Neko Atsume Review

Game Title: Neko Atsume Kitty Collector

Developer: Hit-Point

Year: 2014

ESRB Rating: N/A

Platform: iOS and Android Mobile Phones and Tablets

Genre: Casual Collector Game

Very recently a close friend of mine convinced me to try a very different game then what I am used to. Neko Atsume is by far one of the weirdest and strangely addicting games I have ever played. To explain it at its simplest would be "a game you just look at cats then ignore for a few hours". Personally it isn't my type of game but I'll admit, I've been playing this game for a little over a month now and I haven't grown bored of it yet, like I often do with mobile games.

The concept of the game itself is really simple. You have a yard that you can fill with different items such as cat toys and furniture. The main idea of the game is to attract cats, which can only be done by placing food and leaving the app for a bit. In return, when cats leave the yard, they will leave either gold or normal fish, these being the currency of the game. Using this fish, new items can be bought or better food. Eventually you can afford to get an expansion to add more space for furniture and another food bowl. After getting an expansion, you can also choose to remodel, this is purely aesthetic and does nothing to actually help you in-game.

 

The cats themselves all have unique personalities and names. All cats can be renamed after you meet them and that itself can be fun. I personally only edited two names out of everyone. There are also rare cats that will only interact with certain items and come when certain food is placed out. Some of these include Tubbs, Guy Furry, and Lady Meow Meow, as well as 15 others.

Tubbs is probably one of the most recognizable of the rare cats. He is usually the first rare cat anyone gets in game. He will only come if "Frisky Bits", the basic priced food item just above "Thrifty Bits" which are free, or any higher priced food are placed out. When he comes, he will often eat all the food, leaving none for other cats. Once the food is replaced, he will mysteriously dissappear. On rare occasions he'll appear on the Giant Cushion item. Many players complain about him since he'll eat all food placed out and that this happens WAY too often.

Guy Furry is a joke on the celebrity Guy Fieri. This cat will only interact with the Glass Vase or the Heating Stove. When spotted, he transforms the Glass Vase into an appetizing parfait. If he's by the Heating Stove, he cooks a tasty looking pizza for the surrounding cats, although this action is more rare compared to the Glass Vase interaction.

I still haven't spotted Lady Meow-Meow. A joke on the celebrity with a similar name Lady GaGa, she only comes when the Luxurious Hammock is out as well as Sashimi is left out. I'll catch this diva in action one day.



There are tons of other cats in this game, the grand total being 49 with 17 of them being rare. In addition to collecting cats, you can take pictures of cats currently in your yard and choose favorites. These favorite pictures will show as the cat's icon in your Cat Book, a page of every cat that has ever visited your yard. By selecting any cat on this list, you can get information such as their favorite items, personality, and number of visits. In these pages you can also find all pictures taken of certain cats. Cats that have not yet visited your yard will be grayed out with "???" as their name and information. Cats that have visited but you actually haven't spotted will have a dulled icon and not show any information other than number of visits.

My Current Cat Book

I guess the main goal of the game would be to collect mementos from the cats. Mementos are non-usable items that cats may leave you after a random number of visits. Although there is no actual ending to the game, collecting all of these mementos basically leaves the game 100% finished, since there really isn't anything else to collect or do after. The items themselves depend on the cat giving them. Snowball gives the player a pink and yellow collar, Socks will give the player small mittens with a paw print design, Tubbs will give you fish jerky, and so on. Every cat has a special memento that they can eventually give you the player. Otherwise there isn't really a story to this game.


The game itself starts with a quick and easy tutorial to explain the controls and concepts. The game itself is extremely easy and simple. The controls themselves is just tapping and swiping the screen to select icons or scroll through menus. It barely needs a tutorial, granted it is not a long tutorial anyway. Now the simplicity of the game doesn't make it any less fun. It really is an enjoyable game if you want a game you only have to check occasionally and not put too much time into it. It isn't a real good game to load up if you have tons of time to kill, considering playtime is only a few minutes at most each time you open the application.

The graphics and artwork of the game is adorable. It is drawn in a cartoon style that almost makes it appear childish. This style fits perfectly for these playful kitties in the yard. The cats themselves all have unique patterns and designs to set them apart. As time goes on, a player can even easily identify between very similar cats such as Smokey and Gabriel. As for the music, I also really like the catchy little tune. I will admit it can be repetitive and grow annoying but you're not really supposed to have the app opened for long anyway. The song fits with its silly and childish theme.

If I could change the game in anyway I'd start with adding more cats. This may happen in future updates anyway but I think if the game is constantly adding cats and growing, it'll keep people playing. Plus it would be so cool to find new cats, rare and normal alike. I'd also maybe add some interactions with the cats you collect. Nothing super complicated, maybe a cute animation when you tap on a cat, or a little mini-game involving the cats you've collected. It would be a nice distraction and perhaps pass time while your waiting for cats to accumulate in your yard. Only thing I would really want to add, and it might sound silly, is more cute cat puns. Even calling mementos "Meow-mentos" would be a cute little addition. Not that they don't add plenty of jokes and puns as it it, I just feel like so many more can be added. This would also add to its silly and childish theme I mentioned earlier.

As for a recommendation, I'd probably recommend it to quite a few people but I'd also add that this game isn't a serious game at all. This game is best for either cat-lovers or just people who like really casual and easy to play games. I probably wouldn't recommend this to hardcore gamers but I think it is a very nice casual game.