Catnap · rules

Queens puzzle rules: how to play and solve

Catnap is a Queens-style logic puzzle — the same family as LinkedIn Queens, Star Battle, and Meowdoku. Here are the rules in full, plus how to actually solve a board by deduction.

The rules

The board is an n×n grid split into n contiguous colored regions. Place exactly one cat so that:

1. Every row has exactly one cat.
2. Every column has exactly one cat.
3. Every color region has exactly one cat.
4. No two cats touch — not horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.

That's the whole game. Every Catnap board is verified to have a single solution you can reach by pure logic — there is never any guessing.

How to read the board

You have two marks. Tap a cell to place a paw print (✕) where a cat cannot go; double-tap to tuck a cat in. Good solvers fill the board with paw prints first and let the cats fall out of what's left.

How to solve a Queens puzzle

1. Every placed cat clears its lines. When you place a cat, paw out the rest of its row, its column, its color region, and all eight neighboring cells.
2. Find forced cells. If a row, column, or region has only one cell left open, that's a cat — place it.
3. Use color confinement. If a color region's only open cells all sit in one row or column, no other color's cat can use that line — paw the rest of it out.
4. Eliminate by attack. If every open cell of some line would attack the same square, that square can't hold a cat — paw it out.

Want worked examples? See Queens puzzle tips & techniques.

Catnap vs LinkedIn Queens vs Meowdoku

Same puzzle you already love — without the one-a-day cap, without the ad walls, and with a full archive when you want to play more.