Collecting Cats in a Cute Japanese Game

A fancy backyard filled with happy kitties in Neko Atsume.

As I was browsing through the articles on Kotaku, as I am wont to do from time to time, I decided to read an article about a Japanese game that involves cats.  I am not typically a person who is seeks out content that is specifically Japanese in nature.  I know there is a whole subculture of people who are really into anime and JRPG's and everything that screams JAPAN!  Not me.  I've never really understood anime, or wanted to for that matter, and I have enjoyed a few games that were developed in Japan or were Japanese in nature.

After reading into the article I discovered that this game, which is completely in Japanese is very simple.  You are given a house with a small backyard.  In this backyard you can place items that will attract cats to your yard.  These items range in nature from a simple bowl of cat food to fancy cat furniture.  After you place some food and items, cats will begin showing up in your yard.  It's stupidly exciting to see a cat in your yard.  You can then track which cats have visited your yard in a sort of logbook.  You can also take a unique picture of each cat and give it a goofy name to help you identify it.  Each cat brings you fish, either gold or silver, that you can use to buy different or better items.  Some cats seem to be attracted to certain objects and some objects attract "special" cats.

Is there a goal in this game?  Sort of....you want to attract as many cats as you can.  It's a check-in game so you just pop open your favored device to see which kitties are hanging out in your yard.  Every few hours you have to replenish their food, but there's no risk to them dying or being neglected like the old school Tomagatchi pets.

It's simple, but it's cute.  I've managed to attract a number of different cats and give them all really stupid cat names like "Fluffy" or "Bob."  There's something addicting about checking in on your yard to see what's going on.  I've had to resist the urge to check repeatedly.

Here is a link to the Kotaku article (with a video that explains the game):  "The Japanese Cat Game We Can't Stop Playing"

Here is a handy guide explaining how to play the game (all the Japanese writing can be a little intimidating):  "How to Play Neko Atsume"

The game can be kind of hard to find on the app store, but there is a link in the "How to Play Neko Atsume" article.

Enjoy collecting cats!