Levels 301 to 800: 500 boards from 7x7 to 10x10, on 9 lives. Below: every technique this chapter needs, shown on its own boards, and two boards solved in full.
500
Levels
9
Lives
0
Boss boards
What Night Prowl asks of you
Night Prowl goes back down to 7x7 boards, but no board here gives itself away to the easy moves. Each one needs at least one dead-end square before it opens up.
When nothing is forced, pick the smallest patch and test each of its squares in your head: would a cat there wipe out a whole row, column or patch? Every square that would can be crossed out.
Techniques you will need
Grey crosses are squares already ruled out. Coral marks what the step changes.
Last free squareA row, column or patch is down to one square that can still hold a cat, so the cat goes there.Needed on 100% of Night Prowl boards, about 8.4 times per board.Level 301. Cat 3 of 7: column 5 has exactly one square left, at row 7, so the cat goes there.
Patch in a lineEvery free square of a patch sits in one row or column, so that line belongs to the patch and the rest of it can be crossed out. It works the other way round too.Needed on 99% of Night Prowl boards, about 4.3 times per board.Level 301. Every free square of the rose patch sits in row 3, so the rose cat must come from there and the rest of row 3 can be crossed out.
Dead-end squarePicture a cat on a square. If it would cross out every last spot in some row, column or patch, that square can never hold a cat.Needed on 100% of Night Prowl boards, about 6 times per board.Level 301. A cat at row 2, column 2 would leave row 3 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out.
Counting trickWhen two patches fit entirely inside the same two rows (or three inside three, and so on), those rows are theirs. Every other square in them can be crossed out.Never needed in Night Prowl.
Cat 1 of 7: the lilac patch is down to a single free square at row 5, column 1, so its cat settles there.
Every free square of the rose patch sits in row 3, so the rose cat must come from there and the rest of row 3 can be crossed out. Every free square of the mint patch sits in row 4, so the mint cat must come from there and the rest of row 4 can be crossed out. Cat 2 of 7: the peach patch is down to a single free square at row 6, column 7, so its cat settles there.
Column 6 only has free squares inside the sky patch, so that patch's cat is spoken for and its squares outside the line can be crossed out. Cat 3 of 7: column 5 has exactly one square left, at row 7, so the cat goes there.
A cat at row 2, column 2 would leave row 3 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 2, column 3 would leave row 3 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 3, column 3 would leave row 4 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. Cat 4 of 7: the rose patch is down to a single free square at row 3, column 2, so its cat settles there.
Cat 5 of 7: the mint patch is down to a single free square at row 4, column 4, so its cat settles there.
Cat 6 of 7: the yellow patch is down to a single free square at row 1, column 3, so its cat settles there.
Cat 7 of 7: the sky patch is down to a single free square at row 2, column 6, so its cat settles there.
Every free square of the sky patch sits in column 8, so the sky cat must come from there and the rest of column 8 can be crossed out. Every free square of the coral patch sits in row 8, so the coral cat must come from there and the rest of row 8 can be crossed out. Every free square of the aqua patch sits in row 7, so the aqua cat must come from there and the rest of row 7 can be crossed out. A cat at row 1, column 7 would leave column 8 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 2, column 5 would leave the yellow patch with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 2, column 7 would leave column 8 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. Every free square of the yellow patch sits in column 6, so the yellow cat must come from there and the rest of column 6 can be crossed out. A cat at row 1, column 5 would leave column 6 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 3, column 7 would leave column 5 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 1, column 1 would leave row 3 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 2, column 1 would leave row 3 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 2, column 2 would leave row 3 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 4, column 2 would leave row 3 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 6, column 2 would leave row 7 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 6, column 3 would leave the peach patch with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 6, column 5 would leave column 7 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 4, column 4 would leave column 5 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 7, column 2 would leave row 8 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 7, column 3 would leave row 8 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. Cat 1 of 8: the aqua patch is down to a single free square at row 7, column 1, so its cat settles there.
Cat 2 of 8: the coral patch is down to a single free square at row 8, column 3, so its cat settles there.
Cat 3 of 8: the lilac patch is down to a single free square at row 5, column 2, so its cat settles there.
Row 3 only has free squares inside the rose patch, so that patch's cat is spoken for and its squares outside the line can be crossed out. A cat at row 3, column 4 would leave column 5 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. Cat 4 of 8: the rose patch is down to a single free square at row 3, column 5, so its cat settles there.
Cat 5 of 8: the yellow patch is down to a single free square at row 1, column 6, so its cat settles there.
Cat 6 of 8: the sky patch is down to a single free square at row 2, column 8, so its cat settles there.
Cat 7 of 8: the mint patch is down to a single free square at row 4, column 7, so its cat settles there.
Cat 8 of 8: the peach patch is down to a single free square at row 6, column 4, so its cat settles there.
Stuck on a different board? Tap the hint paw in the game: it points at the row, column or patch where the next forced move hides, and only shows the square if you ask again.
mobi