On a compact seven-by-seven hex field, two approaches to blocking the cat produce the same 800-point result: block the left approach first, then close the right exit; or block the right approach first, then close the left exit. The fixed seven-cell corridor through the center of the board is disclosed in advance, so the comparison is reproducible instead of random, and each plays out as a clean two-turn win. Both approaches rely on the cat's automatic breadth-first search, which evaluates every open neighboring hex cell and walks one step along a shortest reachable route to the edge after every valid barrier. The browser in Trap the Cat performs that search on each turn, so the second barrier only wins when it removes the cat's last reachable neighbor that can still reach the boundary. Comparing the two approaches is therefore a study in which corridor end you choose to seal first, not in picking between fast and slow plays, and the disclosed shape is what makes the comparison fair.
The fixed seven-cell corridor behind every comparison
The hex board used for comparison is not a randomized Trap the Cat fixture. Most of its 49 cells begin blocked, leaving a seven-cell horizontal route through the center column, and the cat begins on the middle cell of that route. Because the geometry of the open route is disclosed and stable, two separate barrier sequences can be compared turn by turn on the same shape. The browser's offset hex neighbor model still applies, so an interior cell of the field has six adjacent cells, but the corridor itself behaves as a linear route with one open neighbor on each side of the cat at the start. That linear shape is what makes the left-first and right-first blocking orders identical in score and identical in length. Comparing the two approaches on this board means comparing which end of the corridor you seal first, not comparing a short path against a long detour. The general rule is documented on the Trap the Cat rules page: block one spot, the cat moves toward the edge, reaching the edge loses, and removing every route wins.
Compare the left-first and right-first approaches
The two blocking orders can be compared on the same axes. The corridor is symmetric, so by mirror symmetry the right-first order is a clean two-turn play in the same way the left-first order is. The disclosed geometry makes this comparison fair because the cat's distance to either end is identical at the start of the round.
| Aspect | Left-first approach | Right-first approach |
|---|---|---|
| First barrier location | Left end of the seven-cell corridor | Right end of the seven-cell corridor |
| Cat's forced step | Open hex step moves right along the corridor | Open hex step moves left along the corridor |
| Second barrier location | Right end of the corridor | Left end of the corridor |
| Valid turns used | 2 | 2 |
| Score from 1,000 | 800 | 800 |
| Terminal state | Cat trapped, board frozen as win | Cat trapped, board frozen as win |
| Cost of an invalid click | 0 turns, 0 points lost | 0 turns, 0 points lost |
A clean two-turn solution earns 800 points from a starting score of 1,000 because each valid barrier costs 100 points, and that deduction applies equally to whichever end you seal first. The two approaches are mirror images of each other on the disclosed corridor, and neither gains the advantage of a faster route because the cat's breadth-first search treats both ends as equally distant from its current position in the center. The exact tie-breaking order inside that search is a Lizely implementation choice rather than an official standard, which means both blocking orders remain valid regardless of which neighbor the search prefers when distances match. A player who prefers to drive the keyboard target with the arrow keys from the left will naturally favor the left-first approach, while a player who starts from the right will favor the right-first one. Mouse and touch users can pick either approach by selecting the cell directly, and the score comparison stays the same.
Run a two-turn comparison in Trap the Cat
The comparison is short enough to run as a single round on the disclosed corridor. Follow the steps below to test either approach on the same shape.
- Move the highlighted target with the arrow keys to one end of the seven-cell corridor and press Space or Enter to block that open cell. This is the first barrier of whichever approach you are running.
- Watch the cat take one automatic step along the open route, away from the cell you just sealed. The browser's breadth-first search has already shown the cat the only remaining path to the edge.
- Move the highlighted target with the arrow keys to the opposite end of the corridor and press Space or Enter again. This second barrier closes the last escape route and removes every neighbor that can still reach an edge.
- Read the score from the displayed total. A clean two-turn run shows 800, because 1,000 − (100 × 2) = 800.
- Select Restart, or press the restart control, to reset the cat, cursor, corridor, score, and turn counter to their initial values, then run the mirror approach and confirm the same 800-point result.
- If a click lands on the cat's current cell or on an already blocked cell, no turn is consumed and the score does not change, so the comparison between the two orders is preserved.
When the automatic blocked path ends the comparison
The comparison has only two terminal states. If the cat has no reachable neighbor that can still reach an edge after a barrier, the cat is trapped, the round is frozen as a win, and the displayed total stays at 800. If the cat's chosen move lands on any cell in the outer row or column, the round is frozen as a loss and the same score display is held in place; no later barrier can recover the same round, so Restart is required before testing the second order. The loss is therefore the deadlock condition for any comparison run on the disclosed board, and it is reached the moment the cat steps onto the boundary on its automatic move. Automated tests inside the implementation cover a forced edge escape and the two-turn completion sequence, so the boundary behavior of the cat is verified rather than guessed. Comparing the two approaches on this board never requires more than two turns, and the only way to leave the comparison open longer is to click cells that are already blocked or occupied by the cat, which the game treats as a no-cost invalid attempt.
How each approach reads hex neighbor distances
The cat evaluates its next step by running a breadth-first search over the offset neighbor graph. Each open neighbor of the cat's current cell is scored by the distance to the nearest edge cell through still-open cells only, and the cat walks toward the neighbor with the shortest such distance. Because the corridor is seven cells wide and the cat sits on the middle cell, every open neighbor along the corridor is exactly three steps from the boundary, so the distance reading is symmetric. That symmetry is what makes the left-first and right-first approaches produce identical results in score and in number of turns. If the disclosed shape were not symmetric, the side with the shorter remaining distance would be the safer side to close first, and the comparison would tilt in favor of that side. The neighbor geometry used here is rows of offset hex cells, and an interior cell of the field has six adjacent cells rather than four, so the search space is denser than a square grid even on a small 7-by-seven fixture.
Other deterministic puzzles that reward the same comparison habit
The habit of comparing two approaches on a fixed fixture transfers to other deterministic browser games. Players who like comparing two blocking orders on a disclosed board will find the same kind of reproducibility in Minesweeper, where exact adjacent-mine counts drive every decision on a beginner minefield, and in Maze Game, where the shortest route is the only comparison worth running. For a side-by-side comparison of approaches in a different puzzle type, see How to Compare Two Approaches in a Magic Square Puzzle, which uses the same two-orders-one-fixture pattern on a 3 by 3 grid. Common slip-ups to watch for while running the comparison are catalogued in Avoid Common Mistakes in a Hexagonal Path Game, which lists the trap of assuming the cat ever picks a non-shortest step. The broader family of deterministic grid puzzles around Trap the Cat also includes the 15 Puzzle, Hashi Bridges, and similar disclosed fixtures that can be replayed until the comparison is internalised.
Reading the result after a single comparison run
After the round ends, movement and blocking are disabled so the displayed outcome stays stable, and the cat, cursor, corridor, score, and turn counter are frozen in place. The completed best score may be stored in browser localStorage under a game-specific key, but it is not uploaded or associated with an account, so two separate sessions each see their own 800-point comparison run without leaking results elsewhere. Clearing site data or switching browser profiles can remove that stored value without affecting gameplay. There is no timer, public leaderboard, login requirement, or network opponent, so the comparison stays a private path-planning exercise. The shared game shell also provides a boss key: press Escape twice within 400 milliseconds to cover the puzzle with a simulated operations spreadsheet, then repeat the double press to return to the unchanged board. The cover is visual only and sends no data. Use the comparison as a brief path-planning exercise rather than a measure of intelligence or attention.