Nekonap: a daily cat logic puzzle for Android and iOS

In short

Nekonap is a logic puzzle we designed and built for Android and iOS. The rules fit in two lines: one cat per row, per column and per patch of the quilt, and two cats never touch, not even diagonally. Every day there is one nap for everyone, with an anonymous percentile of the players you beat, plus an endless level journey and 36 cats to collect. It has no ads and plays offline.

Client: Nekonap · Logic puzzle
Sector: Mobile games · own product
Year: 2026
Deliverables: Puzzle generator and logic solver
Flutter app for Android and iOS
Cats and quilts drawn in code
Server for the daily ranking and sync
10 languages
Services: Mobile apps
Digital products

36cats to collect

5×5 to 10×10quilt sizes

10languages

105app tests

The context

A booming genre, full of ads

One-per-row, column and region puzzles, the same family as LinkedIn's Queens, were the casual breakout of 2026: the most downloaded cat version passed 43 million downloads by the end of September, according to Sensor Tower. People play them on the commute, in bed or on a break, for 2 to 10 minutes. Apps in the genre tend to interrupt play with full-screen ads, come out in English first and tell regions apart by colour alone, which is hard for colour-blind players.

We wanted a puzzle you can play in peace: no ads, 10 languages, a theme of its own (cats napping on a quilt) and a daily ritual that brings you back.

Design and build

Puzzles generated on the phone

Every quilt is generated on the phone from a seed. A solver checks that it has exactly one solution and a grader rates it Gentle, Tricky or Fiendish; the generator throws out any puzzle that would require a guess. The daily puzzle's seed is the date, so everyone gets the same quilt without downloading anything, from a 6×6 Gentle to a 9×9 Fiendish depending on the weekday. On desktop, a puzzle up to 9×9 takes under 70 ms to generate and a 10×10 under 700 ms, on a background isolate behind a loading state.

The server keeps two things: progress, merged with max rules so two phones never lose ground, and the daily result. The “faster than X % of players” figure is an anonymous count, and no other player's row ever leaves the server. The guest session opens in the background, so the game never waits for the network.

The cats are drawn in code and they are alive: they breathe, twitch an ear, swish a tail, startle when two of them clash and hop for joy when the puzzle is solved. All of it switches off when the system asks for reduced motion. The app passes 105 tests, including Android and iOS accessibility guidelines and screens checked for overflow in Arabic and at 200 % text.

Walkthrough: the home screen, daily #14 (7×7, Tricky) solved in 0:17, the level journey and the cat collection. Offline build, test data.

01
A daily puzzle for everyone

The same quilt for every player each day, with a streak to keep alive and the share of players who solved it slower. Sharing a result gives a text with an emoji quilt that doesn't spoil the solution.
02
An endless journey

Levels from 5×5 to 10×10 with up to 3 stars: one for solving, the others for using no hints and beating the par time. The first 20 are free, then 5 new free levels arrive every day.
03
36 cats with character

Cats arrive with levels and streaks, nap on the quilts you solve and react when you pet them. You can pick a favourite to appear on every quilt.
04
Made for every pair of eyes

Every patch carries its own fabric print on top of its colour. There are 6 quilt themes, options for tap order and showing mistakes, and hints teach the next logical step instead of giving the answer away.

Gallery

The project in pictures

10 images · Open any image to see it full size.

First welcome screen: tuck every cat into the quilt without waking anyone up. A new puzzle every day, no ads.

Home: Azuki napping, today's puzzle (#14, 7×7, Tricky), a 12-day streak and the way to the next cat.

The daily puzzle in progress at 0:14: three cats placed, squares crossed out and 3 hints left today.

“All cats asleep!”: solved in 0:27 with no hints, faster than 73 % of the day's players. Test data.

The journey: levels worth up to 3 stars each, 64 stars earned and 5 free levels left for today.

The collection: 10 of 36 cats met; the others arrive as you solve levels and keep your streak.

Stats: 41 puzzles solved, a 12-day current streak, a best streak of 18, 64 stars and the calendar of the last 5 weeks.

The home screen in Japanese, one of the app's 10 languages.

Store image with the Midnight theme, one of the 6 quilt themes: “No ads. Ever.”

The app's banner: “Cozy cat logic puzzles”.

Outcomes

What the player gets

The daily puzzle, the first 20 levels, 5 new levels a day, 3 hints a day and 30 of the 36 cats are free, with no ads. Nekonap Plus, an optional subscription, adds unlimited levels and hints, the archive of past dailies, a weekly streak freeze, 6 exclusive cats and 4 more themes. No account is needed; signing in only carries progress to another phone.

The screens and video on this page come from an offline Android build running on the project's test data.

Every puzzle has one solution, reachable without guessing
36 cats, 6 quilt themes, stats and best times by board size
10 languages, Arabic right to left included
105 tests, accessibility checks included

Frequently asked questions

The questions we hear often

How do you play Nekonap?

Put one cat in every row, every column and every patch of the quilt, and never let two cats touch, not even diagonally. Tap a square once to cross it out, twice to place a cat, and drag to cross out several squares.

Does Nekonap have ads?

No, none at all. The daily puzzle, the first 20 levels and 5 new levels a day are free; an optional subscription, Nekonap Plus, lifts the limits on levels and hints.

Can I play offline?

Yes. Puzzles are generated on the phone, the daily one included. A connection is used for the percentile of players you beat and to back up your progress.