Cater's Game

Score Components

Score (0–100)

Composite difficulty rating — weighted blend of entropy, branching, and tactic complexity.

Total Steps

Number of logical deductions the solver needed. More steps = harder.

Branching Required

Whether the solver had to guess and backtrack. Branching puzzles are significantly harder.

Branch Depth

How many levels of guessing were stacked. Depth 2+ means guesses inside guesses.

Initial Entropy

Total uncertainty at the start (bits). Higher = more open board.

Avg Entropy / Step

Certainty gained per deduction on average. Lower = each step reveals less.

Hardest Single Step

The minimum entropy reduction across all steps — the single toughest deduction.

Tactics (easiest → hardest)

Region Singleton

A region has only one candidate cell — place the cater there.

Row / Col Singleton

A row or column has exactly one viable cell across all regions — place the cater.

Dead Spot

Placing a cater at C would eliminate all candidates from another region — mark C as ✕.

Region Forced Row/Col

All of a region's candidates share one row or column — eliminate that line from other regions.

Double Block

Placing a cater at C forces two other regions into the same row or column — eliminate C.

Triple Check

Three adjacent rows/cols contain all candidates for exactly three regions — eliminate overlaps.

Lookahead Forced

Trial-place each candidate in a small region; if only one avoids contradiction it must be correct.

Search / Branch

No logical deduction applies — solver guesses and backtracks. Only expert puzzles need this.