonally.

The fun of logic puzzle games like this one is that a tiny board can hide a deep idea. Here, almost all of the thinking happens before your second cat, and once that cat lands, the rest of the level tumbles into place. This guide explains the layout, the easy opening, and the chain of crosses that unlocks everything, all playable for free in your browser.

Meowdoku Level 17 starting board in the cat puzzle game — Meowdoku Level 17 as it looks when you start playing.

Meowdoku Level 17 at a glance

Board: 6×6 grid with 6 colored regions and 6 cats to place
Difficulty: Hard
Hardest technique needed: Matched colors and lines
Logical steps: 19 (6 cats and 13 crosses)
Smallest color: rose with 1 tile

The empty Level 17 board. Rows are numbered down the left side and columns across the top.

How the Meowdoku Level 17 board is built

The six colors are rose, apricot, butter, matcha, mint, and soda. Rose is a single tile in the top left corner at row 1, column 1. Apricot has three tiles stacked straight down column 4 in rows 1 to 3, and butter has five tiles in the top right corner.

Matcha fills nine tiles across the upper left, mint takes seven tiles in the lower middle, and soda is the largest color with eleven tiles, including the whole bottom row. Because the board is so tight, every cross you make in this cat puzzle game touches several colors at once, which is exactly why the deductions run so deep.

The first cat: rose in the corner

Your opening move in Meowdoku Level 17 is the same kind of gift many cat games give you early on. The rose region is one tile, so its cat must sit on row 1, column 1. Double-tap that tile without any worry.

The rose cat clears row 1 and column 1, along with the tiles around it. That is important for what follows, because it removes the top tile of apricot and the top row of butter, leaving both colors squeezed into rows 2 and 3.

The key moment: reserving rows 2 and 3

Before the second cat, you build up a whole set of crosses. Apricot now lives only in column 4, so that column belongs to apricot, and you cross out the mint tiles at row 4 and row 5 of column 4 and the soda tile at row 6, column 4. Butter is locked to column 6 in the same way, which clears the mint tiles at rows 4 and 5 of column 6 and the soda tile at row 6, column 6. Mint then sits only in column 5, so the soda tile at row 6, column 5 goes too.

Several tiles also get crossed because they touch every open tile of a color. The tiles at row 2, column 3, row 2, column 5, row 3, column 3, and row 3, column 5 all touch every remaining apricot tile, and the tile at row 4, column 2 touches every remaining matcha tile. A cat on any of them would leave no legal spot for that color, so they are out.

The final and hardest idea is technique T5, matched colors and lines. Apricot and butter can only place their cats in rows 2 and 3. Two colors squeezed into two rows means those rows are fully booked, so no other color may use them. That lets you cross out the matcha tile at row 3, column 2, and matcha is left with just row 4, column 3. After that, apricot, butter, mint, and soda each fall to their last open tile in turn, which makes the finish of Meowdoku Level 17 feel wonderfully quick.

Lessons from Level 17 for tougher brain games

Meowdoku Level 17 is a great teacher for the harder boards ahead. It shows that you often need several small crosses stacked together before any cat is truly forced, and that patience beats guessing in brain games like this.

Keep these ideas in mind as you continue through the free online games in the Meowdoku campaign.

When two colors can only use the same two rows or columns, reserve those lines and cross out every other color inside them.
Check whether one tile touches every open tile of a small color; if it does, that tile can never hold a cat.
Look for colors locked into a single column as soon as your first cat clears space.
On small boards, expect each cross to affect several colors, so rescan everything after each mark.

Step-by-step Meowdoku Level 17 solution

Every cat below is forced by logic, in the order a careful solver finds them. No guessing is needed. If you only want a nudge, read one step, close this page, and return to the game.

Cat 1: row 1, column 1 (rose)

The rose region has only one open tile left, so its cat goes on row 1, column 1. Technique: Last open tile in a color.

After cat 1. The green ring marks the new cat; outlined tiles show why it was forced.

Cat 2: row 4, column 3 (matcha)

First, cross out the tiles that cannot hold a cat:

Every open apricot tile sits in column 4, so that column's cat must be apricot. Cross out the mint tile at row 4, column 4.
Every open apricot tile sits in column 4, so that column's cat must be apricot. Cross out the mint tile at row 5, column 4.
Every open apricot tile sits in column 4, so that column's cat must be apricot. Cross out the soda tile at row 6, column 4.
The tile at row 2, column 3 touches every open tile left in the apricot region. Wherever the apricot cat lands, it would touch this tile, so cross it out.
The tile at row 2, column 5 touches every open tile left in the apricot region. Wherever the apricot cat lands, it would touch this tile, so cross it out.
Every open butter tile sits in column 6, so that column's cat must be butter. Cross out the mint tile at row 4, column 6.
Every open butter tile sits in column 6, so that column's cat must be butter. Cross out the mint tile at row 5, column 6.
Every open butter tile sits in column 6, so that column's cat must be butter. Cross out the soda tile at row 6, column 6.
Every open mint tile sits in column 5, so that column's cat must be mint. Cross out the soda tile at row 6, column 5.
The tile at row 3, column 3 touches every open tile left in the apricot region. Wherever the apricot cat lands, it would touch this tile, so cross it out.
The tile at row 3, column 5 touches every open tile left in the apricot region. Wherever the apricot cat lands, it would touch this tile, so cross it out.
The tile at row 4, column 2 touches every open tile left in the matcha region. Wherever the matcha cat lands, it would touch this tile, so cross it out.
The apricot and butter regions can only place their cats in rows 2 and 3. Those 2 rows are reserved for those 2 colors, so cross out the matcha tile at row 3, column 2.

With the rows, columns, and neighbors of the first cat crossed out, the matcha region has only one open tile left, so its cat goes on row 4, column 3. Technique: Last open tile in a color.

After cat 2. The green ring marks the new cat; outlined tiles show why it was forced.

Cat 3: row 2, column 4 (apricot)

With the rows, columns, and neighbors of the 2 cats placed so far crossed out, the apricot region has only one open tile left, so its cat goes on row 2, column 4. Technique: Last open tile in a color.

After cat 3. The green ring marks the new cat; outlined tiles show why it was forced.

Cat 4: row 3, column 6 (butter)

With the rows, columns, and neighbors of the 3 cats placed so far crossed out, the butter region has only one open tile left, so its cat goes on row 3, column 6. Technique: Last open tile in a color.

After cat 4. The green ring marks the new cat; outlined tiles show why it was forced.

Cat 5: row 5, column 5 (mint)

With the rows, columns, and neighbors of the 4 cats placed so far crossed out, the mint region has only one open tile left, so its cat goes on row 5, column 5. Technique: Last open tile in a color.

After cat 5. The green ring marks the new cat; outlined tiles show why it was forced.

Cat 6: row 6, column 2 (soda)

With the rows, columns, and neighbors of the 5 cats placed so far crossed out, the soda region has only one open tile left, so its cat goes on row 6, column 2. Technique: Last open tile in a color.

After cat 6. The green ring marks the new cat; outlined tiles show why it was forced.

Meowdoku Level 17 solved board

Here is the finished board. Every row, every column, and every color holds exactly one cat, and no two cats touch, not even at the corners.

Meowdoku Level 17 solution.

Meowdoku Level 17 FAQ

What is the solution to Meowdoku Level 17?

In solve order, the cats go on row 1, column 1 (rose); row 4, column 3 (matcha); row 2, column 4 (apricot); row 3, column 6 (butter); row 5, column 5 (mint); and row 6, column 2 (soda).

What is the first move in Meowdoku Level 17?

Place the rose cat on row 1, column 1. The rose region is a single tile, so that cat cannot go anywhere else.

Why is Meowdoku Level 17 rated hard?

Even though it is only 6x6, the second cat needs a long run of crosses first: column locks for apricot, butter, and mint, tiles that touch every open apricot or matcha tile, and a T5 step where apricot and butter reserve rows 2 and 3. That step removes row 3, column 2 from matcha and forces the matcha cat onto row 4, column 3.

How do I place the matcha cat in Meowdoku Level 17?

Apricot and butter can only put their cats in rows 2 and 3, so those rows are reserved for them. Crossing out the matcha tile at row 3, column 2, along with the earlier crosses, leaves matcha with one open tile at row 4, column 3.

Is Meowdoku a free browser game?

Yes. Meowdoku is a free cat puzzle game you play in your web browser, so you can jump into animal games and logic puzzles on any device without installing anything.

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