Catdoku is a logic puzzle game that turns the traditional Sudoku formula into a board of colourful cats. Instead of memorising numbers, players have to study the position, colour regions and distances between the cats to establish a valid arrangement. The adorable visuals can give the game a light-hearted appearance, but the problems do demand careful elimination.
Catdoku is a puzzle game where the main aim is to get a cat in each row, column and colour region. All three must be true at the same time. When you check the column or colour area, a cell that looks like it is fit in the present row can be deleted.
Also, there is the Aloof Rule in the game. Two cats cannot be next to each other, even diagonally. After each cat is placed, a series of surrounding cells immediately become unusable.
Catdoku becomes easier to manage when you treat each cell as a set of possibilities instead of immediately deciding where to place the cat.
Find narrow colored areas first. If an area only has two or three empty cells, compare them to the corresponding row and column. A position being eliminated under one condition can make the remaining position the required answer.
The X mark also plays an important role. You can also label cells that cannot contain a cat, so you have less to remember. Once you put a cat you need to re-check the whole row, column, coloured area, and the diagonal cells around it.
The first puzzles are to get the players used to the basic guidelines. As the board grows larger, the shapes of the colored areas become more unpredictable, making the relationships between the squares more complex.
In addition to the regular boards, daily challenges create new puzzles to solve each day. This is also a great place to test whether you can complete a board without placing too many X marks.
Catdoku doesn't require complex controls. What makes you stop and think is how a small cat can eliminate a series of other positions on the board.
