Level 57 walkthrough

Meowdoku Level 57 Guide: Squeezing a Twenty-Five Tile Region

Meowdoku Level 57 is an easy 9x9 board with two single-tile regions. Its one real deduction squeezes the twenty-five tile mint region down to a single square.

Meowdoku Level 57 is an easy 9x9 board with nine colors, but it hides one genuinely interesting idea: the largest region on the board, mint, is the one you have to work hardest to pin down. Mint covers twenty-five of the eighty-one tiles, and it takes seven crosses to reduce it to a single square. The rules are the same as ever, one cat per color region, one per row, one per column, and no two cats touching anywhere.

Everything around that one deduction is generous. Two single-tile regions hand you cats for free, and once the mint cat is settled the last four colors fall in a straight line. This guide explains the board, the forced opening, the squeeze on mint in plain language, and the lessons that make big regions less scary in later levels. Meowdoku is a free cat puzzle game that plays right in your browser.

Meowdoku Level 57 starting board in the cat puzzle game
Meowdoku Level 57 as it looks when you start playing.

Meowdoku Level 57 at a glance

  • Board: 9×9 grid with 9 colored regions and 9 cats to place
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Hardest technique needed: Tile touching a whole color
  • Logical steps: 16 (9 cats and 7 crosses)
  • Smallest color: rose with 1 tile
The empty Level 57 board. Rows are numbered down the left side and columns across the top.

The mint-dominated Meowdoku Level 57 board

The nine colors are rose, apricot, butter, matcha, mint, soda, periwinkle, lilac, and bubblegum. Two of them are single tiles: rose at row 1, column 2 and matcha at row 4, column 1. Butter has four tiles in a small block at columns 6 and 7 in rows 2 and 3, and periwinkle also has four tiles, sitting across row 6 and row 7 near the middle.

Mint is the largest region with twenty-five tiles, sprawling across the entire top left of the grid and reaching down to row 6. Bubblegum has fifteen tiles in the bottom right, while soda and lilac both hold thirteen, soda on the right side and lilac down the left below mint. Apricot takes five tiles in the top right corner.

In most cat games a region this large is a nuisance, but in Meowdoku Level 57 it is the whole point. Because mint touches so many rows and columns, the crosses from other colors keep nibbling at it until only one legal square survives.

The opening move and the cats that follow it

Your first cat in Meowdoku Level 57 goes on row 1, column 2, because rose is a single-tile region and technique T1 forces it immediately. There is nothing to calculate and nothing to cross out first.

That cat clears row 1, which reduces apricot to one open tile, so the second cat goes on row 2, column 8. Butter then has one open tile and the third cat goes on row 3, column 6. The fourth cat is the other freebie, matcha at its lone tile at row 4, column 1. Four cats in and you still have not marked a single cross, which is a lovely way for one of these free online games to begin.

The key moment: cornering the mint region

Now comes the interesting part of Meowdoku Level 57. Four cats have already eaten into mint from above and from the left, and the remaining open mint tiles all sit in row 5. That is technique T3, a color locked to one line: since mint can only place its cat in row 5, row 5 is reserved for mint, so cross out the lilac tile at row 5, column 3 and the soda tiles at row 5, column 7 and row 5, column 9.

Two more colors then narrow down. Soda has lost enough ground that all of its open tiles sit in column 9, so column 9 belongs to soda and the bubblegum tiles at row 8, column 9 and row 9, column 9 are crossed out. A single technique T4 cross follows, because the tile at row 6, column 4 touches every open mint tile and therefore cannot hold a cat of its own.

The last cross is the neat one. Periwinkle is now confined to column 5, so column 5 is reserved for periwinkle, and that lets you cross out the mint tile at row 5, column 5. Mint is left with exactly one open tile, and the fifth cat goes on row 5, column 4. After that Meowdoku Level 57 finishes itself: periwinkle at row 7, column 5, soda at row 6, column 9, lilac at row 8, column 3, and bubblegum at row 9, column 7.

How to handle huge regions in Meowdoku

The lesson of Level 57 is that a big region is not a problem to be solved head on. You never scan twenty-five tiles looking for the right one. Instead you let the small colors around it claim their lines, and the big region shrinks as a side effect.

Use these habits whenever a single color covers a quarter of the board in these logic puzzle games.

  • Place every forced cat from the small regions first, since each one carves rows and columns out of the giant.
  • Watch for the moment the giant is reduced to a single row or column, which is when it starts producing crosses of its own.
  • Notice that a lock can cut both ways here: mint claiming row 5 clears other colors, and periwinkle claiming column 5 clears a mint tile.
  • Keep an eye out for tiles like row 6, column 4 that touch every remaining option of a color, because they are always safe to cross.
  • Save the biggest bottom-corner regions such as bubblegum for last, because they almost always resolve on their own.

Step-by-step Meowdoku Level 57 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.

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

Cat 2: row 2, column 8 (apricot)

With the rows, columns, and neighbors of the first cat crossed out, the apricot region has only one open tile left, so its cat goes on row 2, column 8. 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 3, column 6 (butter)

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.

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

Cat 4: row 4, column 1 (matcha)

With the rows, columns, and neighbors of the 3 cats placed so far 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.

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

Cat 5: row 5, column 4 (mint)

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

  • Every open mint tile sits in row 5, so that row's cat must be mint. Cross out the lilac 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 soda tile at row 5, 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 9.
  • Every open soda tile sits in column 9, so that column's cat must be soda. Cross out the bubblegum tile at row 8, column 9.
  • Every open soda tile sits in column 9, so that column's cat must be soda. Cross out the bubblegum tile at row 9, column 9.
  • The tile at row 6, column 4 touches every open tile left in the mint region. Wherever the mint cat lands, it would touch this tile, so cross it out.
  • Every open periwinkle tile sits in column 5, so that column's cat must be periwinkle. Cross out the mint tile at row 5, column 5.

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 4. 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 7, column 5 (periwinkle)

With the rows, columns, and neighbors of the 5 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.

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

Cat 7: row 6, column 9 (soda)

With the rows, columns, and neighbors of the 6 cats placed so far crossed out, the soda region has only one open tile left, so its cat goes on row 6, column 9. Technique: Last open tile in a color.

After cat 7. The green ring marks the new cat; outlined tiles show why it was forced.

Cat 8: row 8, column 3 (lilac)

With the rows, columns, and neighbors of the 7 cats placed so far crossed out, the lilac region has only one open tile left, so its cat goes on row 8, column 3. Technique: Last open tile in a color.

After cat 8. The green ring marks the new cat; outlined tiles show why it was forced.

Cat 9: row 9, column 7 (bubblegum)

With the rows, columns, and neighbors of the 8 cats placed so far crossed out, the bubblegum region has only one open tile left, so its cat goes on row 9, column 7. Technique: Last open tile in a color.

After cat 9. The green ring marks the new cat; outlined tiles show why it was forced.

Meowdoku Level 57 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 57 solution.

Meowdoku Level 57 FAQ

What is the solution to Meowdoku Level 57?

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

Where do I place the first cat in Meowdoku Level 57?

Place the first cat on row 1, column 2. Rose is a single-tile region in Meowdoku Level 57, so the rose cat can only live there, and the cats for apricot, butter, and matcha follow without any crosses.

How do I find the mint cat in Meowdoku Level 57?

Mint is confined to row 5, so cross out the lilac tile at row 5, column 3 and the soda tiles at row 5, column 7 and row 5, column 9. Soda is confined to column 9, so cross out the bubblegum tiles at row 8, column 9 and row 9, column 9. Cross out row 6, column 4 because it touches every open mint tile, and cross out the mint tile at row 5, column 5 because periwinkle is confined to column 5. Mint is then left with row 5, column 4.

Does the biggest region in Meowdoku always resolve last?

No, and Meowdoku Level 57 is the proof. Mint is the largest region with twenty-five tiles, yet it is the fifth cat placed, while the smaller bubblegum region at fifteen tiles is the last. What matters is how many rows and columns a region spans, not its raw size.

Is Meowdoku free to play in a browser?

Yes. Meowdoku is a free cat puzzle game that runs in any modern web browser, so you can play these cat games and animal games on your phone or computer at any time.

  • Meowdoku
  • Meowdoku Level 57
  • Meowdoku walkthrough
  • Meowdoku Level 57 solution
  • cat games
  • animal games
  • cat puzzle game
  • animal puzzle games
  • logic puzzle games
  • brain games
  • free online games
  • browser games
  • puzzle games
  • cat logic puzzle

Ready to find every cat?

Play Meowdoku free in your browser. No download is required.

Play Meowdoku