Level 23 walkthrough
Meowdoku Level 23 Walkthrough: Reading Locked Rows on a 7x7 Board
Meowdoku Level 23 is a hard 7x7 board where four colors lock into single rows and two tiles get crossed because they touch every apricot option. This guide explains each idea and gives the full solution.
Meowdoku Level 23 is a hard 7x7 board in Meowdoku, the free cat puzzle game that plays right in your browser. You need to settle seven cats so that each row, each column, and each of the seven colored regions holds exactly one, and no two cats are allowed to touch, even at the corners.
This level is a real step up for fans of cat games and logic puzzle games. Only the very first cat is handed to you. After that, you have to notice which colors are trapped inside a single row and which tiles can never hold a cat because of the apricot region. Once those ideas click, the last five cats drop in one after another.
Meowdoku Level 23 at a glance
- Board: 7×7 grid with 7 colored regions and 7 cats to place
- Difficulty: Hard
- Hardest technique needed: Tile touching a whole color
- Logical steps: 20 (7 cats and 13 crosses)
- Smallest color: rose with 1 tile
The Meowdoku Level 23 board at a glance
The board is seven tiles wide and seven tiles tall, with rose, apricot, butter, matcha, mint, soda, and periwinkle regions. Rose is the smallest color by far, a single tile at row 1, column 2. Matcha has five tiles running down column 1, while apricot and mint each have six.
The two big colors, soda and periwinkle, have eleven tiles apiece and fill most of the lower half of the grid. Large regions like these rarely help early in brain games of this kind, so your attention belongs on the small colors near the top and on the rows where regions are squeezed together.
Opening move: the lone rose tile
Every color needs one cat, and rose owns only one tile, so the first cat of Meowdoku Level 23 goes on row 1, column 2. There is no other place it could live, which makes it the safest double-tap on the board.
That cat clears out row 1, column 2, and its neighbors, which removes most of the matcha options at the top of column 1. Next, look at apricot and butter. Every apricot tile still open sits in row 2, so row 2 belongs to apricot and the butter tiles at row 2, columns 6 and 7 can be crossed. In the same way, the open butter tiles all sit in row 3, which rules out the matcha tile at row 3, column 1. That leaves matcha with a single home at row 4, column 1.
The key moment: two tiles that touch every apricot option
The hardest idea in this cat puzzle game level comes just before the butter cat. By now the apricot region has only a few open tiles left in row 2. The tiles at row 3, column 4 and row 3, column 5 each touch every one of those apricot tiles. Wherever the apricot cat finally lands, it would sit next to them, so neither tile can hold a cat and both get crossed.
At the same time, more colors lock into rows. Butter is confined to row 3, which removes the soda tile at row 3, column 3 and the mint tile at row 3, column 7. Mint is confined to row 5, which removes the soda and periwinkle tiles in that row. Soda is confined to row 6, which removes the periwinkle tiles at row 6, columns 5 through 7.
After all those crosses, butter has one open tile left at row 3, column 6. From there each cat forces the next: apricot lands on row 2, column 4, mint on row 5, column 7, soda on row 6, column 3, and periwinkle finishes the board on row 7, column 5.
Tips from Level 23 for later Meowdoku boards
Meowdoku Level 23 rewards a habit that pays off across all logic puzzle games: whenever a color fits inside one row or column, claim that line for it and cross out every other color there.
It also teaches you to look at the tiles around a small region, not just inside it. Keep these habits handy as the free browser games in the Meowdoku campaign keep growing.
- Start with any one-tile color, then check which small colors now fit in a single row.
- Cross out the rest of a row as soon as one color is locked inside it.
- Look for tiles that border every remaining option of a small region, since they can never hold a cat.
- Recount open tiles in each color after every placement, because the finish is often a quick chain.
- Use a hint if you stall; it shows the next forced cat so you can keep going.
Why Meowdoku belongs among your favorite cat games
Meowdoku mixes the cozy charm of animal games with the clean logic of sudoku-style puzzles. Every level, including this one, can be solved with reasoning alone, so a finished board always feels earned.
It is completely free and runs in any modern browser on a phone, tablet, or computer. If you like free online games and browser games that exercise your brain for a few minutes at a time, Meowdoku has a long run of levels waiting for you.
Step-by-step Meowdoku Level 23 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 2 (rose)
The rose region has only one open tile left, so its cat goes on row 1, column 2. Technique: Last open tile in a color.
Cat 2: row 4, column 1 (matcha)
First, cross out the tiles that cannot hold a cat:
- Every open apricot tile sits in row 2, so that row's cat must be apricot. Cross out the butter tile at row 2, column 6.
- Every open apricot tile sits in row 2, so that row's cat must be apricot. Cross out the butter tile at row 2, column 7.
- Every open butter tile sits in row 3, so that row's cat must be butter. Cross out the matcha tile at row 3, column 1.
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 1. Technique: Last open tile in a color.
Cat 3: row 3, column 6 (butter)
First, cross out the tiles that cannot hold a cat:
- Every open butter tile sits in row 3, so that row's cat must be butter. Cross out the soda tile at row 3, column 3.
- Every open butter tile sits in row 3, so that row's cat must be butter. Cross out the mint tile at row 3, column 7.
- Every open mint tile sits in row 5, so that row's cat must be mint. Cross out the soda tile at row 5, column 3.
- Every open mint tile sits in row 5, so that row's cat must be mint. Cross out the periwinkle tile at row 5, column 4.
- Every open mint tile sits in row 5, so that row's cat must be mint. Cross out the periwinkle tile at row 5, column 5.
- Every open soda tile sits in row 6, so that row's cat must be soda. Cross out the periwinkle tile at row 6, column 5.
- Every open soda tile sits in row 6, so that row's cat must be soda. Cross out the periwinkle tile at row 6, column 6.
- Every open soda tile sits in row 6, so that row's cat must be soda. Cross out the periwinkle tile at row 6, column 7.
- The tile at row 3, column 4 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.
With the rows, columns, and neighbors of the 2 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.
Cat 4: row 2, column 4 (apricot)
With the rows, columns, and neighbors of the 3 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.
Cat 5: row 5, column 7 (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 7. Technique: Last open tile in a color.
Cat 6: row 6, column 3 (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 3. Technique: Last open tile in a color.
Cat 7: row 7, column 5 (periwinkle)
With the rows, columns, and neighbors of the 6 cats placed so far crossed out, the periwinkle region has only one open tile left, so its cat goes on row 7, column 5. Technique: Last open tile in a color.
Meowdoku Level 23 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 23 FAQ
What is the solution to Meowdoku Level 23?
In solve order, the cats go on row 1, column 2 (rose); row 4, column 1 (matcha); row 3, column 6 (butter); row 2, column 4 (apricot); row 5, column 7 (mint); row 6, column 3 (soda); and row 7, column 5 (periwinkle).
Where does the first cat go in Meowdoku Level 23?
The first cat goes on row 1, column 2. The rose region is only that one tile, so its cat has nowhere else to go.
What is the hardest step in Meowdoku Level 23?
The trickiest step is noticing that the tiles at row 3, column 4 and row 3, column 5 each touch every open apricot tile. Any apricot cat would be their neighbor, so both tiles must be crossed out before butter is forced onto row 3, column 6.
Is Meowdoku Level 23 hard?
Yes, it is rated hard. Besides simple last-tile moves, it asks you to spot colors locked into one row and tiles that touch every option of a region, which makes it a satisfying test in this cat puzzle game.
Can I play Meowdoku Level 23 for free?
Yes. Meowdoku is a free cat game you play in your web browser, with nothing to install, so you can open Level 23 on any device.
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