Neko Atsume

Gameplay

Gameplay revolves around the player purchasing food, toys, and furniture to attract a variety of cats to the player's home. The player can watch cats interact with objects, take photos of them which can be saved in an album, and receive gifts of fish and mementos from them.

Cats will leave the player either silver or gold "niboshi" (にぼし, small dried sardines), called "fish" in the English version, after leaving the garden. Players can also complete a daily password to receive a random amount of silver or gold fish. This feature can be located in the "news" button from the main menu. Once there the player simply taps the cat that is holding the sign and this will direct the player to a new page with the following options; "Input Password", "Submit Feedback" and the games "Official FAQ". The player will tap on "Input Password" and a daily log will be created. After five daily passwords are imputed, the player will receive a free can of "Ritzy Bitz". The fish can be used to purchase new types of food and goods as well as extensions to the garden. Cats may leave collectible "mementos" for the player.

After purchasing the initial expansion to the garden, the player can then purchase a remodel for their garden. Players have the option to remodel their garden to one of seven different styles: Original, Zen, Rustic, Modern, Western, Sugary, or Cafe.

There is no end game and cats will continue to come as long as the player puts out food for them.

The game is free to play, though additional niboshi are available for purchase.

Cats

There are currently 59 cats for the player to collect. Among these, 21 are considered "rare cats" and only appear when certain items are placed in the yard. Rare cats have a unique interaction with their respective items. Each cat has a unique name, personality and appearance. The player may rename the cats after they have encountered them. Many of the rare cats in the English version of the game are named after famous people, both fictional and non-fictional, with the names of the cats being puns, like Lady Meow Meow (Lady Gaga) Mr. Meowgi (Mr. Miyagi), Chairman Meow (Chairman Mao), Guy Furry (Guy Fieri), Saint Purrtrick (Saint Patrick), Xerxes IX (Xerxes I), Billy the Kitten (Billy the Kid), Señor Don Gato (gato=cat in Spanish) (Don Carlos), and Joe DiMeowgio (Joe DiMaggio, complete with megaphone and baseball). While Peaches is not considered a rare cat, it has been noted that this cat is harder to find than the others.

Development

Yutaka Takazaki, the developer of the game, said that his goal was to create a game that even children could enjoy without a significant investment of skill or time. While he loves cats himself, he has said that "to be honest, I do not know why this game is so popular." The game "was made between the development of other applications". Originally it was a software of the "just look and enjoy" style for players who like cats, and could be completed in 2–3 weeks for free. Takazaki says, "We're not going to put cheats or complexity in it, and we would like to pursue a game that can be enjoyed with only simple operations."

Release

As of version 1.4.5, players can switch between Japanese and English versions of the game any time they want.

On 30 October 2015, an English version of the game, called Neko Atsume: Kitty Collector, was released on the Android and iOS App stores. It allows players to switch between English and Japanese translations of the game within the game menu. Even before the English version, guides were written for English-speaking users to play the game.

In version 1.5.5, there is a chance that the player's garden will be covered in snow. The snow event typically lasts for 24 hours and changes the appearance of the garden as well as the background music. The player also has the opportunity to get a new rare cat, Frosty.

Version 1.6.0 was released on March 24, 2016. This version added two new common cats and two new rare cats, more toys, and introduced the "gallery" where players can buy wallpapers for their phones with gold niboshi.

Version 1.7.0 was released on July 14, 2016. This version added three more cats (two common and one rare), more toys, and more wallpapers.

Version 1.8.0 was released on October 13, 2016. This version added two new common cats, more toys, and a new remodel.

Version 1.9.0 was released on 2016 December 15. This version added new toys, one rare cat, and enable snow event like as version 1.5.5.

Reception

By May 2015, the game had achieved 4 million downloads for Android and iOS combined. On August 20, 2015, Neko Atsume won the CEDEC Awards for best game design. As of December 4, 2015, the game had achieved 10 million downloads. In January 2016, the game was honored as one of the Top 5 Mobile Games of 2015 by GameSpot, who cited the game as "intensely quirky" and "increasingly compelling".

On September 15, 2015, Google and Hit-Point teamed up for Game Week with Google Play to produce a live video event called Real Neko Atsume (リアルねこあつめ), which was broadcast on YouTube from a Cat café in Osaka.

In February 2016, Petio Corporation released toys for the game, cats' goods designed to actually be able to play real cats.

Film adaptation

On November 8, 2016, It was announced that a live-action movie 「ja:ねこあつめの家」(Neko Atsume no ie,The House of Cat Collection) based on Neko Atsume,is going to be released in 2017. Kotaku reports that Japanese production company MediAnd is putting together a movie based on Neko Atsume with Masatoshi Kurakata directing.