Cat Packing
A puzzle about packing cats that flow like liquid into a box. Fill every square without leaving a gap to win.
How to play
- Choose a level and press Start. The box contains squares with cat faces. The number on a face is how many squares that cat needs.
- Drag from a cat face with your finger (or the mouse) to spread the cat. The squares you drag over become its body.
- Every cat must use exactly the number of squares shown. Too few or too many will not count as a clear.
- Fill every square in the box, leaving no gaps, to clear the puzzle.
Controls in detail
- Choose a cat: Tap its face square, or press its button above the box. The selected cat's face gets a dark outline.
- Spread: You can only paint empty squares that touch the selected cat's squares, up, down, left or right. Cats do not spread diagonally.
- Take back: Tap a square of the selected cat again to make it empty. Any squares that become disconnected go with it. A face square cannot be taken back.
- Undo and Reset: Undo the last action, or return the board to its starting state.
- Crates (squares with an ×): These are in the box from the start. Cats cannot use them.
Warn when stuck
When "Warn when stuck" is checked under the board, dead ends are marked with red dashed lines. For example, a group of empty squares is marked when the neighboring cats do not have enough squares left to fill it. When you see a dashed line, try taking back a few squares from a nearby cat. A dead end can still exist without a warning, though. Uncheck the box to turn the warnings off.
The four levels
- Easy: a 4×4 grid with 3 cats.
- Normal: a 5×5 grid with 4 cats and 2 crates.
- Hard: a 6×6 grid with 5 cats and 3 crates.
- Demon: a 7×7 grid with 6 cats and 5 crates.
Hints and records
The Hint button adds one square that fits the hidden solution. Any cat whose squares do not match the solution goes back to just its face. "Show answer" reveals the whole solution. Your time for each level is saved as a best time in your browser only, and is not sent to any server. If you used a hint or showed the answer, the time is not recorded.
Tips
- Start with the tight spots. Fill the narrow gaps and the squares next to crates first, where there are few ways in.
- Finish small cats early. A cat with a small number is done quickly, and the remaining shape becomes easier to see.
- Keep big cats flexible. Don't spread them too far at first. Adjust them while watching the cats around them.
- Don't isolate an empty square. An empty square surrounded on all sides can never be filled.
- When in doubt, undo. You can go back as many times as you like.
FAQ
Is every puzzle solvable?
Yes. Each puzzle is built by first making a solution and then writing the numbers on the cats, so at least one way to fill the box always exists.
Is there only one correct answer?
No, there are usually many. Any way of filling the box with no gaps, with every cat's number matched, counts as a clear.
The screen scrolls when I drag with my finger on my phone.
Dragging on the box does not scroll the page. If you start dragging outside the box, the page may move.