How to Play Binairo
Binairo is a logic puzzle you solve with reasoning, never luck. You fill a square grid with two symbols so three rules always hold. In Meowbino the two symbols are cats: a sunny orange day-cat (we'll write D) and a sleepy black night-cat (N). Every puzzle has exactly one solution.
Rule 1 — Balance each row and column
When a row or column is full, it must hold the same number of day-cats and night-cats. On an 8×8 board that means four of each per line. This four-cell row is balanced (two D, two N):
DNND
Rule 2 — Never three of the same cat in a row
You can't place three identical cats next to each other, across or down. The left row breaks the rule (three D in a row); the right row fixes it by making the third cat a night-cat:
DDDN → DDND
A handy consequence: whenever you see two of the same cat side by side, the cells just outside the pair must be the other cat.
Rule 3 — Read the = and × badges
Some neighbouring cells are joined by a small badge. An = badge means the two cats must be the same; an × badge means they must be different. Here the two cats are joined by =, so both are day-cats; and by ×, so they differ:
DD = DN ×
A worked example
Say the top row of a 6×6 board already shows D D _ _ N _ (underscores are empty). Watch how the rules force the next cats — no guessing:
- Cells 1 and 2 are both D. By Rule 2, three D can't sit together, so cell 3 must be N. The row is now D D N _ N _.
- A 6-cell row needs three of each cat (Rule 1). It already has two D and two N, so the last two cells are one D and one N.
- Cell 5 is N. If cell 4 were N too, cells 4 and 5 would be a pair pushing cell 6 to D — allowed — but then cell 4 = N gives three… check each line and the badges to settle the rest.
Every real Meowbino puzzle can be finished this way, one forced move at a time. If you ever feel stuck, look for two-in-a-row pairs and lines that already have all of one cat.