Meowdoku Level 40 Walkthrough: Soda Owns Column 6

The Meowdoku Level 40 board layout

Level 40 is a 9x9 grid holding rose, apricot, butter, matcha, mint, soda, periwinkle, lilac, and bubblegum. The size difference between regions is enormous. Rose is a single tile at row 1, column 2, and soda is only two tiles, stacked in column 6 at rows 6 and 7. At the other extreme, periwinkle sprawls across 25 tiles down the left side and along the bottom left, making it the largest region on the board.

In between you get matcha with 13 tiles in the upper left, lilac with 12 tiles in the lower right, mint with 10 tiles down the right edge, bubblegum with 7 tiles in the bottom middle, butter with 6 tiles near the top, and apricot with 5 tiles across the top right. As in most logic puzzle games of this shape, the tiny regions do the talking while the huge ones simply absorb whatever is left over.

A quick habit that helps in every Meowdoku board: before you tap anything, find the smallest region and the biggest one. On Level 40 that means noticing rose and soda first, and mentally parking periwinkle until the very end. This is one of those cat games where the giant region is the last thing you solve, not the first.

The opening move and the five easy cats

The first cat in Meowdoku Level 40 goes on row 1, column 2, because rose is a one-tile region. When a color has exactly one tile, its cat cannot be anywhere else, and that is technique T1, the last open tile in a color. Double-tap that tile to settle the rose cat and watch row 1, column 2, and the neighboring tiles clear out.

From there the board hands you four more cats in a row, each by the same T1 idea. Apricot drops to a single open tile at row 2, column 8. Butter follows at row 3, column 4. Matcha lands at row 4, column 1. Mint settles at row 5, column 9. You have not needed a single clever deduction yet, which is what makes Level 40 such a friendly stop among brain games.

Notice the shape of that run. Each new cat eliminates a row, a column, and a ring of touching tiles, which squeezes the next color down to one option. Five cats later the top five rows are finished and the whole puzzle has shrunk to the bottom four rows, where the real work begins.

The key moment: two soda tiles reserve column 6

This is the deduction that defines Meowdoku Level 40. Both remaining soda tiles sit in column 6, at row 6 and row 7. Soda has to put its cat somewhere, so column 6 is guaranteed to be soda territory. That is technique T3, a color locked to one line, and it lets you cross out the other colors in that column: the lilac tile at row 8, column 6, and the bubblegum tile at row 9, column 6.

Next, look at the tiles that hug both soda options at once. The tiles at row 6, column 5, row 6, column 7, row 7, column 5, and row 7, column 7 each touch every open soda tile. Wherever the soda cat finally lands, it would be touching those tiles, so none of them can hold a cat. That is technique T4, a tile touching every open tile of a color, and four crosses come out of it in one sweep.

The last piece is the prettiest. Lilac and bubblegum can now only place their cats in rows 8 and 9. Two colors squeezed into two rows means both of those rows are already spoken for, so any other color there is out. That is technique T5, matched colors and lines, and it removes the periwinkle tile at row 8, column 5. With that cross, column 5 has exactly one open tile left, the bubblegum tile at row 9, column 5, so the sixth cat goes there by technique T2, the last open tile in a row or column. Lilac then follows at row 8, column 7, soda finally settles at row 6, column 6, and periwinkle closes the board at row 7, column 3.

Tips that carry into harder Meowdoku levels

Level 40 is a great teaching board because it shows the two halves of every medium puzzle: a free run of forced cats, then one dense knot. When the free run stops, do not start guessing. Switch from hunting cats to hunting crosses, because crosses are what create the next forced cat in these free online games.

Keep these habits in your pocket for the levels ahead.

• Count the tiles in every region before your first tap so the one-tile and two-tile colors jump out.
• When a color fits inside a single row or column, immediately cross every other color out of that line.
• Test the tiles that sit between two options of the same color; they often touch both and can be crossed out.
• If two small colors end up trapped inside the same pair of lines, sweep both of those lines clean of every other color.
• Single-tap to record each cross as you prove it, so the board carries your reasoning instead of your memory.
• If the chain breaks, a hint reveals the next forced cat and costs you nothing but a little pride.

Why Meowdoku is a great cat puzzle game

Boards like Meowdoku Level 40 are proof that a puzzle can be gentle and still be interesting. There is no timer, no randomness, and never a need to guess, which is rare among browser games. Every cat you place is a cat you can justify, and the cats themselves make the whole thing feel cozy rather than clinical.

The controls stay out of the way too. A single tap marks a cross, a double tap settles a cat, and a wrong cat only costs one fish. That forgiving loop is why so many players who came for cute animal games end up staying for the logic, and why Meowdoku sits comfortably next to the best sudoku-style puzzles you can play for free.

What is the solution to Meowdoku Level 40?

In solve order, the cats go on row 1, column 2 (rose); row 2, column 8 (apricot); row 3, column 4 (butter); row 4, column 1 (matcha); row 5, column 9 (mint); row 9, column 5 (bubblegum); row 8, column 7 (lilac); row 6, column 6 (soda); and row 7, column 3 (periwinkle).

Where does the first cat go in Meowdoku Level 40?

The first cat goes on row 1, column 2. Rose is a single-tile region on this board, so the rose cat has no other option and you can settle it before you study anything else.

How do I find the bubblegum cat in Meowdoku Level 40?

Both open soda tiles sit in column 6, so cross out the lilac tile at row 8, column 6 and the bubblegum tile at row 9, column 6. Then cross out row 6, column 5, row 6, column 7, row 7, column 5, and row 7, column 7, because each one touches every open soda tile. Lilac and bubblegum are now stuck in rows 8 and 9, which removes the periwinkle tile at row 8, column 5. Column 5 is left with one open tile, the bubblegum tile at row 9, column 5.

How hard is Meowdoku Level 40?

It is rated medium. Five of the nine cats arrive by the simplest rule in these logic puzzle games, and only the sixth cat needs real work, including one use of technique T5 where lilac and bubblegum reserve rows 8 and 9.

Can I play Meowdoku Level 40 for free in my browser?

Yes. Meowdoku is a free cat puzzle game that plays in any modern web browser, so Level 40 and every other board are ready whenever you want a few minutes of brain games.