You get three stars in Kitty Kaboom by clearing a level with half your cats or fewer, rounded up. On a normal four-cat level that means beating every robot with two launches. Score has nothing to do with it: a messy two-cat win earns three stars, and a gorgeous four-cat demolition earns one.
Once you know that, every level becomes a small puzzle: how do I take out all these robots in two shots?
How are stars calculated in Kitty Kaboom? #
The game counts how many cats you launched and compares that to the size of the level’s starting lineup:
- Three stars: you used no more than half the lineup, rounded up
- Two stars: you won with at least one cat still unused
- One star: you won with your last cat
Here’s what that works out to for each lineup size in the campaign:
| Cats in lineup | Three stars | Two stars | One star |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 1 or 2 cats | Not possible | All 3 cats |
| 4 | 1 or 2 cats | 3 cats | All 4 cats |
| 5 | 1 to 3 cats | 4 cats | All 5 cats |
Three-cat levels are all or nothing. Because half of three rounds up to two, any win that leaves a cat unused is already a three-star win. The three-cat levels are all in the Backyard: Topple 101 (1-4), Trampoline (1-6), The Shelf (1-9), Lean On Me (1-10) and Bounce House (1-13).
Five-cat levels are the generous ones. Most of the boss and late TidyBot HQ levels give you five cats and a three-cat budget, including Backyard Boss (1-15), Rooftop Boss (2-15), Factory Boss (3-15), The Vault (4-7) and the final TIDY PRIME level (4-15).
Do extra cats from ads count against your stars? #
Yes. If you run out and watch the optional ad for two extra cats, you’ve now used more cats than the lineup had, and any win from there is one star. The extra cats get you past a level. They won’t get you a better rating, so come back later with a plan.
How do you plan a two-cat clear? #
Before your first shot, count the robots and compare them to your three-star budget. Three robots and a two-cat budget means at least one shot has to take out two or more. Then find the tool that makes that possible.
Look for a multi-kill first #
These are the things in the game that hit more than one target:
- Battery packs. They break easily and explode, and one battery can set off the next. The hint on Battery Bank (2-14) says one spark sets off the whole bank.
- Boomer. His tap-triggered blast damages everything in range, strongest at the center.
- Mochi. She splits into three kittens mid-flight, four or five with upgrades. The level that introduces her, Litter Storm (2-6), has three separate cardboard boxes with a robot on each.
- Falling structures. A robot breaks when it lands hard on the ground. Topple the tower and every robot on it comes down.
- Pendulums and wrecking balls. In Wrecking Ball (2-12), Rinse Cycle (3-9) and Spin Dry (3-14), hitting the hanging ball swings it into the fort for you.
Put the right cat on the slingshot #
Tap any cat in the queue to swap it onto the slingshot. The order the level hands you isn’t always the best one. If the level’s key move needs Chonk’s slam, don’t spend him on a warm-up shot.
Restart early instead of limping on #
If your first shot goes badly, the three-star run is usually gone. Restarting is free, since there are no lives or energy timers, and it doesn’t count as a failed level. Hot Paws, the coin bonus for three wins in a row, resets only when you actually run out of cats. So when a three-star attempt falls apart, hit restart before your last cat instead of playing it out to a loss.
Let every shot settle #
Your next cat loads only when everything has stopped moving. Towers that are still swaying can collapse on their own, and a robot teetering on a ledge may still fall. A first shot that looks like a miss can still turn into a two-robot result a second later.
Three-star strategy by world #
Backyard (levels 1-1 to 1-15) #
You only have Pounce here, so it’s all about angles and toppling. Double Trouble (1-2) puts two robots on open ground with four cats, which gives you two shots to spare if you need them for three stars. On Bounce House (1-13), use the pink cushion to bounce up to a perch instead of trying to lob onto it. Backyard Boss (1-15) gives you five cats and a three-cat budget, which leaves room for one mistake.
Rooftops (2-1 to 2-15) #
Brick and metal show up here. They’re rated much tougher than wood, and a Boomer blast on its own often leaves them standing, though a fast, square hit or flying debris usually breaks them. Look hard for batteries, which chain into each other. Tin Roof (2-4) tells you the trick in its hint: metal is tough, so knock out the wooden legs instead. Skylight (2-8) wants a high lob through the glass roof, because the metal legs holding it up never move.
Suds Works (3-1 to 3-15) #
Soap blocks have almost no friction. Slippery Stack (3-2) is three soap blocks with a robot on top, and its hint tells you soap slides right out from under things, so hit the bottom of the stack. Chonk arrives in 3-1: lob him high and tap when he’s over the target. Yowl joins in Opera Night (3-8), and her yowl shatters every glass and soap block within range in one launch while dazing nearby robots.
TidyBot HQ (4-1 to 4-15) #
Moving platforms and metal fortresses make this the hardest world. Watch a platform’s full cycle before you shoot. Zippy’s dash gets you over tall walls like Firewall (4-6), and Gizmo’s magnet pulls metal blocks and robots toward her, which can drag robots off their perches. Several of these levels give you five cats, which helps.
For notes on the toughest levels, see the Kitty Kaboom walkthrough for hard levels.
Do upgrades make three stars easier? #
A little, and only for the cats you rely on. Mochi’s first upgrade (150 coins) gives four kittens instead of three, and her third gives five. Boomer’s upgrades widen and strengthen the blast. Zippy’s second and third tiers let him dash two and three times per launch. If one cat keeps saving your three-star runs, upgrade that one first. We rank the options in the best Kitty Kaboom upgrades to buy.
Stars versus the Gold Paw #
Three stars and a Gold Paw are different goals. A Gold Paw means smashing every breakable piece on the level in a winning run, and that often takes more cats than the three-star budget allows. Go for them on separate attempts: one tidy run for the stars, then one messy run for the paw. The Gold Paw guide covers which levels make that hard.
Every campaign level in Kitty Kaboom can be replayed as often as you like, and the game keeps your best result, so you can practice the cat math without losing anything. Our Kitty Kaboom tips and tricks cover the physics behind these shots.
Frequently asked questions #
Does score affect stars in Kitty Kaboom? #
No. Stars depend only on how many cats you used. Score goes up with every block and robot you smash, and each unused cat adds 10,000 points, so a three-star run usually scores well anyway.
What do you get for three stars? #
Each new star earns 25 coins, plus a small bonus based on your score. Stars you already earned on a level don’t pay again. Replaying a finished level without adding stars pays at most 20 coins.
Do you need stars to reach the next world? #
No. Each level opens when you finish the one before it, and a world opens when you complete the previous world’s 15th level. One-star wins count.
Can you get three stars on the daily challenge? #
Yes, and the same rule applies. The daily level gives you four or five cats, and every star you earn on it pays 50 coins.
Why did I get two stars when I still had cats left? #
You used more than half the lineup. On a four-cat level, a three-cat win is two stars even though one cat is left over. Try again with a plan for two shots.