What it Says on the Tin, Collect Cats
April 28, 2015 3:02 PM   Subscribe

A highly addictive and adorable Japanese Smartphone Game Available for both IOS and Android and exclusively in Japanese, it's pretty easy to navigate, and a clearer explanation of how to play can be found here.
posted by KernalM (407 comments total) 118 users marked this as a favorite
 
OH MY GOD, GOOGLE PLAY HAS FINAL MADE THIS AVAILABLE IN MY COUNTRY (america)

PRAISE BE TO NEKO
posted by maryr at 3:05 PM on April 28, 2015 [4 favorites]


(I have been waiting for this for like a month, thanks a lot Twitter feed)
posted by maryr at 3:05 PM on April 28, 2015 [1 favorite]


Wait, is it in the American play store? I got it from the Japanese one, but an English version would be nice.
posted by Going To Maine at 3:09 PM on April 28, 2015


The game is still in Japanese, but it's available in North America without a VPN now.

The second link is a guide with translations for the major buttons, and you can muddle through pretty well without any Japanese. I've been doing just fine so far.
posted by Itaxpica at 3:10 PM on April 28, 2015


It really speaks to how good the tutorial is that you can figure out how to play without having to read any Japanese
posted by hellojed at 3:11 PM on April 28, 2015 [3 favorites]


Oh, everything is still in Japanese. It's just that previously Google Play would find it and tell me it was not available in my country, teasing me, taunting me, insulting the greatest country on earth, making me debating hacking Japan to get those sweet sweet kitty butts on my phone.

But now I can play with neko and all is right with the world.

(Er, what Itaxpica said, I'm just excited.)
posted by maryr at 3:12 PM on April 28, 2015 [2 favorites]


OH MY GOD, GOOGLE PLAY HAS FINAL MADE THIS AVAILABLE IN MY COUNTRY (america)

PRAISE BE TO NEKO


One of us! One of us!
posted by DiscourseMarker at 3:13 PM on April 28, 2015 [4 favorites]


I feel like making the decision to tap install is the last rational thing I do before I spend a month trying to build a ziggurat. Never forget.
posted by phunniemee at 3:13 PM on April 28, 2015 [12 favorites]


I have three cats.
posted by Going To Maine at 3:14 PM on April 28, 2015 [2 favorites]


LOL we were discussing this in another thread, I just heard about this app today. I already have ten kitties in my photo album.

you can muddle through pretty well without any Japanese

And unfortunately, you will miss a lot of the charm of the game. I especially like the lists of each cat's favorite toys.
posted by charlie don't surf at 3:15 PM on April 28, 2015 [1 favorite]


I feel like making the decision to tap install is the last rational thing I do before I spend a month trying to build a ziggurat.

One of the great things about this game is that it really can't suck you in too much all at once. The cats come and go on their own schedule; all you really do is leave out toys and make sure the food bowl is full, then check periodically to see if any cats are playing. Then you take photos. Then maybe switch up the toys. It's more a "30 seconds every few hours" kind of game than a "sit for hours clicking things" kind of game.
posted by Itaxpica at 3:17 PM on April 28, 2015 [3 favorites]


They could make so much money by doing an English translation.
posted by infinitywaltz at 3:18 PM on April 28, 2015 [6 favorites]


But there's still the charm of PHONE KITTIES.
posted by wotsac at 3:18 PM on April 28, 2015 [2 favorites]


I am one cat away from gathering all the cats, though I still have to become "friends" with about half of them, to get their treasures.

One of the treasures is a bug carapace. Which pretty much makes this the most realistic game I've ever played.
posted by DiscourseMarker at 3:18 PM on April 28, 2015 [22 favorites]


My favorite is the cats in buckets.

Wait, scratch that. My favorite is the cat kotatsu. Catatsu.
posted by Itaxpica at 3:20 PM on April 28, 2015 [10 favorites]


I have this game and I check in on my phone kitties regularly. Ok, fine. Constantly. There's something so pleasant about cheerful music and cute kitties.

I was at a pretty fancy restaurant with one of my good friends who is a real life Crazy Cat Lady. I was showing her the game, when from the table beside us, I heard someone yell, "Neko Atsume!!" I turned and the young Japanese couple next to us was SO excited to see someone here playing it. They did look a little startled that I had understood them, though. They told us it was insanely popular in Japan and that all their friends are addicted.

Neko Atsume, good for kitties, good for international diplomacy.
posted by chatongriffes at 3:23 PM on April 28, 2015 [70 favorites]


It's a cute game and all but what really makes me want to play it is all the cats have an X for a butthole. It's adorable.
posted by Foam Pants at 3:26 PM on April 28, 2015 [15 favorites]


This explains a LOT of instagram pictures I've seen recently.
posted by janey47 at 3:29 PM on April 28, 2015 [4 favorites]


Finally, the cat tree is mine!

Sort of kind of tempted to buy some gold fish as a tip/thank you. Yes, despite my burning IAP hatred.
posted by Artw at 3:37 PM on April 28, 2015 [2 favorites]


I am stalking the elusive Mr. Bistro to have all the cats! Then I must make friends with them all and see all the treasures! Then I am currently saving up for indoors! It's very edge-of-the-seat for such a sedate game....

I like to pretend I am practicing Japanese when I translate the treasure text instead of studying my reading for the week. It's, like, totally the same education-wise!

Isn't it?
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:42 PM on April 28, 2015 [2 favorites]


Damn you, multiple-cat-havers, I only have one. But I think the password thing is going to accidentally teach me how to write in Japanese.
posted by maryr at 3:42 PM on April 28, 2015 [2 favorites]


PS. DiscourseMarker, you have blighted and enlivened my life. I will thank you from the bottom of my cold, hard heart while shaking my fist at you.
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:43 PM on April 28, 2015 [1 favorite]


all the cats have an X for a butthole

Yes, indeed.
posted by misozaki at 3:44 PM on April 28, 2015 [2 favorites]


But I think the password thing is going to accidentally teach me how to write in Japanese.

The update did away with entering the "secret word." Now you just click on it.

(No, I am not obsessed with nekoatsume; what gave you that idea?)
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:45 PM on April 28, 2015 [1 favorite]


Also: Pepsi Mew?
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:45 PM on April 28, 2015 [1 favorite]


It doesn't seem to be updated in the American store - I only have a paw mark on the menu, not a house.
posted by maryr at 3:47 PM on April 28, 2015


Also, for some reason, I can't find it in the American Apple app store using the English keyboard, but it comes up right away when I type the name using hiragana. It's weird.....

Like cats!
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:00 PM on April 28, 2015


I guess they are all girls.

/Fat Freddy's Cat fan.
posted by Artw at 4:05 PM on April 28, 2015


I've got a cardboard box, but there is no cat in it. The universe is clearly out of balance.
posted by Hello, I'm David McGahan at 4:08 PM on April 28, 2015 [3 favorites]


It doesn't seem to be updated in the American store - I only have a paw mark on the menu, not a house.

It's not unlocked yet. You need to expand the house first.

A tip for people who are having trouble getting any cats to appear: put out the food dish.
posted by charlie don't surf at 4:10 PM on April 28, 2015 [6 favorites]


I was distressed to put out what I thought was a paper bag and come back to find a cat wearing a potentially chokey plastic bag over its head.
posted by Artw at 4:12 PM on April 28, 2015 [3 favorites]


Oh this game. I aggressive coo at it every couple of hours. Love me, cats. Gimme your treasures. No, not you, fat bastard, go away. I SAID GO AWAY.
posted by zix at 4:14 PM on April 28, 2015 [7 favorites]


No, not you, fat bastard, go away. I SAID GO AWAY.

He is a bit annoying, but he does leave an awful lot of sardines if you let him eat his fill (if you refill the dish, he will go away).
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:18 PM on April 28, 2015 [4 favorites]


I feel like making the decision to tap install is the last rational thing I do before I spend a month trying to build a ziggurat.

It takes you a month to build a ziggurat? Ha! I have 42 ziggurats and I'm adding one every couple of (real-world) days. I have all the unicorn-related religious buildings you can get without unobtainium and my unicorn generation rate is like 11 per second. It gets easier after you reset 2 or 3 times.

(... which is to say that, yes, some of us are still playing the kittens incremental game and have gone very far down the rabbit hole indeed.)
posted by Joey Buttafoucault at 4:32 PM on April 28, 2015 [9 favorites]


Is there a way to get more sardines without paying money?
posted by Going To Maine at 4:34 PM on April 28, 2015


Cats leave sardines when they visit
posted by halfsquaretriangle at 4:35 PM on April 28, 2015


The cats give you silver ones, gold ones seem to show up without buying every so often but I don't know how.
posted by Artw at 4:36 PM on April 28, 2015 [1 favorite]


You have to click the fish item and collect the sardines the cats give you.
posted by Artw at 4:37 PM on April 28, 2015


My favorite is the cat kotatsu.

is this a kotatsu with cats underneath the blankie instead of a heater
posted by poffin boffin at 4:40 PM on April 28, 2015 [4 favorites]


Cats leave sardines when they visit

Cats usually give silver sardines or (more rarely) a smaller number of gold sardines. There doesn't seem to be a strict logic to this -- rarer cats don't seem to give more sardines or gold sardines more often, and it seems that any cat can leave either (nor do they seem to leave gold sardines any more frequently for playing with their favorite toys). After a while, you will find yourself buying gold sardines at 10 for 500 silver sardines, just so you can get the pricey gold items.
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:43 PM on April 28, 2015


Metafilter's going to go very quiet for a while, isn't it...
posted by Devonian at 4:43 PM on April 28, 2015 [5 favorites]


Ok I have three cats now and no sardine money. Because I can't read Japanese I have renamed my cats Melon, Butter, and Potato.

Need more cats, pls.
posted by phunniemee at 4:46 PM on April 28, 2015 [4 favorites]


If there is a speech bubble at the bottom that is a shortcut to the cats-giving-you-fish page - you need to click each fish gift to accept it.

Also contains feedback on what items cars like best.
posted by Artw at 4:57 PM on April 28, 2015


PS. DiscourseMarker, you have blighted and enlivened my life. I will thank you from the bottom of my cold, hard heart while shaking my fist at you


My work here is done.

Also, it's all Metroid Baby's fault.
posted by DiscourseMarker at 5:00 PM on April 28, 2015 [3 favorites]


Metroid Baby just got the camouflage cat! It is amazing! Its actual spots are camo. I want that to be genetically engineered. Also, it has a ladle and bowl. I guess it's the KP cat.
posted by ignignokt at 5:06 PM on April 28, 2015 [2 favorites]


It's true, I just now got him. I don't know if he's an army cat or a soup cat or both!

I have separate games going on my phone and iPad. I am sort of addicted. My favorite cats are the odd-eyed black cat and the Anna Wintour cat.
posted by Metroid Baby at 5:14 PM on April 28, 2015 [5 favorites]


Oh! And! In some of the cat-playing animations - I think the feather toy is one of them - if you look closely you can see the little X butthole move a pixel or two. Someone's job was to animate a cat's butthole. Thank you, cat butt animator, whoever you are.
posted by Metroid Baby at 5:20 PM on April 28, 2015 [32 favorites]


I have separate games going on my phone and iPad

oh thank god I'm not the only one
posted by DiscourseMarker at 5:41 PM on April 28, 2015 [3 favorites]


*Sniff*
posted by schmod at 5:42 PM on April 28, 2015


I have a bowl of canned food, a cardboard box, a ball of string, and a ball. And no cats on screen. What do you furry bastards want from me?!?
posted by zippy at 5:47 PM on April 28, 2015 [1 favorite]


Now where's the Duolingo Japanese course?
posted by acb at 6:04 PM on April 28, 2015 [6 favorites]


The cats only come when you're not looking. They can tell when you want it too much.
posted by DiscourseMarker at 6:04 PM on April 28, 2015 [8 favorites]


Yes! Two cats on the cat tree! This is the way to total cat dominance!
posted by Artw at 6:14 PM on April 28, 2015 [3 favorites]


I have added an additional three cats to my brood: Gouda, Jicama, and Clove.
posted by phunniemee at 6:19 PM on April 28, 2015 [3 favorites]


Bah. My attempts to name cats are not sticking.
posted by Artw at 6:21 PM on April 28, 2015


Oh man, this makes me want to make an FPP about myidol, speaking of apps that are memes.
posted by emptythought at 6:24 PM on April 28, 2015


Artw, did you try the non-bolded option?
posted by halfsquaretriangle at 6:25 PM on April 28, 2015


I have a seventh cat (Burrito)! And Butter has returned for another go at the hackey sack.
posted by phunniemee at 6:27 PM on April 28, 2015


phunniemee, I approve of your cat names. I am working on a fairy tale theme, with Rapunzel and Goblin. Mostly I am just excited that there are CATS! In my PHONE! And they are PLAYING!

I may however be slightly ignoring my real cats in favor of my phone cats and that feels like a valid indictment of the 21st century.
posted by jaguar at 6:39 PM on April 28, 2015 [19 favorites]


Okay, this game made me get out my hiragana flash cards. I want to be able to read these cats' names!

Between this and the above-linked incremental kitten game, I am all set for cat games for the near future.
posted by isthmus at 6:52 PM on April 28, 2015 [3 favorites]


Ah, so this is why my Twitter timeline is even more full of cartoon cats than normal.

I'm another kittensgame addict: non-unobtainium-related you say? Pah, I say. I got the stuff coming out of my ears. Just starting in on necrocorns and wondering if there's anything implemented for them yet.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 7:23 PM on April 28, 2015 [1 favorite]


Oh man, drowning in kitties over here. Melon, Jicama, Butter, Naan, Custard, Potato, Burrito, Gumbo, Clove, Guava, and Gouda are now all happy denizens of my photo album. Saving up for a kitty tower now.
posted by phunniemee at 7:31 PM on April 28, 2015 [4 favorites]


Okay, this game made me get out my hiragana flash cards. I want to be able to read these cats' names!

I want to give them all the same name, just like I do in real life. They are all "Kitty." But I don't want to lose the original Japanese names, which are so colorful. Literally. Like they are named after their color, e.g. Kuroneko (black kitty) and Shironeko (white kitty) or Haiironeko (grey color kitty).

It reminds me of my mom's naming scheme. She was a real cat lady, she had so many cats she couldn't think of names for them all. So everything was name-y or name-ski. There were two white cats so one was Whitey and the other was Whiteski. The golden colored cat was Goldie. The little cat was the runt of the litter so it was Runty. That ended up being my cat, which I promptly renamed with a proper, dignified name: Kitty. I call every cat by it's proper name: Kitty.

Quick game tip: the cats leave sardines as gifts when they leave. You can take away their box or cushion or whatever, and they will leave, and give you sardines. I have not played enough to determine whether they give you more sardines for being in your yard longer, the amounts appear to be random, so kick them all out periodically and change the toys around.
posted by charlie don't surf at 7:49 PM on April 28, 2015 [2 favorites]


Oooh, you can have a separate game on the iPad? Sweet.
posted by isthmus at 7:50 PM on April 28, 2015


Here's the sad thing: I'm playing this instead of playing with my actual, live cats, who are sitting around looking bored.
posted by isthmus at 8:00 PM on April 28, 2015 [8 favorites]


I think you have that backwards. The cats are bored with you so they're not playing with you.
posted by charlie don't surf at 8:05 PM on April 28, 2015 [5 favorites]


I am too stupid for this game. I open the game, I go into the shopping area and click on something, and then I can't get out of that section. No matter where I try to click, it just keeps me in the shoping area.

Please help me. I need some cats.
posted by MexicanYenta at 8:06 PM on April 28, 2015 [3 favorites]


Never mind, I've got it. I don't follow instructions well, it seems.
posted by MexicanYenta at 8:09 PM on April 28, 2015 [1 favorite]


I downloaded it (Android) but I do not see it. Anywhere. At all. My cat garden is wholly invisible.

I am very sad.
posted by byanyothername at 8:09 PM on April 28, 2015


My phone cats' naming scheme is hitting character limits.

I just tried to guilt-trip my real cats for not being as well-behaved as my phone cats.
posted by jaguar at 8:10 PM on April 28, 2015 [1 favorite]


The name is in Japanese, so it might get alphabetically placed into weird places depending on your home screen.

To go back to the garden, you click the menu button in the top left, and then the button in the middle.
posted by vogon_poet at 8:15 PM on April 28, 2015


After a bit of random poking, I figured out how to take the toys away and get sardines BUT I FELT LIKE SUCH A MONSTER when the kitties left, please they have to come back now I don't really want the fish as much as I want the kitties.
what is happening to my brain
posted by Mary Ellen Carter at 8:36 PM on April 28, 2015 [4 favorites]


Huh. Hasn't shown up in the Australian App Store yet. But that's okay, continue playing while I just sit here gazing emptily at the void. I don't mind, really. Keep chatting effusively about how much fun you're having playing this great game that's arbitrarily not available where I live. What's important is that you're happy. I think it's fantastic that you've chosen to go on with your lives despite the injustices that prey on some members of the community like specifically me. It's fine. I'm fine. Everything is fucking fine.
posted by um at 8:52 PM on April 28, 2015 [18 favorites]


I picked this up easily (too easily!) on the play store, and I'm in Australia.
posted by mythical anthropomorphic amphibian at 9:33 PM on April 28, 2015


I would have such good cat names of it weren't for the damn character limit. Meanwhile, I am not ignoring my actual cat, purr se...
posted by maryr at 9:47 PM on April 28, 2015 [3 favorites]


Is anyone else having issues with the android version not doing the automatic password thingy?
posted by Hello, I'm David McGahan at 1:03 AM on April 29, 2015 [3 favorites]


Oh, and there is a kitty currently in the cardboard box, who looks very very pleased with themselves!
posted by Hello, I'm David McGahan at 1:05 AM on April 29, 2015 [1 favorite]


I got mine from the Aussie Apple store, I think I searched for Neko Atsume after I saw screengrabs from metroidbaby.

I rename all the cats after famous ladies, except for: the ones with clothes cos I can't tell; one called Marmalad instead of Marmalade cos there's an 8-character limit and I couldn't think of a famous lady at that time; and Odd-San who I have renamed Bowie after an androgynous man who also has odd-coloured eyes.
posted by harriet vane at 4:31 AM on April 29, 2015


I don't feel like my previous comment adequately describes how much silly joy I get from this game.

There is a cat sitting in a too-small box. It is perfect. Teehee!
posted by harriet vane at 4:35 AM on April 29, 2015 [5 favorites]


Every time Odd-san shows up, my inner cat pedant points out that he's genetically impossible. Maybe the game should stick to realistic cats, like the ones with baseball uniforms and tiny mountaineering backpacks.
posted by Metroid Baby at 5:55 AM on April 29, 2015 [7 favorites]


I figured out how to take photos, but how do I get back to the photos I took of the whole garden? Is it possible to send the photos to other people? This game is my new favorite thing ever.
posted by skycrashesdown at 6:49 AM on April 29, 2015


Oh, and there is a kitty currently in the cardboard box, who looks very very pleased with themselves!

I actually woke up to this this morning! My cat was in the box labeled Good Will, which I think, given general cat nature, may have been a lie.
posted by maryr at 6:52 AM on April 29, 2015 [2 favorites]


I figured out how to take photos, but how do I get back to the photos I took of the whole garden?

They're with the other pictures on your phone (on Android, look in Gallery).
posted by maryr at 6:53 AM on April 29, 2015


Every time Odd-san shows up,

I have a photo of two black-and-white spotted cats stuffed into the u-tube, one feet out and one head out. I like to imagine that they are one really long dachshund cat. This fills me with an almost indescribable amusement.
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:54 AM on April 29, 2015 [10 favorites]


SOMEONE PLEASE TRANSLATE THIS TO ENGLISH SO I CAN GET KITTIES OH MY GOD I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY I CAN'T GET KITTIES IS THIS BECAUSE I HAVE DOGS?
posted by magstheaxe at 6:59 AM on April 29, 2015 [4 favorites]


Since I last checked in I have been visited by five new kitties: Parsnip, Churro, Celery, Tamarind, and Ham. My kitties left me over 100 silver sardines and nearly 20 gold sardines in tribute overnight. Good kitties. Soon you will have your kitty tower. Soon.
posted by phunniemee at 7:00 AM on April 29, 2015 [6 favorites]


Ahh, thanks, maryr!
posted by skycrashesdown at 7:04 AM on April 29, 2015


A cute little kitty is sleeping in a basket! Somehow I bought a basket and set it out in the garden and now it's sleeping there!!!

I will get nothing done at work today. I'm gonna have to beg off sick. Diagnosis: Feline Obsessive Disorder.
posted by magstheaxe at 7:07 AM on April 29, 2015 [2 favorites]


I know I'm supposed to save my gold fishies for the house, but I really really needed that strawberry mochi cushion.
posted by maryr at 7:33 AM on April 29, 2015 [3 favorites]


I wonder how often it does a kitten check/reassignment, is it literally every time you close and reopen? So you could repeatedly close it and open it? I've been checking it every 5-10 minutes and don't always see changes, would I see them more often if I checked every minute?
posted by DynamiteToast at 7:56 AM on April 29, 2015


DynamiteToast, the kitties appear to rotate their stations approximately hourly. Checking back more often (at this point, trust me, I've done the empirical research) doesn't force kitty state change.

In honor of you I will name my next new kitty Toast. Toast is an excellent virtual kitty name.
posted by phunniemee at 8:15 AM on April 29, 2015 [4 favorites]


I am naming my kitties after other people's cats, so if anyone has a cat who looks like one of these...
posted by maryr at 8:17 AM on April 29, 2015


I am naming my kitties after other people's cats, so if anyone has a cat who looks like one of these...

A couple of the white and orange calicos look like my cat Penny, so there is a nomination for you.
posted by DiscourseMarker at 8:49 AM on April 29, 2015


I was sure someone had tested it at this point haha, and I'm honored phunniemee.
posted by DynamiteToast at 8:51 AM on April 29, 2015




SOMEONE PLEASE TRANSLATE THIS TO ENGLISH

The last link in the post text helps with most of this.

Note that, while you can get immediate fish by taking away a cat's toy (or when the food runs out), this is much less efficient than waiting for them to wander off on their own. (They are much more generous.)
posted by GenjiandProust at 9:14 AM on April 29, 2015


I don't see any pattern in generosity. At the moment, it seems like most of my sardines are coming from cats that stop in and then leave without me ever seeing them. They leave 3 or 4 fish and that's it.

There is a lot of subtlety in this game, particularly the favorite toys. Some cats will play endlessly with certain toys (like the string toys) and others will just ignore it and fall asleep next to it. You can look at each cat's data card to see what they played with, but it's all in Japanese. It appears that each cat has one special favorite toy, I think you have to own that toy and put it out for a cat to give you a special treasure.
posted by charlie don't surf at 10:37 AM on April 29, 2015


Celery left me SIX gold sardines after a particularly enjoyable box sit, allowing me to purchase my long-awaited cat tower. Guys it is enormous, holy shit.
posted by phunniemee at 10:48 AM on April 29, 2015 [4 favorites]


How do you get inside the house?
posted by Going To Maine at 10:50 AM on April 29, 2015


First you get the kitties, then you get the gold fish, then you get the power.
posted by maryr at 10:55 AM on April 29, 2015 [8 favorites]


A couple of the white and orange calicos look like my cat Penny, so there is a nomination for you.

How can you possible say this without picture links. Who are you???
posted by maryr at 10:56 AM on April 29, 2015 [2 favorites]


Note that, while you can get immediate fish by taking away a cat's toy (or when the food runs out), this is much less efficient than waiting for them to wander off on their own. (They are much more generous.)

So, of course I have spent my billing hours today looking for Neko Atsume fan art and one of the pieces focuses on taking away cat toys.

Others address a sad story, sadness incarnate, tradition, misunderstandings, friendship, sharing, mythological origins, food, and coffee.
posted by maryr at 11:10 AM on April 29, 2015 [19 favorites]


I'd love to have the cat profile page translated. I'm pretty sure the third box on the right is number of visits. Does anyone know what the number above that is?
posted by DynamiteToast at 11:18 AM on April 29, 2015


Also a cat just left me 6 gold sardines so she's my new favorite.
posted by DynamiteToast at 11:18 AM on April 29, 2015


I think that's supposed to be the fight weight. So if two cats go for a toy, the weightier cat wins.
posted by zix at 11:46 AM on April 29, 2015


Getting in the house is the very last item on the shopping page which costs 180 gold fish.
posted by fragmede at 11:49 AM on April 29, 2015 [1 favorite]


This page translates the cats' profiles, including their personalities and the treasures they give you. That number is "attack strength," I guess?

(Spoiler alert for rarer cats.)
posted by Metroid Baby at 11:57 AM on April 29, 2015 [5 favorites]


I'd love to have the cat profile page translated.

On the individual cat pages, at the top it says "neko techou," cat handbook.

The column on the right of the photo has three entries:

seikaku: personality type. For example, the first cat in the handbook is described as "ottori" which means gentle.

sentouryoku: fighting strength.

kitakaisuu: "came count" literally. The number of times the cat came to your yard.
posted by charlie don't surf at 12:02 PM on April 29, 2015 [4 favorites]


In a move that truly speaks to the realism of the game, my kitties have decided to use my expensive and luxurious gift as an opportunity to show me their butt holes.
posted by phunniemee at 12:02 PM on April 29, 2015 [15 favorites]


See, I just bought a box, my sardine count went down, but the box is not there.
I repeat: I am too stupid for this game.
posted by MexicanYenta at 1:21 PM on April 29, 2015


Click on the menu. Click on the geometry problem. Arrow through to find your box. Double tap, place.
posted by maryr at 1:23 PM on April 29, 2015


And just like in real life, as soon as I whine about it, I figure it out.
posted by MexicanYenta at 1:23 PM on April 29, 2015


You solved a problem! Have a cat. (Make sure you have food out.)

Meanswhile, is there a reason to let my food run out? Or should I constantly refersh?
posted by maryr at 1:24 PM on April 29, 2015


I think my issue is that I don't normally play computer games, so I don't know things that are supposed to be intuitive.
posted by MexicanYenta at 1:26 PM on April 29, 2015


Ok, I have food and four toys out. I DEMAND A KITTY.
posted by MexicanYenta at 1:28 PM on April 29, 2015 [2 favorites]


Alone at home, no one can hear me squeeee every time a new kitty comes to my tiny yard and plays with yarn.
posted by sldownard at 1:30 PM on April 29, 2015 [2 favorites]


Meanswhile, is there a reason to let my food run out? Or should I constantly refersh?

Well I figure there is no reason to replenish it before it's empty, because that would be a waste of food, and thus a waste of sardine money. That's why they have the little progress bar that shows you how much food is left, so you know how soon it will be empty (unless that big fat glutton Manzoku-san comes along and wolfs it all down).
posted by charlie don't surf at 1:40 PM on April 29, 2015


I just want to thank you all for killing my entire day with cute.

I mean I did some work and changed some diapers but only because I get new cats hourly instead of minutely.
posted by annathea at 2:21 PM on April 29, 2015 [1 favorite]


I'm winning the big dummy prize here, because I cannot get the game to start! I get this screen, and if I click the yellow characters is closes the game, and if I click the gray characters the black text changes, but nothing else happens. I have tried tapping ask around the screen to no avail.

The kitty does change position sometimes.
posted by jeoc at 4:15 PM on April 29, 2015


jeoc, it just says it can't find your "save data" so is it OK to make a new one? If you have never run the game before, of course it can't find any save data, so hit the button on the lower left, with the orange word that says hai, yes.
posted by charlie don't surf at 5:09 PM on April 29, 2015 [1 favorite]


Fat bastard

Oh him. I named him Garfield.
posted by IndigoRain at 5:12 PM on April 29, 2015 [1 favorite]


Someone please name a skinny mean black one Mina. Or Glue Cat. Or Sticky Killer Cat.
posted by cmyk at 5:15 PM on April 29, 2015


If hitting "はい" causes it to close, it's probably getting an exception trying to create the save data for some reason. I guess make sure you have some space available on your phone? Otherwise not sure how you can debug realistically.
posted by thefoxgod at 5:24 PM on April 29, 2015 [1 favorite]


I like it when they sit in the bucket.
posted by phunniemee at 6:10 PM on April 29, 2015


I like it when they sit in the bucket.

Well, now I need a bucket.
posted by Going To Maine at 6:42 PM on April 29, 2015 [4 favorites]


Fat bastard

Oh him. I named him Garfield.


I named him Asshole, which seemed apt at the time but in retrospect seems kind of mean.
posted by Itaxpica at 7:25 PM on April 29, 2015 [1 favorite]


I named him Asshole, which seemed apt at the time but in retrospect seems kind of mean.

They wouldn't waggle them at us like that if they weren't looking to invite comment.
posted by phunniemee at 7:30 PM on April 29, 2015 [2 favorites]


Gumdrop, Almond, Chorizo, and Raisin are enjoying my tiny yard. Naming them is the best part.
posted by cmyk at 7:37 PM on April 29, 2015 [1 favorite]


Everyone - everyone - on my Twitter feed has been playing this, so I've been sucked into the vortex. They warned me about peer pressure in junior high but I didn't listen.
posted by desjardins at 7:46 PM on April 29, 2015 [2 favorites]


Please to meet my cats (clockwise from UL on each page):
Dr. Claws, Lester, Bloop, Taco Cat,
Spots, Stevens, Smore, Mr. Meows,
Cat!, P. B. Cupp, Neko Cat, Mr. Paws,
Socks, N/A, Adorbs, Twix,
Howard, Tostada, Horace, N/A,
Grendel, N/A, Adzuki, N/A,
N/A, Beep, N/A, Snerbs,
and waaay in the distance, Jorge who is very large and white.
posted by Going To Maine at 8:02 PM on April 29, 2015 [2 favorites]


Going To Maine, the cat I have named Burrito is the cat you have named Tostada. I wonder what it is about that cat that inspires thoughts of delicious Mexican food.
posted by phunniemee at 8:14 PM on April 29, 2015


Also, kitten growth appears to have stagnated. I've only acquired two new cats all day, and I've been providing them with a variety of toys and comfort areas, which, more often than not, have been sitting unused. The more I try to love them the more they stay away.

This is why I'm a dog person.
posted by phunniemee at 8:17 PM on April 29, 2015 [1 favorite]


You may be at the stage of the game where you pay two bucks to unlock the house.
posted by Going To Maine at 8:46 PM on April 29, 2015 [2 favorites]


My cats are Prince Z, Laterson(got him really late), Squib, Muggle, Calico, Chico, Fester, Chubby, Coconut, Shadow, Gray, Pigeon, Pumpkin, Tigger, Sweetie, and Baseball.
posted by triage_lazarus at 9:15 PM on April 29, 2015


I named him Asshole, which seemed apt at the time but in retrospect seems kind of mean.

Well they call him Manzoku-san, that means "Mr. Satisfaction." He will eat until he is satisfied (well, satisfied that the bowl is empty) unless you stop him by taking the food dish away to refill it. Might as well let him eat so it doesn't go to waste.

I like their original names like "Socks" but most of the names are more colorful, like Shirochatora (white and tea colored tiger) or Mike (not Michael Mike, Mi-ke: tortoise shell or calico). But these are just nicknames since I always call cats (all of them) by their proper name, Kitty.

You may be at the stage of the game where you pay two bucks to unlock the house.

Looks like 299 Yen, I don't know if you can do this transaction in dollars, outside the Japanese app stores.
posted by charlie don't surf at 9:23 PM on April 29, 2015 [2 favorites]


On iOS at least you can do the transaction in USD normally at a 100-yen-per-dollar exchange rate. I bought $5 worth of golden sardines, in part because I wanted to expand the house and in part because I've easily gotten five bucks worth of enjoyment out of the game. My girlfriend was able to buy sardines in USD on Android, as well.
posted by Itaxpica at 9:30 PM on April 29, 2015


Also I've named most of mine after their favorite activities. So I have Fishbowl, who has come by eight times and only ever stared at the fish, Busdriver, who loves the cardboard bus, Buckitty, who basically lives in the bucket, etc. The black cat with orange eyes is named Lasercat because it looks like he should be able to fire eye lasers. Also, there's the aforementioned Asshole.

(I am not very good at cat names)
posted by Itaxpica at 9:33 PM on April 29, 2015 [3 favorites]


Ouch 100Y per $1 USD is kind of steep, right now the rate is 100Y for $0.84. Let us know how it played out when this transaction clears. Sometimes if you use a credit card, it has a better exchange rate if you try to buy directly in Yen. There must be a cheaper way, like maybe buying prepaid iTunes cards in Yen increments, from the Japanese app store. I bet a lot of people are going to buy goldfish so I'd rather see their money not go into the pockets of money exchangers, if we can help avoid it.

Also I've named most of mine after their favorite activities. So I have Fishbowl, who has come by eight times and only ever stared at the fish, Busdriver, who loves the cardboard bus, Buckitty, who basically lives in the bucket, etc. The black cat with orange eyes is named Lasercat because it looks like he should be able to fire eye lasers. Also, there's the aforementioned Asshole.

I still like my Mom's approach of single syllables with diminutive suffixes, -y and -ski. So your cats would be Fishy, Bussy, Bucky, Laski, and Asski. My sister said she thinks my Mom got this idea from when we watched Pee Wee's Playhouse, where almost everything is named like that, Chairy, Conky, Pterri, Jambi, etc. I use this same naming convention for my disk drives, my primary disk is currently named "Disky."
posted by charlie don't surf at 9:48 PM on April 29, 2015


After no new cats for a while, today I had two new ones: eyebrows and meditator.
posted by harriet vane at 12:42 AM on April 30, 2015


Charlie, a buck is pretty standard basic level in game purchase, so I wouldn't worry too much about the exchange rate.

Also, I wonder if $.99 is just the min Play store price, because after that, the game wants odd numbers, like $1.68, 2.52, and 3.36.
posted by maryr at 5:59 AM on April 30, 2015


Ouch 100Y per $1 USD is kind of steep, right now the rate is 100Y for $0.84.

Also, I wonder if $.99 is just the min Play store price, because after that, the game wants odd numbers, like $1.68, 2.52, and 3.36.

$1.68 = ¥200
$2.52 = ¥300
$3.36 = ¥400

So yeah, it looks like the prices are effectively equivalent.
posted by Going To Maine at 6:20 AM on April 30, 2015


You may be at the stage of the game where you pay two bucks to unlock the house.

Welp, I made my first ever in-app purchase today. I regret nothing.
posted by phunniemee at 9:09 AM on April 30, 2015 [5 favorites]


I've settled on a non feline animals naming scheme for my cats. So far I have Emu, Hamster, Narwhal, Pangolin and Wombat.
posted by ActionPopulated at 11:47 AM on April 30, 2015 [3 favorites]


Just had my first sighting/visit from Manzoku-san!
posted by jazon at 12:01 PM on April 30, 2015 [2 favorites]


Now joined by Walrus and Hedgehog!
posted by ActionPopulated at 12:09 PM on April 30, 2015


I love this game so much that I am not spending real money on it, so I can play it forever. (Because it will take forever to earn enough fish to buy all the shit in this game.)

So far my kitties are named Mounds, Vittorio, April, Babarela, Rap Cat, Garfield, Mariya, and Scully. I am just naming them whatever comes into my head. I have like four more cats to name as of today. I have bought the red ball, the (cheap) cardboard box, a leaf, a plastic bag (wtf), a U-shaped cardboard bend... and that is all. They better like this cardboard U-shape. I spent a fortune on it.
posted by easter queen at 12:23 PM on April 30, 2015


I've been using the Google Translate app (per the tutorial) to translate the kitty personalities and original names and toy descriptions. It's been fun! And is helping me recall some of my katakana / Japanese knowledge. It's easy to take a screenshot and scan it for characters, or to write the characters down and manually draw them into the app.

It took me a long time to discover that grilled mochi cake is not actually a personality but "very jealous" is, and they are the same word.

This is like, playing-first-Pokemon-game-as-an-11-year-old type wonder and thrills and I am enjoying every minute of it.
posted by easter queen at 12:25 PM on April 30, 2015 [1 favorite]


OK, I named them Sanjay, Donut, and Goldblum.
posted by easter queen at 12:40 PM on April 30, 2015


This picture is great because you can tell that the cats are just as enamored of the kitty butts as the rest of us are.
posted by phunniemee at 12:53 PM on April 30, 2015 [2 favorites]


My favorite thing: 一気に受け取る
posted by charlie don't surf at 1:44 PM on April 30, 2015


My cats are:
* Snickers
* Snowball
* Barney
* Boo-Boo
* Butterball
* Choo-Choo (named after my first IRL cat, RIP)
* Fluffy
* Foo-Foo
* Giggles
* Hun-Bun
* Knick-Knack
* Pancakes
* Waffles
* Swee'-Pea
* Toodles
* Chasely (named after one of my cocker spaniels)
* Sailor (names after the other spaniel)
* Lolly (named after a kitty I used to own, RIP)
* Lily (named after my first cocker spaniel, RIP)

This game is incredible!
posted by magstheaxe at 2:02 PM on April 30, 2015


magstheaxe, I was planning to name my next kitty Waffles! But now I'll have to come up with something else. We can't both have cats named Waffles, that would be ridiculous.

I finally got a visit from the police cat! I named him Donut. Obviously. Still no sign of glutton kitty. :(
posted by phunniemee at 2:06 PM on April 30, 2015 [2 favorites]


I don't know if I'm strong enough, emotionally, for this game. After going through the tutorial, the ball I placed successfully attracted Skittles. But then, fumbling through the menus, I accidentally took the ball away and Skittles apparently harrumphed off to someone else's yard. I bought a box but couldn't figure out how to place it until reading a tip upthread. So I placed the box, and put the ball back, and waited, and waited. And then! Then I heard the cutest little squeaky meow! It was the meow of, like, a 6-week-old kitten, and it got me in that place where normal women with sensible biological clocks feel a twinge when they hear a baby cry! So to my phone, and....

No kitten. No cat. No Skittles. No nothing. Just an empty box, a ball, and a bowl of food. I fear that the meow was in my head, because there sure as hell isn't a cat in my office, and there's not one in my game, either.
posted by mudpuppie at 2:19 PM on April 30, 2015 [9 favorites]


There is a cat rolling around with my ball! And there is a cat crammed into my cardboard box that he's too big for, and he has a total kitty muffin top! And I just realized that a coworker down the hall has a visitor with an infant, and the meow I heard wasn't in my imagination, it was the baby making noise! I am slightly concerned about the fact that I'm hearing baby noises as meows, but whatever.
posted by mudpuppie at 2:48 PM on April 30, 2015 [6 favorites]


I am slightly concerned about the fact that I'm hearing baby noises as meows, but whatever.

In case it makes you feel better, a co-worker and I argued yesterday about whether the sound we had just heard was a baby or a duck. (It was totally a duck, though.)
posted by jaguar at 2:51 PM on April 30, 2015


phunniemee, you can still name your new kitty Waffles! Don't let me stop you!

I gave the name "Waffles" to the Corpulent Cat before I knew who he was. He showed up early in my game, ate everything in the dish, and was laying there looking like me after I've attacked a waffle stack, which is how he got his name.
posted by magstheaxe at 3:00 PM on April 30, 2015


phunniemee, you can still name your new kitty Waffles! Don't let me stop you!

I named the next cat to come along Biscuit instead. It still falls into the important "things to eat with fried chicken" subcategory of nomenclature so I'm 100% ok with the switch.

The kitties I have so far:

Melon
Guava
Butter
Jicama
Naan
Taffy
Churro
Tamarind
Custard
Parsnip
Biscuit
Potato
Mushroom
Toast
Beans
Burrito
Gumbo
Oatmeal
Alfredo
Ham
Clove
Gouda
Celery
Donut

Butter is my most frequent cat with a whopping 14 visits. Ham is my oldest cat to only have one visit. Celery is the most generous and so far I have only seen the very tip of Biscuit's tail. Taffy has visited three times but only shows me her butt.
posted by phunniemee at 3:19 PM on April 30, 2015 [1 favorite]


How do I get more gold and silver fish to buy more things for my electronic cartoon cats? A big fat cat came and ate all the food. Where is the optimal place to put a bucket? I don't have time to scroll up, answer me now! Oh god.
posted by turbid dahlia at 5:20 PM on April 30, 2015


Wait, how do you rename the cats? Do you have to be able to type in Japanese?
posted by sarcasticah at 5:36 PM on April 30, 2015


How do I get more gold and silver fish to buy more things for my electronic cartoon cats?

Your grateful kitties will leave you gifts in exchange for the entertainment and buckets you provide them! When a kitty decides to leave you'll see a little bubble at the bottom of the screen. Tap that to see the gifts.

You can also enter the daily password to get more fishes. To get the password go to News on the menu. You'll see a little kitty with a sign and some Japanese characters on it. If you've got an Android phone, take a screenshot then go over into your google translate app and upload the picture. You'll be able to copy the characters to your clipboard. Then go back into your kitty app and click the little envelope in the menu. Three little blurbs will pop up. Tapping the first one will bring you to a text input where you can paste in your copied characters. Hit all the buttons and boom, you get your daily free fishes!

Where is the optimal place to put a bucket?

Around a cat.

Wait, how do you rename the cats? Do you have to be able to type in Japanese?

Nope. Open up your kitty bio screen. On the individual kitty page tap the top heading (that's the kitty's name). It'll open up a text field where you can erase its given name and type in one of your choosing. Examples of good cat names: Armadillo. Janet. Pants. Carl. Unfortunately the character limit is small.

help I am in so deep omg
posted by phunniemee at 6:17 PM on April 30, 2015 [10 favorites]


You can also enter the daily password to get more fishes

If you have version 1.2.0 on an iPhone, there is no password, just bonus fishes.
posted by Going To Maine at 6:21 PM on April 30, 2015 [1 favorite]


You know, if everyone renames their cats, nobody knows which cat you're talking about. This will become a problem later in the game when you're seeking the rare cats. Of course it's already a problem if you can't read Japanese. Oh well.

I seem to have hit a wall after collecting 24 cats. But I refuse to read the cheat sheet. Some cats have returned 12 to 16 times and none of them have given me a treasure. I don't seem to be accumulating enough silver or gold sardines to buy the better stuff you need to get the cats to love you enough to give you treasures. I keep buying stuff and putting it out and the cats alternately love it or ignore it. Sort of like real cats. Oh well.
posted by charlie don't surf at 7:00 PM on April 30, 2015


I've got five cats right now, and three of them are spinning a ball of some sort. The way they're moving -- like, some of each of them is moving, but not all of them are *entirely* in motion -- it is reminding me so much of that dance scene from A Charlie Brown Christmas that I really want the soundtrack to change to Linus & Lucy.
posted by mudpuppie at 7:08 PM on April 30, 2015 [2 favorites]


Do not get the plastic bag unless you are okay with being afraid that your cats will choke.
posted by Going To Maine at 8:19 PM on April 30, 2015 [7 favorites]


Does the get gold per day thing work for anyone? I've tried the click on News, click on the sign, black screen with filled in password (I assume) appears, I click the button below it... but no fish for me.
posted by tavella at 8:24 PM on April 30, 2015


I'm totally hooked. I've only seen Manzoku-san once (I lured him in with fancy food) and police car once (I named him Porky). My most frequent visitor is Beans with 9 visits, but most of my cats are already up to 4-5 visits. I sneak check on them from the bathroom so my two year old doesn't demand the phone.
posted by annathea at 8:44 PM on April 30, 2015


Does the get gold per day thing work for anyone?

Click on the icon with the envelope. On the next screen, click on the top button, and again on the popup.

BTW I am obsessed with the bottles in the back of the yard by the hedge. There is an old wives tale in Japan that if you put out big bottles of water, it will scare off cats and keep them from peeing in your yard. I guess the theory is they see a reflection or a refraction or some moving thing and it scares them. I have seen plenty of these bottles around, but they are always in alleys or other places where I don't think it's cats that are peeing. Anyway, I want to get rid of the bottle, I know it doesn't scare off virtual cats (it doesn't work on real cats either) but it's just bad mojo.
posted by charlie don't surf at 8:53 PM on April 30, 2015 [2 favorites]


The little buttholes are gone now :(
posted by Alnedra at 10:06 PM on April 30, 2015


My mistake. The buttholes are still there; just that the kitty that was wedging itself in the white drinks carton didn't have one (I call them 小花, 小白,杂杂 and 黑耳)
posted by Alnedra at 11:30 PM on April 30, 2015 [1 favorite]


Tobimike-san brought me a present! I have no idea what it is! Good kitty!
posted by amarynth at 6:21 AM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]


Kitty naming report!

As of now I have:
Emu
Walrus
Hamster
Pangolin
Ostrich
Wombat
Narwhal
Rhino
Tapir
Gecko
Raven
Tortoise
Hedgehog
Beetle
Hippo
Dolphin
Kangaroo
Pigeon

No fat kitty yet, but I'm thinking he could be piranha.
posted by ActionPopulated at 9:57 AM on May 1, 2015


One of my kitties brought me my very first treasure today! It's a little ... nut? thing? I dunno. But treasure!
posted by sldownard at 11:06 AM on May 1, 2015


Darn it, I have no treasures. Tobimike-san has come to my yard 20 times, more than any other kitty, but no little gifts. amarynth, how many times did your kitty come before he gave you a little treasure?
posted by charlie don't surf at 11:08 AM on May 1, 2015


I just got my first one too. I translated it and it's a shiny acorn!
posted by DynamiteToast at 11:08 AM on May 1, 2015


Just piping in to say I have no time to comment on this game. Too many kitties! I have two presents so far. I keep vacillating between saving up sardines for nice toys, then getting impatient and buying a new cheaper shiny.

FYI the gold-per-day thing only worked on my Android phone when I entered the password. I think that iOS versions have an update that we Android users haven't seen yet. Today I looked up the password on reddit and copy/pasted, but it's also possible to write japanese characters in google translate, or take a screenshot and have google translate transcribe it.
posted by muddgirl at 11:30 AM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]


What the fuck, cat?
posted by Artw at 11:31 AM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]


I too have to enter the password, the click thru does not work on my phone. But it's almost like learning Japanese! I can probably draw the character for month now (though not the effing char for May, I hate you Sa)
posted by maryr at 11:34 AM on May 1, 2015


Ha, I bought an expensive cushion and Prince-san showed up, wearing a crown and a robe. So the rare cats are showing up, but still no treasures.
posted by charlie don't surf at 11:43 AM on May 1, 2015


Re: passwords: as of the most recent version on both platforms (which I think is 1.2.0 on iOS and 1.2.1 on Android), you can click through on iOS but have to type the password on Android. Not sure if it's for technical reasons or what.
posted by Itaxpica at 11:43 AM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]


Treasures must be based on something other than just number of visits. Possibly each cat has a different threshold.
posted by muddgirl at 11:50 AM on May 1, 2015


amarynth, how many times did your kitty come before he gave you a little treasure?

19 times. I'm sure you'll get an unidentifiable object soon! (Seed? Pine nut?)

muddgirl, thanks for the tip about reddit. I couldn't get Google translate to recognize the text in a screenshot, and I couldn't get the last character in correctly when I was trying to write it.
posted by amarynth at 11:58 AM on May 1, 2015


I will note that yesterday and today's words were very date relevent - yesterday (for me, the 1st in Japan) was "May" and today was "the 88th day" which is a traditional planting thing that falls on May 2nd.
posted by maryr at 12:13 PM on May 1, 2015


amarynth, how many times did your kitty come before he gave you a little treasure?

19 times.


Wait, how do you tell how many times they've visited?
posted by mudpuppie at 12:32 PM on May 1, 2015


Wait, how do you tell how many times they've visited?

On their little kitty ID card - it's the number under the green text.
posted by muddgirl at 12:46 PM on May 1, 2015


Thanks! I spent a long time this morning trying to translate the field labels on the cat IDs but I got way too frustrated and gave up.
posted by mudpuppie at 12:52 PM on May 1, 2015


Everyone else may already be way ahead of me here, but I just discovered the "Best Picture" feature, which has excited me immensely.
posted by mudpuppie at 12:55 PM on May 1, 2015 [3 favorites]


Okay, so this morning I opened up the game. I got a blacked-out screen (over the kitty garden), and then a cat walked to the center of the screen. I tapped the cat and got an with a picture of an hourglass displays, with some text in a sign underneath. Then it disappeared and took me back to the kitty garden.

Just now, I was going through my Kitty Katalog, and found one of my cats has a picture of that hourglass on his ID card in the lower right hand corner!

Any ideas what that means? Is it treasure?
posted by magstheaxe at 1:06 PM on May 1, 2015 [3 favorites]


Thanks! I spent a long time this morning trying to translate the field labels on the cat IDs but I got way too frustrated and gave up.

OK, I thought that someone in this thread translated that screen already, but I just skimmed through and I can't find it! Did I dream it? Did I dream about Mefi comments rather than sweet, sweet cat catching?

Any ideas what that means? Is it treasure?

Yes! You were rewarded for providing that kitty a good time!
posted by muddgirl at 1:08 PM on May 1, 2015 [3 favorites]


I found another good source of info about the game: Neko atsume (ねこあつめ)'s Master Post. Includes an English translation of the main menu.
posted by Lexica at 2:14 PM on May 1, 2015 [2 favorites]


Thanks! I spent a long time this morning trying to translate the field labels on the cat IDs but I got way too frustrated and gave up.

You should have looked up thread, I translated them already.

I noticed a few minor details so I suppose a full translation of the whole page is appropriate.
On the individual cat pages, at the top it says "neko techou," cat handbook.

The column on the right of the photo has three entries:

seikaku: personality type. For example, the first cat in the handbook is described as "ottori" which means gentle.

sentouryoku: fighting strength.

kitakaisuu: The number of times the cat came to your yard.

In the top center above the cat pic is the cat's name. Then under the cat's pic is the type of cat. I though they were the same, because the cats are all named after their colors. Like the first cat is white, it's called Shironeko-san (Mr. White Cat) and under the pic is a kanji for white, shiroi. But no, when Prince-san appeared, his type said Persian.

Then on the left it says, "asonda guddzu TOP 3" literally "Top 3 goods played with," and underneath there is a list of the top three items.

Then to the right of that, there's a pic of a cat face, underneath it says Album. Click on it and you can assign photos to the cat's ID card.

Under that I see a big question mark, I presume that is where the little treasures will appear.

So the way I usually play is, hey there's a cat that looks unfamiliar. Click on the kitty and the card will appear. If there's no photo, it's a new cat so go back and take a photo. Click on the cat again to go back to the cat catalog, go to the album, click on the photo twice, and go back out.
posted by charlie don't surf at 4:33 PM on May 1, 2015 [2 favorites]


My fav is still the fencing cat. En garde kitty!
posted by Hello, I'm David McGahan at 5:49 PM on May 1, 2015


I don't think number of visits triggers the treasure. One cat gave me a penguin toy after 10-ish visits, but another gave me seeds after 50-ish visits. Maybe it's by number of visits with a favourite toy?
posted by harriet vane at 6:49 AM on May 2, 2015


Today's password, for Android users seeking 30 free fish: くす玉
posted by mudpuppie at 9:26 AM on May 2, 2015 [1 favorite]


I am now thoroughly addicted to this. I am only sad about the kitty name character limit. No Kittenbutt? No Mr. Poochy? No Scrumptious? :(
posted by heatherann at 10:08 AM on May 2, 2015


You can expand the house. You can expand the house.
posted by Going To Maine at 11:59 AM on May 2, 2015 [1 favorite]


I got someone else hooked on this! ONE OF US, ONE OF US
posted by desjardins at 12:04 PM on May 2, 2015 [1 favorite]


My kitties do not love me. I buy them the most expensive toys I can, I buy them expensive sushi, I leave toys out until they're bored and then I switch them out for new ones. And yet i still have received no little treasures from the kitties.

This just makes no sense. In the real world my Kitty (remember that is its given name, Kitty) always brought me little dead bunnies and birds. It was so proud of itself whenever it could catch something, and it laid it down on the doormat and mewed to announce its gift. Even other people's kitties bring me gifts. I remember when i first visited LA, I was staying with a friend that had an Egyptian cat, she said it was notorious for avoiding people, but it just loved me immediately. She was astonished that her kitty would go anywhere near strangers. And then the next morning after I arrived, when I got up, I walked to the front door and there was a huge dead parrot, with feathers in the brightest colors of yellow, red, and green, laying there on the doormat. My friend said this was the first time her cat ever brought a gift and eww please go throw it in the trash. I can't imagine what sort of effort it took for the cat to capture a wild parrot.

And yet those virtual kitty ingrates still have given me no treasures. They just give me sardines, which I spend on them.
posted by charlie don't surf at 12:30 PM on May 2, 2015 [1 favorite]


No Kittenbutt?

One of my cats is named Butt Cat, in large part because that's just about all I ever see of him.
posted by Itaxpica at 4:09 PM on May 2, 2015


I have one of those too! Still have never seen its face.
posted by mudpuppie at 4:39 PM on May 2, 2015


My cats don't like the sushi. I get the best visits with the 3 gold cans of cat food.

I am two cats away from maximum capacity. The big cat tree has a mountain climbing cat on top and every available surface filled with cat. The kitty kotatsu in the next room still has room for two more. There are thirteen cats at my house. Need. More. Cats.
posted by annathea at 7:23 PM on May 2, 2015


Also I find it unnerving when a cat claims a bed or a pillow but won't lay down. Just like in real life.

I got my twelve year old goddaughter hooked on this game. I have no regrets.
posted by annathea at 8:31 PM on May 2, 2015


Lured the fat kitty in with a plate of sashimi. His name is Orca.
posted by ActionPopulated at 9:08 PM on May 2, 2015


CURSE ALL OF YOU
(I mean, yay. Because this game doesn't reward frantic playing or constant checking-in, both of which can get me distressingly hooked.)

It's so cute. I just got a "treasure" (a shiny acorn) from my favorite calico, Shichimi, and THEN the odd-eyed cat showed up, and there was much excitement in my household.
posted by wintersweet at 9:11 PM on May 2, 2015


Darn it, still no gifts from the kitties. Tobimike-san has been in my yard 28 times and I get nothing but a few sardines. I am cutting back to the cheap food and the cheap toys. They probably like that better. They're cats, go figure.
posted by charlie don't surf at 10:44 PM on May 2, 2015


Well I'll be damned, I cut back to the cheap food and in the morning, I got up and that fat bastard Manzoku-san is sitting there, having just wolfed down all the cheap food. And then he gave me a treasure, a chunk of katsuobushi.
posted by charlie don't surf at 9:21 AM on May 3, 2015 [4 favorites]


Word today is かしわ餅

(Which is mochi wrapped in an oak leaf.)
posted by tofu_crouton at 9:22 AM on May 3, 2015


First visit from transit cat!
posted by Artw at 9:28 AM on May 3, 2015 [1 favorite]


I have a sa-meow-ri!
posted by Going To Maine at 9:47 AM on May 3, 2015


Thank you charlie don't surf and thefoxgod. I cleared out a coupla gigs of old podcasts and now I have teh kittehs!
posted by jeoc at 3:40 PM on May 3, 2015


Ah, now I have been granted another treasure, a 使い捨て disposable something or other, a カイロ. What, Cairo? No apparently it is a disposable heating pad of some sort.

I still have no idea why the cats do this, or how to entice them to give more treasures. I figure the more they come around, the more chances they'll drag something along with them. But I have one kitty that has come 35 times, and nothing. This latest treasure is from a kitty that only came around 12 times.

I think it doesn't matter so much what you feed them, as that you keep them fed. The expensive food is gone in a few hours, but the cheap food will last overnight (as long as that glutton Manzoku-san doesn't come around). But if the food runs out before you go to bed, you'll wake up to an empty food dish and an empty yard.
posted by charlie don't surf at 8:46 PM on May 3, 2015


I am completely addicted to this game. I can't wait until I can buy the inside part! I think I'm doing ok, but I've noticed that some of my kitties are now facing towards the back fence when they come and visit. Why??? Did I do something wrong? Is this normal?

am i normal?
posted by Fuego at 11:34 AM on May 4, 2015 [1 favorite]


This is normal, this is so they can show you their kitty butts. Have you not owned a real cat?
posted by desjardins at 11:39 AM on May 4, 2015 [3 favorites]


I'm just a couple gold sardines away from being able to buy a house expansion.

Is any one better than the others? Is there any practical difference or is it just a few different skins to the same layout?

This is the most important decision I'll be making today, possibly all week, so I need to know.
posted by phunniemee at 5:21 PM on May 4, 2015 [4 favorites]


Patchy is not showing me his butt, he's sitting down on the stump and looking at the back fence. I would feel better if it was his catbutt. Like others here, I have one who has visited and never shown his face, and his name is BumBum. Not to be confused with his cousin, ButtButt.

I have real kitties and for some reason I don't take it nearly as hard when they choose to ignore me. Love me, virtual kitties, please love me.
posted by Fuego at 6:25 PM on May 4, 2015 [1 favorite]


Manzoku-san just showed up and wolfed down the (slightly) expensive cat food, leaving only a 3-sardine tip. Cheapskate...
posted by acb at 6:02 AM on May 5, 2015


I am now troubled by the difficulty of photographing the baseball-loving transit cat - I only ever get his feet.
posted by Artw at 6:24 AM on May 5, 2015


I have cat game news to report, for better or worse.

Those house expansions you can buy? Not house expansions. It just puts a different skin over your existing space. I thought it would extend the garden out to the left, but nope. It just tears up and replaces everything you've done so far. You don't even get additional slots to put stuff down in, they're just in a different configuration. Not sure how I feel about it, honestly.
posted by phunniemee at 7:43 AM on May 5, 2015 [3 favorites]


Oh, rats! (or is that nezumi) about the house expansion. I was counting on more space for cats. Not that I can keep up with the ones I've got. (Tatejima-san keeps sneaking in and out when I'm not looking.) At least now I can relax and spend my golden fish on expensive cat comforts.

Yesterday Manzoku-san cleaned out three dishes of luxury kibble. Following the suggestion upthread, I let him stay as long as he wanted rather than refilling the dish right away, and he left 64 fish the first time, 25 the second time, and 64 the third. No other cats who weren't already there come into the garden while he's lying there with the dish apparently empty, but on the whole I think it's a good return in fish.
posted by lagomorph at 9:47 AM on May 5, 2015


Wait, phunniemee, what do you mean? The configuration in your picture is clearly bigger than the non-expansion space I have (which only contains the outside area). You have eight slots for toys (plus 2 food bowls) and I have 5 slots (or 4, if you put a bigger toy in the middle). Is this a tablet vs. phone thing?
posted by desjardins at 9:55 AM on May 5, 2015 [1 favorite]


Wait, phunniemee, what do you mean?

I already had the first expansion where you get a bit of house with your garden. I just got what I thought was a second expansion. Instead it took me from this to this. I can fit the exact same number of things in both configurations.
posted by phunniemee at 10:02 AM on May 5, 2015 [1 favorite]


Ah, I see. That is disappointing. I'm still having trouble budgeting well enough to buy the first expansion. I guess it's probably a good thing that my real cats eschew toys or I'd blow my real paycheck on them.
posted by desjardins at 10:06 AM on May 5, 2015 [2 favorites]


Word of the day: 立夏 -- first day of summer
posted by tofu_crouton at 1:18 PM on May 5, 2015 [2 favorites]


And a bitch to get Google Translate to recognize if you don't know stroke order (which I do not, god, that took like 10 minutes)
posted by maryr at 2:36 PM on May 5, 2015


psst maryr just copy and paste
posted by phunniemee at 2:39 PM on May 5, 2015 [1 favorite]


Metafilter did not get me hooked on this game - somehow I missed this post I think - but I am addicted all the same for reasons I don't remember. It just snuck up and got me.
posted by angeline at 3:18 PM on May 5, 2015


Artw, you can move the photo area around - just drag up and right till you have the whole of the baseball-fan cat in the frame, then click.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 3:51 PM on May 5, 2015 [3 favorites]


NOT THAT I HAVE BEEN PLAYING THIS GAME OBSESSIVELY OR ANYTHING OH NO
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 3:55 PM on May 5, 2015 [1 favorite]


As abhorrent as the idea might be, does anyone know if you can delete your kitty portraits?
posted by Going To Maine at 7:55 PM on May 5, 2015


As abhorrent as the idea might be, does anyone know if you can delete your kitty portraits?

Yes! I looked that up a few days ago. Tap on the photo, and it'll get a red border. Hold down on the photo, and soon a pop-up dialog will appear, and hit the gold Confirm button to delete.

Sometimes the "holding down" part accidentally causes that photo to become Best Photo, so just try again if that happens.
posted by jaguar at 8:00 PM on May 5, 2015 [2 favorites]


Also it turns out that gallery space is limited: if you have three full pages of photos for a cat, you have to delete a photo to save a new one.
posted by lagomorph at 9:22 PM on May 5, 2015 [1 favorite]


On the 'Treasure' list (under the heart sign on the main menu) I have three paw print icons and the rest are question marks. What does this mean? How many times do cats need to visit before they bring you something other than fish?
posted by mippy at 9:48 AM on May 6, 2015


The pawprints are just filler, I think. The number of cat visits doesn't appear to be fixed - at the very least it depends on the cat (I've gotten a treasure after as few as 10 visits, while other cats have visited over 20 times with no treasure).
posted by muddgirl at 9:57 AM on May 6, 2015


/ now has Transit Cat photo.
posted by Artw at 9:58 AM on May 6, 2015 [1 favorite]


psst maryr just copy and paste

My phone doesn't recognize the text in-game in a manner in which I can highlight it. I did my GoogleTranslate character-fighting thing yesterday before seeing tofu_crouton's comment.
posted by maryr at 11:27 AM on May 6, 2015


Man, that fat cat, he is a complete hog, but lately he's been leaving me enormous piles of silver sardines, more than the food costs, so I'm not complaining.
posted by angeline at 11:35 AM on May 6, 2015 [1 favorite]


He's basically using you as his kibble connection. It's just that he tips well.
posted by JHarris at 11:44 AM on May 6, 2015


I think they meant copy from Metafilter on your mobile phone browser, then paste to the game. I've been doing that with the daily password threads at /r/nekoatsume when I can't wrangle google translate sufficiently.
posted by muddgirl at 11:47 AM on May 6, 2015


This is the kind of dealer I can get on board with being.
posted by angeline at 11:56 AM on May 6, 2015 [1 favorite]


(right, I mean I did my scribbling yesterday before I saw the characters transcribed on MeFi)
posted by maryr at 12:27 PM on May 6, 2015


A bright side to the scribbling method is you get some pretty hilarious translations mid-incorrect character. Today I got "octopus knowledge" (たこ知) takoimoto and takohime before getting to takoyaki (たこ焼き), the correct password.
posted by maryr at 1:23 PM on May 6, 2015 [2 favorites]


Aha! I think I've figured out the mystery of the backward-facing cats. They sit like that right before they give you their treasure. I'm 3 for 3 on this one now, I could still be wrong, though.

Also, I just bought the ridiculous 50 gold fish cat tree and it's been completely worth it, as I currently have SEVEN happy kitties in my yard.
posted by Fuego at 2:28 PM on May 6, 2015 [2 favorites]


I have as many tin foil theories about this game as I do about Game of Thrones.

For a while I was fairly certain that cats paid extra to play with the Mr Mouse toy (the dangly toy), and that cats spent the longest time on the green and yellow cushion. However, today 2 different cats played with the mouse toy and only gave me ONE STINKING SILVER FISH each.
posted by tofu_crouton at 3:32 PM on May 6, 2015 [1 favorite]


I've seen way, way more cat butts than I've received treasures, so I don't think that's the connection.
posted by Lexica at 3:57 PM on May 6, 2015


What's up with the exchange rate? Why does it cost 500 silver fishes to buy 10 gold, but 10 gold to buy 250 silver?
posted by desjardins at 4:46 PM on May 6, 2015 [1 favorite]


What's up with the exchange rate? Why does it cost 500 silver fishes to buy 10 gold, but 10 gold to buy 250 silver?

The mid-market rate is presumably 37.5:1
posted by acb at 5:04 PM on May 6, 2015 [2 favorites]


Meanwhile, my cats seem to have stopped disbursing gold fish altogether, and pay only in silver ones. I've got 58 gold fish, and am just under a third of the way to being able to extend the house.
posted by acb at 5:06 PM on May 6, 2015


What's up with the exchange rate? Why does it cost 500 silver fishes to buy 10 gold, but 10 gold to buy 250 silver?

Catyardland has terrible fiscal policies which allow rentiers to grow fat on the sardines of the catizens.

Not as fat as the big white guy who eats all the food, but they are fat cat financiers indeed.
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:21 PM on May 6, 2015 [8 favorites]


I am now troubled by the difficulty of photographing the baseball-loving transit cat - I only ever get his feet.

You know that you can move the little rectangle for the individual cat pics, right? That's the only way to get decent photos of the extra-special cats oh god what have I become oh who cares.
posted by holgate at 9:15 PM on May 6, 2015 [7 favorites]


Catyardland

I think you meant to say "Pussytown."
posted by desjardins at 6:19 AM on May 7, 2015 [3 favorites]


It's 9am and I've already gotten TWO TREASURES you guys. Maybe they were saving their fish these last two days to be able to buy me an... um... a woodchip?
posted by tofu_crouton at 6:57 AM on May 7, 2015 [2 favorites]


I was visited in the night by Lucky Cat! I didn't get a picture because apparently that cat is on Japan time, but I know he was there.
posted by phunniemee at 7:00 AM on May 7, 2015 [1 favorite]


I got wood right before going to bed last night. Thanks, tabby cat!
posted by maryr at 8:59 AM on May 7, 2015 [1 favorite]


I got wood right before going to bed last night.

*immature twelve-year-old giggling*
posted by sciatrix at 9:03 AM on May 7, 2015 [6 favorites]


I got mittens!!
posted by annathea at 9:07 AM on May 7, 2015 [1 favorite]


I have only received treasure from one kitty, a calico I have imaginatively named Calico, who seems to have a fondness for the white and pink box. But Calico, since gifting me a shiny nut looking thing, has been generous with the golden fish, so obvs she's my favorite.
posted by angeline at 9:19 AM on May 7, 2015 [1 favorite]


Finally! At long last! I have seen the face of Mr. Bistro! I have seen all the cats!

I have seen all the cats!

My life would be complete, but I now need all the treasures. And a new interior design motif. And the kotatsu. So much cat stuff to see...
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:04 AM on May 7, 2015 [2 favorites]


Okay, I just decided to postpone the house expansion because I suddenly feel the need to redecorate my yard so it matches the decor of the tradition fanart (which is currently my phone's lock screen wallpaper). So that's the medium cardboard box on the front stump, the green flat cushion on the front of the mat, the baseball on the back of the mat, the pink puffball toy on the back stump, and the stripy orange warm sock on the porch. I already have the box, so the rest come to… 420 silver sardines. I have 405, so we'll be redecorating soon, kitties!

And the daily bonus just gave me 15! New decorations, here we come!
posted by Lexica at 10:58 AM on May 7, 2015 [2 favorites]


Let's just take a brief moment to recognize how weird, and somehow nice, it is that we're excited about "getting" presents that amount to flags in some program, just images at best, awarded by cats that are also just flags/images. I think it's something unique about the themeing here, both that it's cats doing it (which are somewhat but not overly anthropomorphized), and that they tend to award things you could sort of imagine real cats presenting you with, like beetle shells.

It's just something about how much people love cats. Why do we care so much about them? Even dogs wouldn't work as well in a game like this, let alone some other developer-devised entity. I can imagine a dev trying to pander to the stereotypical girl market and making up a bunch of fairies or princesses or unicorns or "neopets" or whatever; or the stereotypical boy market with aliens or monsters or robots; but grown adults? Only cats.

ONLY CATS
posted by JHarris at 11:07 AM on May 7, 2015 [13 favorites]


I am ridiculously attached to these dumb cats. I know all their names without checking when they appear in the yard and often say "Look, that's Thurston!" out loud.* I honestly feel gleeful when they leave me fishes and/or treats. I feel guilty if their food bowl is empty or if I haven't changed up the toys in awhile. Thank the lord the game doesn't let them die.

*from Gilligan's Island
posted by desjardins at 12:41 PM on May 7, 2015 [2 favorites]


*immature twelve-year-old giggling*

sciatrix, I also immediately that sentence texted it to my roommate. At midnight.
posted by maryr at 1:11 PM on May 7, 2015 [1 favorite]


My yards are ghost towns, in that I'm naming them all after kitties I have had and lost. It's what I always imagined heaven would be. So nice.
posted by lysdexic at 5:37 PM on May 7, 2015 [6 favorites]


Just checked in and realized I missed a new cat. A rare one, too.

*sad*
posted by Lexica at 7:23 PM on May 7, 2015


Just checked in and realized I missed a new cat. A rare one, too.

That prompted me to check my phone and I caught Puss in Boots, so I appreciate the prompt. He looks very proud of himself for having stabbed the mousey toy.
posted by jaguar at 7:38 PM on May 7, 2015 [5 favorites]


I've also named all my kitties after my past (and current) cats. At one point on my cat tree, I had RePete, Storm, Rain, and Boo Boo all there together, happy again. Boo Boo is the only one still remaining in my life, but he was on the second level as if he had jumped there himself (which he can't do in real life due to his cerebellar hypoplasia), so it really was a little vision of Kitty Heaven.
posted by Fuego at 7:57 PM on May 7, 2015 [5 favorites]


I don't like Puss in Boots because he just stands there.

Shiro Kabocha has given me a treasure and he now comes three times a day to eat all of my food. I suspect that he shows up immediately after I go to bed, meaning the cats are left without food all night because of his antics.

btw, who the hell is transit cat?
posted by tofu_crouton at 6:10 AM on May 8, 2015 [1 favorite]


btw, who the hell is transit cat?

Yeah, is this the police cat?
posted by phunniemee at 6:14 AM on May 8, 2015


I don't like Puss in Boots because he just stands there.

He's my first "rare" cat, so I think of him as the angel Gabriel in a Renaissance Annunciation, telling me I am favored among cat-toy-providers and proclaiming the wonders to come.
posted by jaguar at 6:35 AM on May 8, 2015 [4 favorites]


I am now troubled by the difficulty of photographing the baseball-loving transit cat - I only ever get his feet.

btw, who the hell is transit cat?

I'm guessing from "baseball-loving" that it's Tatejima-san.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 6:45 AM on May 8, 2015


Baseball cat and transit cat are two different cats. Baseball cat likes the baseball (duh) and transit cat likes the S shaped toy with the ball inside. Baseball cat just stands there but transit cat actually plays with the toy.
posted by desjardins at 7:30 AM on May 8, 2015 [1 favorite]


I know too much.
posted by desjardins at 7:30 AM on May 8, 2015 [6 favorites]


Also, there is a real Transit Cat! Her name is Tama and her title is Ultra Station Master.
posted by Metroid Baby at 9:07 AM on May 8, 2015 [4 favorites]


I just noticed that Transit Cat even resembles Tama in color, if not exact markings! Adorable!

I was visited by Puss in Boots last night but missed him. My favorite so far is the climber cat, who appears at the top of the ridiculous cat tree with a little ax and a hiking outfit, triumphant at his accomplishment!
posted by Fuego at 11:27 AM on May 8, 2015


Yeah, is this the police cat?

That's Station Master Cat. A helpful facilitator of travel, without the dangers inherent in Police Cat.
posted by GenjiandProust at 12:53 PM on May 8, 2015 [2 favorites]


Log Lover has visited a million times but I've never seen him. He must really be following a Japanese clock. Last night I tried to figure out what time I would have to wake up in the middle of the night to catch a glimpse of him.
posted by tofu_crouton at 6:41 AM on May 9, 2015 [1 favorite]


Last night I tried to figure out what time I would have to wake up in the middle of the night to catch a glimpse of him.

I've started checking on my kitties when I get up to pee in the middle of the night. It paid off, I caught lucky cat last night! I missed the log kitty, though, and I keep missing what I think is a white kitty with laser eyes.
posted by phunniemee at 6:48 AM on May 9, 2015 [6 favorites]


Log lover is the samewri!
posted by Going To Maine at 7:59 AM on May 9, 2015


a white kitty with laser eyes.

Does he have a sort of fluffy face? I call that one Puffnads. You'll see why.
posted by Metroid Baby at 8:12 AM on May 9, 2015


I guess my transit cat is actually baseball cat - I've been confusing my behatted cats.
posted by Artw at 8:24 AM on May 9, 2015


Does he have a sort of fluffy face? I call that one Puffnads. You'll see why.

I call him Marbles.
posted by muddgirl at 9:27 AM on May 9, 2015


I bought one of those dangly toys my actual cats love, and these cats do nothing but sleep under it!
posted by angeline at 11:14 AM on May 9, 2015 [3 favorites]


I got a cat with a red uniform and a hitler mustache. Which one is that?
posted by desjardins at 1:32 PM on May 9, 2015


Sounds like Puss in Boots. He like the mouse toy on a stick.
posted by Going To Maine at 1:34 PM on May 9, 2015


In keeping with the animal theme, my newly-caught police cat is named Pig. Of course.
posted by ActionPopulated at 7:20 PM on May 9, 2015 [1 favorite]


I'm imagining Japan now as a place where everyone has their tiny backyards decked out to attract the attention of neighborhood cats, kind of like a kitty theme park.
posted by JHarris at 8:35 PM on May 9, 2015


The white kitty with laser eyes is a nekomata, a sort of ghost or goblin cat. He's sitting on a cushion used (among other things) for Buddhist meditation. I'm pretty sure the two tails are a sign of supernatural nature. Go figure, ghost cat.
posted by GenjiandProust at 7:02 PM on May 10, 2015 [1 favorite]


I've seen samurai cat!!! Yasssssssss
posted by tofu_crouton at 9:33 PM on May 10, 2015


Well, the dangling mouse toy finally saw some action: Puss in Boots came by and stabbed it for some unspecified offense.
posted by angeline at 9:54 PM on May 10, 2015 [5 favorites]


The butterfly toy is so cute you guys. As is the ping pong bouncing.
posted by maryr at 9:44 AM on May 11, 2015 [1 favorite]


It took me a couple days, but I finally saved up for the house expansion and now I feel like I'm rolling in sardines. I finally met the elusive Cream-san and the one I have named the King of Cats, but still missing quite a few rare cats. My next goal is the gold-sardine cat tree, and I'm very close.
posted by muddgirl at 11:54 AM on May 11, 2015 [2 favorites]


Must buy alllllll fancy toys...must attract all kitteeeeehs...
posted by angeline at 12:11 PM on May 11, 2015


Also the sheepy bed is my very favorite because of how its little legs and head flip up when a kitty is in it, like kitty just FLOMPED onto a flat sheep and surprised it greatly.
posted by angeline at 1:32 PM on May 11, 2015 [8 favorites]


Why does samurai cat (or is it kabuki cat?) look like a spider?
posted by Lexica at 2:34 PM on May 11, 2015


The Chef Cat just showed up and started baking a pizza on the stove.
posted by acb at 5:59 AM on May 13, 2015 [6 favorites]


One of the cats just gave me a box of matches as a gift. Why does a cat have a box of matches? I am terrified at what this furry arsonist may have been doing when outside of my yard.
posted by Going To Maine at 10:09 AM on May 13, 2015 [1 favorite]


I got matches then I got a die. I think the kitties have been partying in Vegas.
posted by jaguar at 10:14 AM on May 13, 2015


I was so delighted to see the pizza. There were a couple other cats crowded around the stove, apparently waiting for the pizza to be done. I also like Chef Cat's rapper pose.
posted by desjardins at 10:18 AM on May 13, 2015 [1 favorite]


my boyfriend just reminded me that we have a real cat. I've just started playing and am fascinated with mr baseball player.
posted by lemon_icing at 1:00 PM on May 13, 2015


Why does samurai cat (or is it kabuki cat?) look like a spider?

I couldn't imagine how a cat could look like a spider till he turned up today!

Samurai cat is different, and not at all spidery. I don't know what to call this cat... but his (or her?) name is Marumayu-san, which Google Translate says means "round eyebrows". So that fits.

Wikipedia says it was the done thing in the Heian period, even (eventually) for men, to pluck your eyebrows completely and draw little fake ones on; and I think the clothes and hat match that period, though I can't find a nice definitive link to prove it.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 2:35 PM on May 13, 2015


Both eponysterical and enlightening. Thank you!
posted by Lexica at 5:18 PM on May 13, 2015 [1 favorite]


A cat brought me birthday candles, so the matches just seem practical.
posted by maryr at 8:58 PM on May 13, 2015 [1 favorite]


Does chef need certain food out to cook the pizza? I had the heater for a week and he never appeared.
posted by tofu_crouton at 5:29 AM on May 14, 2015


Same here. I've had the silver fish food out but not the gold fish ones.
posted by tavella at 5:47 AM on May 14, 2015


Does chef need certain food out to cook the pizza? I had the heater for a week and he never appeared.

I also had the heater for several days with no sign of bboy stance pizza cat. Then I put out a plate of sashimi and the next time I opened the app (just a few minutes later, for I am but a man) he was there grilling one up.
posted by phunniemee at 6:47 AM on May 14, 2015 [1 favorite]


Sashimi is also critical for getting the celebrikitty.
posted by Going To Maine at 6:52 AM on May 14, 2015 [1 favorite]


In other cat news, I have collected all but four cats.

Ghost cat has visited me several times, but all in the middle of the night, and I keep missing him.
Helmet cat has visited me once, also in the middle of the night, and I missed him.

The other two (final cat and A2 on the page with fatcat, pizza cat, and samurai cat) are still total mysteries.

My most loyal cat is Naan with 133 visits. My most generous cat is Foiegras (royal cat) who always leaves many gold fishes every time he stops by. So far my favorite gift is the tiny hourglass because I just imagine this terrible thief cat stole it from somebody's boggle set.
posted by phunniemee at 6:54 AM on May 14, 2015 [4 favorites]


The child has discovered the cat game, so I have outsourced all morning and evening kitty care to her.
posted by Artw at 7:12 AM on May 14, 2015 [2 favorites]


A few glorious kittyscapes for your enjoyment:

One
Two
Three
Four
Five
posted by phunniemee at 7:23 AM on May 14, 2015 [1 favorite]


and I think the clothes and hat match that period, though I can't find a nice definitive link to prove it.

He is, indeed dressed as a Heian courtier, and his name really means "Mr. Shaved Eyebrows" for the practice of plucking or shaving one's eyebrows and drawing them back on. Since some cats have little smudgy eyebrows on their face fur, this is appropriate, in my book. The item that he plays with, the mari, is a ball used in a traditional kick-ball game from the period, too. Just for the record, his personality is "elegant," and his coat type is "kariginu," which is the name for that outfit he has on (those are the informal "hanging out" clothes; court clothes were much more ornate).

The ronin cat is from a much later historical period.

Heian dressing patterns are pretty interesting (well, for the courtiers, who amounted to maybe 1000 people at a time) -- they did a lot of socializing at night despite rather dim interiors and really poor lighting technology, so the use of face powder and makeup made it much easier to see/recognize people. One reason Genji is called "the Shining Prince" is that his complexion was so great that he could easily be seen in dark rooms. Also, his son smelled incredibly nice, even without perfume. These are Heian super-powers, my friends.
posted by GenjiandProust at 7:38 AM on May 14, 2015 [9 favorites]


Sashimi is also critical for getting the celebrikitty.

I've gotten Lagerfeld with the 30-silver-fish food a handful of times.
posted by Itaxpica at 11:25 AM on May 14, 2015


Chef cat just showed up! Squee!

Looking at him, I have a theory about why he's posed that way. I remember on the original Japanese version of Iron Chef, there was a moment at the beginning of every episode when one of the chefs would remove his waist sash and deftly wrap it in a sort of figure-eight around his shoulders, to snug down and control the extra fabric in his garment so it wouldn't interfere with his movements while he cooked. Chef cat looks like he might be in mid-wrap.

Or maybe he's rolling up his sleeves in preparation for cooking.
posted by Lexica at 12:41 PM on May 15, 2015 [2 favorites]


I was just checking to see if I was the only one still playing this silly game, and lo and behold, I'm not!

I'm still too stupid for this game, though. So many, many things I haven't figured out yet.
posted by MexicanYenta at 9:15 PM on May 15, 2015


Nippon.com, which usually has pretty good articles, has turned its eye to Neko Atsume.
posted by wintersweet at 9:47 PM on May 17, 2015 [1 favorite]


Lucky cat visited me for the first time tonight, which made me happier than I would have expected.

(And I am holding onto pride at not having spent any real money on the game. Yet.)
posted by jaguar at 9:52 PM on May 17, 2015 [1 favorite]


I cannot get Cream-san (or as I call him, Bastard Cat) to show up. He's the last cat I need!
posted by amarynth at 8:56 AM on May 18, 2015


Wait, the fat white one? Just put expensive food out and wait.
posted by desjardins at 11:25 AM on May 18, 2015


Or any food, really.
posted by Going To Maine at 11:48 AM on May 18, 2015


Cream-san is the off-white one with peach-coloured markings and the heart on its side. Rare, shy, but likes the little leaf/grass toy.
posted by holgate at 11:50 AM on May 18, 2015 [1 favorite]


There's a Nekoatsume Twitter account.
posted by Lexica at 11:52 AM on May 18, 2015 [2 favorites]


To have is a megaphone instead of a bat

My mind is blown.
posted by Going To Maine at 12:46 PM on May 18, 2015


Cutest fattycat gif!

I know he eats all the food, but I like him. I named him Moose. A friend named his Beefchop. What did you name fattycat?
posted by fiercecupcake at 1:21 PM on May 18, 2015 [2 favorites]


I named him Chubbs.
posted by angeline at 2:44 PM on May 18, 2015


A friend named his Beefchop. What did you name fattycat?

Ha! My fattycat is named Porkchop.

For those of you concerned, I am still playing this game. I have all cats but two: Celebrity Cat and Kabuki Cat have both yet to make an appearance, despite my plying them with their choice items and fancy food for days on end. I've been raking in the fishes, though, so I just did a huge overhaul of all my toys. Bought all new high end things to furnish my cat paradise to try to entice the stragglers to come out for a visit. I've been given 54% of the tribute gifts so far.
posted by phunniemee at 2:52 PM on May 18, 2015


I named him Taft, because he looks like a president in repose.
posted by muddgirl at 2:58 PM on May 18, 2015 [2 favorites]


To have is a megaphone instead of a bat

That explains why Baseball Cat doesn't actually play with the damned baseball!
posted by maryr at 4:06 PM on May 18, 2015 [1 favorite]


I'm guessing that, once you buy one of the other areas (the Japanese temple, the modernist house, or the other one), you can't have both that and the original house/yard in play at once. Is this the case?
posted by acb at 4:42 PM on May 18, 2015


Yeah, it's not so much a new part of the house as it is a different skin. You don't gain anything other than novelty by buying it.
posted by phunniemee at 5:49 PM on May 18, 2015 [1 favorite]


Actually, the one I got -- the platform skin -- seems to have a different placement of toy spots. It's not that different, but there is a little change in layout. The platform skim has 3 places to put "oversized" toys, for example.
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:00 PM on May 18, 2015


The platform skim has 3 places to put "oversized" toys, for example.

The one with the two white tabley things? That's the one I have and it only has two big toy spots. If you're using a different one and it has three I MUST KNOW. My kitties need more. Always more. Always.
posted by phunniemee at 6:04 PM on May 18, 2015 [2 favorites]


I am completely into this game now and have introduced it to several of my friends and am learning various kanji (er, hiragana? my other language is a latin one) for the first time in my life, so thank you for this post. (Just got a new room!)
posted by tyrantkitty at 9:28 AM on May 19, 2015


I know he eats all the food, but I like him. I named him Moose. A friend named his Beefchop. What did you name fattycat?

He is called Glutton.
posted by heatherann at 6:49 PM on May 19, 2015 [1 favorite]


A friend named his Beefchop. What did you name fattycat?

I named mine Hoss.

Cat #14 (white with gray patches) is my current favorite because he always leaves lots of fishes after playing with cheap toys. I named him Solly.

I've had all the cats visit at least once, although I don't have a picture of the arms crossed guy who likes the red space heater. A bunch of the cats have left me treasures. So I'm I'm a little curious - is there an end game? Does something else happen?
posted by Squeak Attack at 9:43 PM on May 19, 2015


Oh, I'm using the garden view, with the little bridge and stream, which is very pretty, but only has space for 2 large toys. I haven't tried the final two skins, although the modern house with the black coffee table is intriguing.
posted by Squeak Attack at 9:49 PM on May 19, 2015


My mistake -- guess there's only one in the yard and one on the deck. I thought I had a third big item in the living room, but it's all smaller things. Boo!
posted by GenjiandProust at 7:47 AM on May 20, 2015


The big square beige 25-gold-fish cushion can have two cats on it, even though it only takes up a one-toy space.
posted by lagomorph at 8:39 AM on May 20, 2015 [5 favorites]


Well, if you want maximum cats-per-square foot, it's worth buying the "Athletic Ex," the most expensive gold sardine cat tree. Cats pack themselves onto that like they are... well, cats, I suppose.
posted by GenjiandProust at 8:44 AM on May 20, 2015


So I'm I'm a little curious - is there an end game? Does something else happen?

Once you've collected all the cats, treasures and toys, a literal kitten crawls out of your phone and into your lap.
posted by desjardins at 10:33 AM on May 20, 2015 [18 favorites]


Don't break my heart, desjardins.
posted by Squeak Attack at 10:47 AM on May 20, 2015 [1 favorite]


The Lucky Cat is very generous! It has only visited a few times, but it has already give me a... little gold thing? Cookie? Something!
posted by tavella at 11:47 AM on May 20, 2015


what does the lucky cat look like?
posted by annathea at 12:50 PM on May 20, 2015


He lives in the door of the cardboard house and is an approximation of the cat figurines you see in some japanese restaurants, with one paw raised in the air.
posted by Going To Maine at 1:06 PM on May 20, 2015


Hm. I must have missed him. Gonna put that house back out now - the cats don't like the tatami mat anyway.
posted by annathea at 3:53 PM on May 20, 2015


My Lucky Cat has been named Herring, for Estonian superstitions.

My Fatty Cat has been named Gordito.

My favorite is the little tan and cream one with the sort of heart shaped spot on its side. That's Marzipan.
posted by cmyk at 6:52 PM on May 20, 2015 [4 favorites]


I named lucky cat Sterling, in defiance of my famous-lady naming scheme, because of the short story Maneki Neko by Bruce Sterling.
posted by harriet vane at 6:23 AM on May 21, 2015 [1 favorite]


Nabeneko made me laugh. Too cute.
posted by wintersweet at 10:10 AM on May 21, 2015 [1 favorite]


It turns out I did see lucky cat. Apparently I named him Winky.

In other news, I've been playing this game in my sleep for like a week.
posted by annathea at 8:14 PM on May 21, 2015 [3 favorites]


I got glamor kitty! I named her Violet, in honor of Elizabeth Taylor.
posted by jaguar at 8:52 PM on May 21, 2015


All of my cats are named after various foods of 8 characters or less, so my fat cat is named Lentil. I've been waiting a week for pizza cat to show up, with no luck so far. The cat with the sword showed up for the first time today and left me all of 2 silver sardines! I may have actually cursed him out loud while sitting at my desk at work...
posted by skycrashesdown at 9:29 PM on May 21, 2015


Finally, at long last, after three dedicated weeks of playing this blasted game, all the cats are belong to me.

Here, please partake of my furry minions.

Now all that's left is to sit and wait for the remaining 18 kitty tributes!
posted by phunniemee at 9:43 PM on May 21, 2015 [13 favorites]


If anybody is curious what happens when you buy one of the new house-garden combos (themes, skins, whatever you call it), the game kicks out all your cats and toys but saves the leftover food you had in your dishes. Also the half-price deal that you got when you purchased the house extension goes away on the other house-garden combos, so they're now the full price of GF280 instead of marked down to 140.

I finally got chef Bistro cat this morning, after starting to put out the red kerosene heater days ago (with hardly any of the other cats showing much interest in it). I sat and stared at the little puffs of steam coming off the top of the pizza for several minutes.

Otherwise, no fireworks went off, no bells rang when I got my last cat. Still have about sixteen of the treasures to collect.

Just checked. Three cats in my new house/garden, including Manzoku who ate a full dish of luxury kibble.
posted by lagomorph at 11:42 AM on May 22, 2015 [2 favorites]


I got a signed baseball from Baseball Cat! But still no glamour cat or chef cat, despite tempting them with their favorite objects and all luxury food.
posted by tavella at 2:52 PM on May 22, 2015


My lucky cat and samurai cats are black instead of white. Anyone else? I love it, I get special kitties I can't find on the cat guides.
posted by annathea at 9:07 PM on May 23, 2015


My lucky cat and samurai cats are black instead of white.

Have you seen them and taken pictures of them or have they just shown up in your kitty rolodex? Unlocked kitties that haven't been collected yet show up grayed out in the kitty book.

If you have pictures of alternakitties I would be VERY INTERESTED in seeing them. I am all out of new kitties and want more.
posted by phunniemee at 9:18 PM on May 23, 2015 [2 favorites]


What is the largest number of cats you have had at once? I've had 10, but it looks like you can have 15+ slots with the right items.
posted by tavella at 9:23 PM on May 23, 2015


My top is 11.
posted by phunniemee at 9:25 PM on May 23, 2015


I have been playing this and I am greatly pleased by it. Pondering an in-app purchase for the house, given I'm two away from the complete basic-kitty set.
posted by solarion at 9:32 PM on May 23, 2015


I have seen winky (lucky cat) once. Samurai cat keeps showing up in the middle of the night tho. Winky was definitely black, that is why it took me a few days (and a post in this thread) to figure out that she was the Lucky Cat.
posted by annathea at 8:21 AM on May 24, 2015


I dreamed last night that I checked on my phone cats and the house had been destroyed in an earthquake and/or tornado! But the game helpfully led me through tapping on a drawer, in which there were little cat-sized work gloves, and opening that drawer led all the cats into cleaning up and repairing the house, and then they gave me sardines so that I would feed them again.

I think this could be an advanced version of the game. Neko Atsume Tsunami?
posted by jaguar at 8:28 AM on May 24, 2015 [11 favorites]


That reminds me - I had a Neko Atsume Dream last night too! Mine was more benign: I checked my game and the catbus from My Neighbor Totoro had shown up as one of the "special" cats. He was kicking a little ball with his many legs.
posted by Metroid Baby at 9:58 AM on May 24, 2015 [9 favorites]


Where can I download this dream?
posted by Artw at 11:40 AM on May 24, 2015 [6 favorites]


Chef Cat just brought me a rolling pin. I knew it was worth spending all those gold sardines on sashimi!
posted by Lexica at 12:57 PM on May 24, 2015 [1 favorite]


I gave up on chef cat for the moment, when train or mountaineer cat give up their treasures I will try again. They were spurning me despite the provision of stove and sashimi or tuna.
posted by tavella at 1:08 PM on May 24, 2015 [1 favorite]


Ok I just saw samurai firsthand and he was white and is now white in my book, so it must just be that I haven't actually collected winky yet and am remembering some midnight phone check when I saw her in the sardine list. :(
posted by annathea at 2:58 PM on May 24, 2015 [2 favorites]


Btw the very next time I opened the game after posting that, winky was standing in the door of the little house. White!
posted by annathea at 7:24 PM on May 24, 2015 [1 favorite]


The goldfish bowl. I can't believe nobody's mentioned the goldfish bowl. I so nearly didn't get it, because I felt bad for the goldfish (yes, I know), but thankfully I decided to stop being silly, and oh dear lord that's adorable.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 2:35 PM on May 26, 2015 [8 favorites]


Ok I just saw samurai firsthand and he was white and is now white in my book, so it must just be that I haven't actually collected winky yet and am remembering some midnight phone check when I saw her in the sardine list. :(

Samauri cat has visited me a few times, but I've never seen him, and he's showing up black in my cat list, too. I wonder if they do that if they've visited but not been seen?
posted by jaguar at 2:52 PM on May 26, 2015


Yes, jaguar.
posted by maryr at 3:52 PM on May 26, 2015 [1 favorite]


Stealth cats!
posted by jaguar at 4:28 PM on May 26, 2015


THE GOLDFISH BOWL oh man their big dumb faces I love them.

Big big fan of the different butterfly toys, as the kittens either lay on their backs swatting at the things or sit there and their heads sort of follow the path of the flying thingy OR they hop up and grab the toy it's so cute help
posted by angeline at 4:53 PM on May 26, 2015 [4 favorites]


I am going to be really bummed when this thread closes.
posted by annathea at 5:05 PM on May 26, 2015 [3 favorites]


I haven't seen them hop up and grab the toy so I just put out all the stringy butterfly-ish toys in my arsenal. Now I'm staring at my phone. Waiting.
posted by annathea at 5:09 PM on May 26, 2015


There's this one where they do this thing that I know is not supposed to look like they're furiously humping the toy but it kind of looks like they're furiously humping the toy.
posted by phunniemee at 5:33 PM on May 26, 2015


For watching them watch the spinny thing, you need the toy that looks like an airplane on a stick on page 17 of the shop. It is 15 gold fishies. Sometimes they sleep under it but I have seen them stare at it, their little heads bobbing.

For the hopping you need the actual butterfly on a stick (it is similar to the mouse on the stick), it is on page 16 of the shop and is 120 silver fishies. Again, sometimes they'll sleep under it but you can often catch the black kitty with the butterscotch eyes playing with it enthusiastically.
posted by angeline at 5:34 PM on May 26, 2015 [5 favorites]


Has anyone actually seen a cat enter or exit while they have the app open? (e.g. walking in or out)
posted by desjardins at 8:29 AM on May 27, 2015 [1 favorite]


Although we've lived in our current apartment for a year, our small backyard has recently turned into a cat garden. I think the cats see me on my patio playing this game and they know I'm vulnerable. Real life has not been as fun as the game. A few days ago a cat came and peed in the middle of my yard. Now other cats are trying to poop over that pee spot. Once it became clear we would shoo away any offenders, they've started to get sneaky. They'll just come and sit in the yard and act cute until they think we're not looking, then run for the spot, or run for our door to try and sneak inside where they can attack our inside cat.

But they're adorable, so we tolerate our real life game of stop-the-pooping.
posted by tofu_crouton at 8:51 AM on May 27, 2015 [3 favorites]


Nope, they are either in or out, no in-between state. I feel like there is a Schroedinger joke here but I am tired and need to feed the kitties before I go to bed.
posted by harriet vane at 8:53 AM on May 27, 2015 [3 favorites]


Can we start a FanFare for this game or have some other way of keeping this conversation open? I'm really enjoying reading about everyone's tips and experiences. And it's good to have others to share in my obsession.

i can quit anytime, really.
posted by Fuego at 2:35 PM on May 27, 2015 [7 favorites]


I was wondering if maybe FanFare was a possibility. It would be nice to keep chatting with other wacky cartoon kitteh people.
posted by angeline at 3:05 PM on May 27, 2015


It's called Twitter.
posted by maryr at 3:06 PM on May 27, 2015 [2 favorites]


(Really, wouldn't MeFightClub be the appropriate outlet?)
posted by maryr at 3:06 PM on May 27, 2015


It's called Twitter.

Noooo, it's really not.

The backpack cat left me a compass after just a few visits, but otherwise I seem to be stalled on gifts from the rarer cats.

I have taken to leaving out the free food overnight rather than the nice stuff, because it lasts longer and I get more visits from the easily-pleased cats.
posted by Squeak Attack at 3:35 PM on May 27, 2015


I still have yet to receive 14 tribute gifts.

Porkchop, the freeloading bastard, has visited me more times than any other non-gifting cat, and more than twice as many times as several of my cats who left me gifts ages ago. I'm cutting him off. Scaling back to the free food, see how much he appreciates me after a few days of going hungry.
posted by phunniemee at 3:43 PM on May 27, 2015 [2 favorites]


Phunniemee, he never seems to come inside, so you can use the good food in there and free outside.
posted by tavella at 5:33 PM on May 27, 2015 [3 favorites]


It's worth putting out the first level up of food in the yard, IMO, because that costs 30 silver sardines for 3 bowls and Manzoku-san (glutton cat) will usually empty a bowl and leave more than 30 sardines as thanks. So economically, it works out.

But no food that costs gold sardines. Heck no, greedy-guts!
posted by Lexica at 8:00 PM on May 27, 2015 [3 favorites]


Yes, if you leave Fat Bastard the 30-silver (yellow bowl) food outside, he'll repay in kind as long as you leave him till he buggers off.
posted by holgate at 8:23 PM on May 27, 2015


Yeah but he's not giving me a tribute gift, the lousy git. Bug carcasses, seeds, matches--the bar is set pretty low here. He has no excuse.
posted by phunniemee at 9:14 PM on May 27, 2015 [1 favorite]


Ah — he brought me my first treasure, so I have a soft spot in my heart for the lunchmouth bozo. (I think he reminds me of cats we had when I was a kid…)
posted by Lexica at 9:57 PM on May 27, 2015 [1 favorite]


What's the deal with the cat who is wearing a bowl or pot on his head like a hat? I think he is holding a spoon.

I need 5 more cats! Haven't seen the mountaineer or fancy cat yet. Not sure who else I am missing.
posted by desjardins at 8:50 AM on May 28, 2015


I don't know his deal, but I named Pot-hat Cat Steve because he is in the Army. Cap'n!
posted by angeline at 8:54 AM on May 28, 2015


I haven't seen Fancy cat yet, but Prince Kitty left me GEMS this morning. Gems! Sparkly ones!

I managed to take pictures of all but two kitties in the past two days (I hadn't been photographing them before) and I still have 4 more cats to collect. I haven't had any new kitties in a week. I might have to buy more stuff.

Mountaineer cat likes to stand on top of the crazy big cat tree, if you're still trying to collect him. Glam kitty supposedly likes that red sling chair but I've had that for weeks and she's never appeared, even with a variety of foods offered.
posted by annathea at 10:22 AM on May 28, 2015


Also, thirty days hath September, April...April! We get one more day in this thread!
posted by annathea at 10:22 AM on May 28, 2015


It just occurred to me--is pot hat cat holding a golf club? And he clearly has camo on. Is he Carl from Caddyshack?
posted by Fuego at 11:08 AM on May 28, 2015


Oh my goodness I just assumed it was a soup spoon
posted by angeline at 11:17 AM on May 28, 2015 [1 favorite]


I've had no luck with glamour kitty either. I'm going to try moving the red sling chair inside, maybe she doesn't like the outdoors.
posted by tavella at 11:20 AM on May 28, 2015


It looks like the cat wearing the pot is named Nabeneko, and "nabe" is a cooking pot, so he is most likely holding a spoon, yes.

I am missing one cat and I cannot tell which cat I am missing.
posted by jaguar at 11:28 AM on May 28, 2015


And glamour kitty needs either sashimi or the most expensive canned food. I've seen her both inside and outside.
posted by jaguar at 11:28 AM on May 28, 2015


Yes, nabeneko is holding a ladle, wearing the lid on his head, being a reference to the "nekonabe" Japanese internet meme, and making me hungry. Busy little guy! See also Let's Nabe (you can cook other things in nabe, but still a good article--with a nekonabe photo).
posted by wintersweet at 12:53 PM on May 28, 2015 [1 favorite]


OH MY GOD this video is the cutest thing ever, I'm gonna plotz. I'm gonna die from the cute.
posted by Fuego at 1:06 PM on May 28, 2015 [2 favorites]


OH MY GOD this video is the cutest thing ever, I'm gonna plotz. I'm gonna die from the cute.

You people have ruined me.
posted by phunniemee at 1:37 PM on May 28, 2015 [1 favorite]


YES I HAVE ALL THE KITTIES. Glamour kitty and last elegant noble kitty are both in my house at the same time.
posted by Fuego at 2:05 PM on May 28, 2015 [1 favorite]


Does elegant noble kitty need any special food? Or do I just need to be more patient?
posted by jaguar at 2:11 PM on May 28, 2015


He's come to my yard when I've had just the quality crisps out. As long as you have the appropriate royal cushion for his bum, he'll come.
posted by angeline at 2:27 PM on May 28, 2015


The sashimi is always a good bet for getting the rare cats.

Prince-san likes the fancy green and gold pillow.

Maromayu-san likes the mari ball.

I read one reference that claimed Maromayu-san only appears in the garden with the stream and bridge but I have no idea if that is true.
posted by Squeak Attack at 2:31 PM on May 28, 2015


It's Maromayu-san that I'm missing. I have the mari ball out.

I haven't been able to purchase any of the house remodels, so I guess I'll just leave the sashimi in front of the tv and see what happens.
posted by jaguar at 2:40 PM on May 28, 2015


I read one reference that claimed Maromayu-san only appears in the garden with the stream and bridge but I have no idea if that is true.

Nope! I have the platform garden and his ass has been all over my yard. He did take a long, long time to show up though, even with plenty of sashimi and his special ball.
posted by phunniemee at 2:45 PM on May 28, 2015


I read one reference that claimed Maromayu-san only appears in the garden with the stream and bridge but I have no idea if that is true.


Not true--I haven't bought it. The ball was enough.
posted by wintersweet at 2:48 PM on May 28, 2015 [2 favorites]


Ooh, he just showed up! Yay, I have all the cats!
posted by jaguar at 2:56 PM on May 28, 2015 [2 favorites]


Is there any precedent for people with special mod powers to keep a thread alive past its expiration date? Because I'm gonna miss the hell out of this thread.
posted by fiercecupcake at 2:58 PM on May 28, 2015 [12 favorites]


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