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Meowstronauts Guide: All 6 Planets, Bosses, Stars and Upgrades

Meowstronauts is a side-scrolling space flyer starring two cats on rockets. You drag to fly, your cat shoots by itself, and every planet ends with a big boss. Here is how to get through all six planets and earn every star.

By Zaib · Updated 20 October 2026 · Free to play, no download

PLAY MEOWSTRONAUTS

Two cats, one long way home

Sunny the yellow cat and Shadow the black cat are lost in space, and the only way home is through six planets full of cheesy asteroids, candy mice and grumpy robots. You fly from left to right while the world scrolls past, dodging rocks, collecting fish stars and blasting anything with whiskers that isn't you. At the end of each planet a boss shows up with a "WARNING!" banner.

The game plays upright on a phone, but on the first planet it suggests turning your phone sideways for a wider view, and we agree: in landscape you see hazards much earlier.

PLAY MEOWSTRONAUTS

How to fly

Action	Phone	Computer
Fly	Drag anywhere. Your rocket moves exactly as far as your finger does	W A S D or arrow keys
Shoot	Automatic	Automatic
Cat power	SHIELD (or CLOAK) button	Space
Mega Meow	MEOW button, once the meter is full	E
Swap cats	SWAP button	Shift or Q
Pause	Pause button at the top	Esc or P

You do not need to keep your finger on the rocket. Drag from any empty spot and the rocket follows your movement, so your thumb never hides the action.

Our first flight (and what went wrong)

On our first try we wandered around Moon Cheese grabbing fish and ignoring the edges of the screen. About forty seconds later a cheese asteroid, a UFO shot and a space mouse had each tagged us once, and the card said CATS DOWN! with 30 fish stars, 12 enemies defeated and 3 hits taken. You start with three hearts, so three hits ends the run.

The good news: the 30 fish stars were still added to our total, so even a failed run pays for upgrades. The lesson: hug the left-middle of the screen, where you have the most time to react, and only dart out for fish when the path is clear.

Sunny or Shadow?

In 1 Player you pick one cat and the other flies alongside as a sidekick. Tap SWAP at any time to switch who is in front. Each cat has its own power and its own recharge timer, so swapping lets you use both powers close together.

	Sunny	Shadow
Flying	A fast flyer	Hits harder instead
Shots	Spread star shots, good for crowds	Piercing lasers with heavy damage, good for bosses
Power	Sun Shield: blocks bullets and bounces them back	Shadow Cloak: fly through everything for a moment, ending with a burst

A handy trick: use Sunny's shield, swap, and use Shadow's cloak straight after. That gives you a long safe window during a boss's busiest attack.

Fish stars and the Mega Meow

Fish stars are the money of the game. They also fill the MEOW meter. When it is full, tap MEOW for a shockwave that clears every enemy bullet on the screen and hurts the boss. Saving a Mega Meow for a boss's angriest phase is one of the best habits you can build.

Glowing ? UFOs drop power-ups when you shoot them: Mega Laser, Fish Magnet, Bubble Shield, Mega Meow, Mini-Cats, Rocket Boost, Time Purr, Double Shot and Extra Heart.

The six planets

Planet	What you face	Boss
Moon Cheese	Cheesy asteroids and space mice	The Big Cheese
Candy Planet	Gumdrops, lollipops and sugar mice	Candy Kraken
Ice Comet	Frozen shards and falling icicles	Frost-Bot 3000
Lava World	Erupting fireballs and molten rocks	Magma Mech-Dragon
Black Hole	Gravity wells that bend everything	Void Rat Emperor
Home: Purrth	A mix of everything, guarded by the mice	Mouse Mothership

Each planet is a little longer than the one before. Hazards always flash a warning before they arrive, so watch for it and move early. On Black Hole, the gravity wells bend the path of every bullet that passes near them, yours and the enemies', and you cannot fly through them. Steer around the wells and expect shots to curve.

Boss tips: every boss gets angrier as it loses health, changing its attack at about two-thirds and again at one-third of its health, often with a ring of bullets. Stay near the left of the screen where you have the most room, and keep your power and your Mega Meow for those phase changes.

Earning all 18 stars

Each planet has three stars, shown on the results card:

Reach the planet (beat the level and its boss).
Collect 60% of the fish stars that appear.
Take 2 hits or fewer.

You can earn them on separate runs, so it is fine to go back for the fish star later with more Magnet Range. New stars also pay a fish bonus, and earning 9 and then all 18 stars unlocks two of the 18 missions.

The Space Shop

The shop has three tabs: Upgrades, Costumes (12 hats and outfits) and Rockets (7 skins). Costumes and rockets are just for looks. Upgrades change how you play:

Upgrade	What it does	First level
Turbo Engine	Fly faster	120
Blasters	More damage per shot	150
Armor Plating	+1 heart at levels 2 and 4	220
Magnet Range	Pull fish from further away	100
Power Cells	Power-ups last longer	140
Meow Amplifier	Mega Meow charges faster and hits harder	130
Cat Reflexes	Your cat power recharges faster	160
Head Start	Begin each flight with a weapon level	400

Each level costs more than the one before. Our buying order: Magnet Range first (it is cheapest, and more fish means faster upgrades), then Blasters, then Armor Plating up to level 2 for a fourth heart. After that, Cat Reflexes and the Meow Amplifier make the bosses much easier.

Missions, Endless and difficulty

Missions: 18 goals such as defeating 100 enemies, swapping cats 25 times or beating a boss without being hit. Each pays fish stars.
Endless Voyage: fly as far as you can through all six planets' scenery, with endless bosses. Your best distance is saved, and there are missions for 2,000 m and 5,000 m.
Difficulty: Easy gives you an extra heart, slower enemy shots and weaker enemies. It is a great choice for younger players. Hard makes everything faster and tougher.
Second chance: if you go down, you can sometimes spend fish stars to carry on once per run.

Playing together on one phone

Choose 2 Players and both cats fly at once. Player 1 drags on the left half of the screen, Player 2 on the right half. If a friend gets knocked out, they float in a bubble; fly into it to rescue them. Reaching any planet together earns the Best Friends mission. A tablet or a phone turned sideways gives both players more room.

What we changed after testing

Turning the phone mid-flight is safe now. Early versions could cost you a life if you rotated your phone during a flight; the world now resizes smoothly with a short grace period.
Dragging feels exact. The rocket now moves one-to-one with your finger, and keyboard controls were made snappier.
The cats got bigger. The cat rocket was drawn 15% and then 35% larger, with a glow and engine trail, so it is easier to follow. The area that counts as a hit was kept the same size, so the game did not get harder.
Clearer map and goals. The Galaxy Map shows a "Tap a planet" hint and the star goals are easier to read.
Small layout fixes, such as moving the Share button on the sideways title screen so it never covers the cats.

FAQ

Is Meowstronauts hard?

The first planet is gentle once you stop wandering into asteroids. Later planets and bosses are a real challenge, but upgrades carry over and fish stars are kept even when you lose, so you get stronger every run. Easy mode adds an extra heart.

Can two people play?

Yes. Pick 2 Players and share one screen: left half for Player 1, right half for Player 2.

What are fish stars for?

They buy upgrades, costumes and rocket skins in the Space Shop, they fill the Mega Meow meter, and one of each planet's stars is for collecting 60% of them.

Which cat is better?

Sunny's spread shots are great for crowds of mice; Shadow's piercing lasers are better against bosses. In 1 Player you have both, so swap whenever it helps.