Meowdoku Level 72 Walkthrough: A Small Board With a Big Fourth Cat

The Meowdoku Level 72 layout

Seven colors share this 7x7 grid: rose, apricot, butter, matcha, mint, soda, periwinkle. Rose is the smallest region with one tile at row 1, column 1, and apricot is next with four tiles at row 1, columns 4 and 5, and row 2, columns 3 and 4.

Periwinkle is the largest color with fifteen tiles wrapping around the bottom left corner and reaching along the whole bottom row. Mint has nine tiles in the upper left, butter has six in the upper right, and matcha and soda each have seven, meeting in the lower right quarter of the board.

On a board this small every cross matters, because there is nowhere for a color to hide. That is exactly why Meowdoku Level 72 feels heavier than its size suggests and why it is such a good brain games workout.

The opening: the corner cat and two locked lines

Rose owns a single tile at row 1, column 1, so that corner is where your first cat goes. Double-tap it and the whole first row, the whole first column, and the tile diagonally beside it go out of play.

Every apricot tile that is still open now sits in row 2, so row 2 belongs to apricot. Cross the butter tiles at row 2, columns 5, 6, and 7, and butter is reduced to one open tile at row 3, column 7. That is your second cat. Next, notice that the only mint tiles left open are in column 3, which reserves that column for mint and lets you cross the apricot tile at row 2, column 3. Apricot is then down to row 2, column 4 for the third cat.

Both of those steps are technique T3, a color locked to one line, and they show how quickly a small cat puzzle game can turn a couple of observations into two placed cats.

The key moment: six crosses before the fourth cat

Here is the hardest stretch of Meowdoku Level 72, and none of it involves placing a cat until the very end. Mint is still locked to column 3, which means the periwinkle tiles at row 6, column 3 and row 7, column 3 cannot hold cats, so cross them both.

Now look at the tile at row 5, column 5. It touches every matcha tile that is still open, so wherever the matcha cat ends up it would sit next to this tile, and a cat here is impossible. Cross it out. That is technique T4, a tile touching every open tile of a color, and it is the idea that makes this level medium rather than easy. Meanwhile every open soda tile sits in row 6, so row 6 is reserved for soda and the periwinkle tile at row 6, column 2 can be crossed too.

Two more T4 crosses finish the squeeze: row 4, column 2 and row 5, column 2 each touch every mint tile that remains, so neither can hold a cat. With those six crosses in place, count the open tiles in column 2 and you will find exactly one, the periwinkle tile at row 7, column 2. That is technique T2, the last open tile in a row or column, and your fourth cat goes there. One more T4 cross at row 5, column 6, which touches every open soda tile, forces matcha onto row 4, column 5, and then mint and soda simply fall into their last open tiles.

How to spot touching tiles faster

The four T4 crosses in Meowdoku Level 72 are the whole difficulty of the level, so it is worth learning to see them quickly. The trick is to look at a color that is down to two or three open tiles and then check the tiles around that little cluster rather than the cluster itself.

Once a color has only a couple of candidates left, every tile that borders all of them is dead. It does not matter which candidate eventually wins, because in each case the no-touching rule would rule that neighbor out anyway.

These habits make the technique almost automatic in any of Meowdoku's free online games.

• Find the color with the fewest open tiles and treat its candidates as one small blob.
• Trace the ring of tiles around that blob and cross any tile that borders every candidate.
• Do the same for the next smallest color before you look anywhere else.
• Recheck rows and columns after each batch of crosses, since a line often narrows to one tile.
• Use a hint if you are stuck rather than settling a cat on a maybe, because a wrong cat costs a fish.

What is the solution to Meowdoku Level 72?

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

Where is the first cat in Meowdoku Level 72?

The opening cat belongs on row 1, column 1. Rose is a one-tile region in Meowdoku Level 72, so the corner is forced and it is always the right place to start this cat puzzle game.

How do I get the periwinkle cat in Meowdoku Level 72?

Cross six tiles first. Mint is locked to column 3, so cross row 6, column 3 and row 7, column 3. Cross row 5, column 5 because it touches every open matcha tile. Soda is locked to row 6, so cross row 6, column 2. Cross row 4, column 2 and row 5, column 2 because each touches every open mint tile. Column 2 is then left with one open tile, the periwinkle tile at row 7, column 2.

Why does a 7x7 Meowdoku level feel this tricky?

Because Meowdoku Level 72 needs eleven crosses across eighteen steps, and the toughest of them is technique T4, a tile that touches every open tile of a color. Board size is not what makes these animal games hard; the number of deductions between cats is.

Is Meowdoku free to play online?

Yes. Meowdoku is a free cat puzzle game that runs in your browser with no sign-up, so you can jump into Meowdoku Level 72 from a phone or a laptop whenever you want a short round of brain games.