40 Year Old Cat Lady In Training

(Via Panels)

I recently stumbled upon a very fun yet low maintenance game: Neko Atsume.

Neko Atsume, the name meaning "Cat Collector" in English, is a Japanese app where you, well, collect cats.  You basically have a backyard, and if you put out items for the felines to play with, they will come and chill in your yard.  From what I can tell, the point of the game is to collect as many regular and rare cats and you can and make your house the most aesthetically pleasing as possible.

There are 49 cats in all, and only 17 rare cats.  On top of that, you can upgrade your house's yard so it has a different theme.  Beyond that, there isn't much to do.

Now I know this sounds like a terribly boring game.  Most people I've talked about it with have dismissed after I described the gameplay. BUT IT IS ACTUALLY ONE OF THE MOST FUN GAMES I HAVE EVER PLAYED IN MY ENTIRE LIFE.  In fact, it's the only game I have on my phone.  It's really hard to describe how enjoyable this game is; people just need to try it out for themselves.  So, I will try to vividly describe how interesting the game is in this post just to prove my point.

One of my favorite rare cats: Guy Furry,
a play on Guy Fieri.
(Via Neko Atsume Wikia)

First of all, the graphics are insanely adorable.  The 2D yard and cats don't seem as impressive as they sound, but they truly are simplistic yet aesthetically pleasing pieces of art.  On top of that, the music is cute.  It gets a little repetitive and annoying after awhile, but if you're only on it for a couple of minutes, it brightens your mood.

Secondly, and my most favorite part, is the search for the rare cats.  As I stated earlier, there were 49 cats total and 17 rare cats.  The rare cats have different personalities, different outfits, and interesting names that are usually plays on real life people's names.  Typically, the rare cats require specific items to come to your yard compared to the regular cats, who will come on a variety of cheap items that you put out.  It can be a struggle to get the rare cats to come, but when they do, the reward is worth it.

Finally, I appreciate how low maintenance it is.  I enjoy playing video games, but I rarely have any time to.  But, you can check Neko Atsume for a couple of minutes a day and you feel satisfied.  On top of that, it takes up a very small portion of space on your phone.  So, if you're someone like me that has absolutely no space, you'll still be able to download it.

Neko Atsume still might sound boring.  Don't knock it 'till you try it.  You'll instantly fall in love with the seemingly pointless game where you collect cats. And I'll be sitting here, still sleep deprived, telling you "I told you so".