Line #21 VideoGame/NekoAtsume


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nekoatsume.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:A typical kitty-filled day in the player's yard.[[note]]And yes, those are cat buttholes.[[/note]]]]
3	-> ''Meow Loading...''
4
5	''Neko Atsume'' (ねこあつめ) or ''Neko Atsume: Kitty Collector'' is an IdleGame for {{UsefulNotes/Android\|Games}} and UsefulNotes/{{iOS\|Games}}, developed by Hit-Point.
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7	The game consists of laying out food and toys in order to bring cats to the player's yard. However, cats don't show up when the game is in play; they only visit whenever the app is closed. If the player opens the app again while cats are present, they can watch the visiting cats play with the various laid-out toys and take photos of them. Once a cat leaves, it will leave a gift of fish, the game's currency. Fish come in two flavors: standard grey fish and special [[PremiumCurrency "gold fish"]], the latter of which [[BribingYourWayToVictory can also be bought with microtransactions]]. The fish can then be used to purchase other toys and food, some specific items being necessary to attract "rare" cats.
8
9	The game was released internationally on October 20, 2014, but was only available in Japanese until an English-language version of the game was released on October 30, 2015.
10
11	The success of the game has led to a large variety of [[http://www.bpnavi.jp/kuji/item/1369 official merchandise]], a [[http://denshi-birz.com/kingen-nekoatsume/ companion webcomic]], as well as [[https://store.line.me/stickershop/product/1134810/en official stickers/stamps]] for use with the LINE messenger app. There was also a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iDst3nfY30 live-action film adaptation]], ''Neko Atsume no Ie'', released in April 2017. A virtual reality SpinOff for the Platform/PlayStation4, ''Neko Atsume VR'', was released on May 31st, 2018 in Japan.
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13	A sequel, ''Neko Atsume 2'', is slated for a summer 2024 release. The [[https://www.nekoatsume.com/news/news_20240222_3_en.html announcement page]] was published on February 22, 2024 -- February 22 being National Cat Day in Japan[[note]]2/22 [[GoroawaseNumber can be read as "ni ni ni", which sounds like "nya nya nya", or a cat meowing]].[[/note]].
14	----
15	!! ''Neko Atsume'' contains examples of the following:
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17	* AmazingTechnicolorWildlife: While pretty much every other cat is normally colored, Chairman Meow stands out for having camo-green on his fur.
18	* AmbiguousGender: All of the cats look alike, and most have gender-neutral names, so it's usually difficult to tell. Although if you're aware of cat genetics, you can infer the calicoes and tortoiseshells are female, and the orange ones are most likely male.[[note]]This all has to do with the gene for orange colouring being located on the X chromosome. More precisely, the calico/tortiseshell pattern is caused by something called "X-inactivation", an interaction that only occurs in mammals with two X chromosomes - in this case, with one X having an orange gene, and the other X lacking it, causing a mix of colours to be expressed. This almost always means it can only happen in females (sperm/egg glitches can produce males with an extra X, but this is extremely rare. On the other hand, orange cats are ''usually'' male, because a male only needs to have an orange gene on his single X for the gene to fully express itself - a female would need to have it on ''both'' of her X's to be fully orange, which doesn't happen so often.[[/note]] One exception is Caramel who has a ‘tomboy’ personality, a descriptor reserved exclusively for females.
19	* AnimalsLackAttributes: Averted. The cats have anuses, with the art style making them simply look like small X's.
20	* AntiFrustrationFeatures: The Thrifty Bitz food item. While it is the lowest-quality food you can serve, it also never runs out, in the event that you end up with too little fish to buy even Frisky Bitz (the next weakest food item) and don't want to or can't [[BribingYourWayToVictory buy gold fish]].
21	* TheAntiNihilist: Billy the Kitten's personality is nihilistic, but is just as cute and nice as any of the other cats.
22	* BakenekoAndNekomata: Saint Purrtrick is one of these, hence his two tails and "Ethereal" description. His Japanese name is even "Nekomata-san".
23	* BewareTheNiceOnes: Dottie is described as "Friendly", but has a power level of '''195''', the second highest out of any normal cat (behind Caramel, who has a power level of 205).
24	* BilingualBonus: Some of the cats' English names.
25	** "Macchiato", an Italian word meaning "stained" or "spotted". Though it can also refer to the popular espresso drink.
26	** "Melange", or "Mélange" - a French word meaning "mixed".
27	* BigEater: Tubbs. Unlike the other cats, who will take a few nibbles of your food and spend the rest of their time playing with your toys, Tubbs eats the whole bowl at once and then [[CatsAreLazy lounges next to the bowl while his meal digests]].
28	* BreadEggsBreadedEggs:
29	** The various cats include tabbies, calicos, and a calico tabby (also known as a ''caliby'').
30	** There's tortoiseshells, tabbies, and tortoiseshell tabbies (also known as ''torbies'').
31	* BribingYourWayToVictory: Gold fish can be earned by paying basic fish for them (500 for 10 golds), receiving them as gifts from cats leaving your yard (although they are quite rare), or purchasing them via {{microtransactions}}. Regular fish are under this trope too, as you can exchange 10 gold fish for 250 regular fish. It's possble to collect everything and discover every cat without ever paying a single cent; paying simply accelerates progress.
32	* BrilliantButLazy: "Lazy" Misty has a power level of 160.
33	* CasualGame: The game is designed to be simple enough for players who don't have a lot of time for video games every day. Just swap out goodies as you see fit, and keep the bowls stocked with food. The worst that will happen if you neglect the game is that cats won't visit, which is fixed simply by--again--restocking food.
34	* CatNinja: Whiteshadow, who randomly pops into the background in the yards and depending on the model is either "Scouting" or doing "Espionage".
35	* CatsAreMagic: Hermeowne, a black cat with a witch hat and cape. Her memento is a bottle of magic powder (probably catnip), that when used, summons cats to an empty yard.
36	* CatsHateWater: Averted with the Zen remodel; there's a island in the middle of the pond that you can put goodies on that clearly requires a leap to get to, but cats who play around on the island don't seem to express any issue about it.
37	* {{Cooldown}}: You can use Hermeowne's Memento to instantly summon cats to an empty yard, but afterwards you must wait a few days to be able to use it again.
38	* CowardlyLion: Pepper may have the "Shy" personality, but their power level is ''165''.
39	* CulturalTranslation: The "Nyaw Loading" prompt, a play on "Now Loading" and "nya" (Japanese onomotopeia for a cat meowing) was changed to "Meow Loading" for the English-language localization.
40	* CuteKitten: The entire point of the game is to bring them to your yard.
41	* DressedToPlunder: Bengal Jack is a cat in a pirate costume and the only way to lure him into your yard is with the [[PirateBooty Luxury Treasure Box]], even if another cat is inside.
42	* DubNameChange: The cat's names in the English translation were changed from ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin to common cat names. (i.e. Shironeko, which means "white cat", to Snowball)
43	* ExtremeDoormat: Pickles, the only cat with a power level of zero.
44	* EyesAlwaysShut: Tubbs's eyes are always closed, giving him a relaxed face as he either lets his meal digest or lounges on the Big Cushion.
45	* FoodThemeNaming: Many of the kitties share their name with various types of food:
46	** After produce: Pumpkin, Pickles, Peaches, Spud, and Apricot.
47	** After spices: Ginger
48	** After sweets or coffee: Marshmallow, Cocoa, Ganache, Macchiato, and Chocola
49	** Pasty and Chip might also count, considering that one definition of pasty is a type of meat pie. Chip's name might refer to 'chocolate chip,' considering he has black spots on a white coat.
50	* TheGadfly: Spots is described as a "Joker". One strip in the manga has Snowball weighing itself and Spots secretly pushing down on the scale to make Snowball look heavier.
51	* GenkiGirl: Sassy Fran's personality is listed as "Enthusiastic".
52	* GingerbreadHouse: The "Sugary Style" remodel patterns the yard, interior decor, and some goodies after a gingerbread house and sugary pastries.
53	* GuiltBasedGaming: Downplayed. If you stop playing for a while, cats will stop visiting your yard as a result of your food bowls depleting, but that is the worst that will happen and you can just put out food to get them to come back.
54	* HandicappedBadass: Whiteshadow the ninja is a blue-eyed white shorthair. In real life, these are often deaf due to a genetic mutation.
55	* HelloInsertNameHere: The cats all come pre-named, but you're free to rename them. If you leave their names set to defaults, they'll [[DubNameChange change across language settings]], but once you set names of your own, they'll persist regardless of in-game language.
56	* HighlyVisibleNinja: Whiteshadow has white fur and a light blue ninja costume.
57	* HitboxDissonance: The hitboxes for cats will sometimes not align with the cat's graphic correctly. This happens most often with rare cats, as they will often be positioned in a manner inconsistent with regular cats, but will have the latter's hitboxes; for example, Mr. Meowgi is positioned behind and to the right of the tree stump, but to click on him properly you have to click in front and to the right because that's where regular cats do their scratching on the stump.
58	* HolidayMode: On select days in winter, it will snow in your yard and the music will change to a music box version of the usual BGM.
59	* IdleGame: You can only get cats to appear if you close the game and come back later.
60	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Tubbs does down the entirety of your outdoor food bowl whenever they show up, depriving other cats of food, but if you leave them alone until they leave voluntarily, they'll give you a lot of fish. Also if you have the large cushion out, Tubbs will sometimes lay on it and only take the usual small amount of food. Finally, their memento is a food item (fish jerky) that they give to you rather than just eating it for themselves.
61	* LevelAte: The Sugary Style remodel definitely counts as this - all background furnishings and objects get a pastry based makeover. You can take it up to eleven by placing the various sweets-themed goodies, such as the Cardboard Cafe and the Tower of Treats.
62	* LovableCoward: Pickles. He's Faint-hearted and has ''zero'' power level (the lowest in the game), but is still really adorable like the other cats.
63	* ManekiNeko: Miss Fortune, one of the rare cats, looks like this. Fittingly, she gives out the most fish of any cat in the game.
64	* MarketBasedTitle: The English-language version appends the ''Cat Collector'' subtitle.
65	* MeaningfulName: Many of the cat's default names are based on some aspect of their appearance or personality - some are obvious, like "Snowball" and "Patches" (an all white cat, and a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin white cat with orange patches]]), but others not quite so obvious, like "Ganache" (a chocolate coloured cat - "ganache" is a glaze, icing, sauce, or filling for pastries made from chocolate and cream).
66	* {{Meido}}: Sassy Fran, a cat in a maid outfit. She shows up occasionally if you have the Cardboard Café item laid out.
67	* MissXPun: Ms. Fortune is a cat based around the maneki-neko, the "waving cat" figurine common in East Asian stores since it's thought to bring good luck.
68	* NoFairCheating: Downplayed. If you manually change the time on your device (instead of just leaving it on network time) and then open the game up, the game will freeze updates if device time is earlier than the game was last closed.
69	* NonStandardCharacterDesign: Xerxes IX has a more rectangular shaped head along with a frown instead of the typical cat face.
70	* PaintingTheMedium: How does the game simulate the shyness of real-world cats? By having them come to your yard only when the app is closed.
71	* PaletteSwap: All of the regular cats are the same shape and size and can only be differentiated by their colors. Many cats have the same pattern of splotches and stripes.
72	* PickyEater: Tubbs will never eat Thrifty Bitz. He'll only eat your food if you had to pay for it. His personality is "finicky feaster".
73	* PlayEveryDay: The game offers a daily password with each new day. Registering it will give you a small bonus of fish. For every five days of daily passwords that you collect, you'll get a free can of fancy food.
74	* PolarOppositeTwins: Macchiato and Melange. They're identical lynx point cats with Macchiato being a seal lynx while Melange is a blue lynx. Their personalities are also total opposites: Macchiato has a high power level with a "Sourpuss" personality while Melange is "Calm" with a low power level. Even their mementos are two different collars: Macchiato gifts a leather choker and Melange gifts a cotton scarf.
75	* PottyFailure: The description of the yellow pillow talks about it not showing stains.
76	* PremiumCurrency: The game has two types of fish-based currency: Normal gray fish and gold fish. Both types of fish can be obtained from cats as gifts; however, gold fish is remarkably rarer and can be bought with real money. You can also exchange 500 normal fish for 10 gold fish.
77	* ProperLady: Sapphire is a Siamese cat in a pristine white dress with a purse and hat and is attended to by her butler Jeeves, who wears a monocle and WaistcoatOfStyle.
78	* PunnyName: Some of the English names for the rare cats stray into this territory, like Billy the Kitten and Joe [=DiMeowgio=]. Bengal Jack's name refers to the Bengal Cat, a recently developed cat breed with some genetic contribution from the wild Asian Leopard Cat.
79	** Ms. Fortune's name is a play on "misfortune". Also doubles as an IronicName, as she was designed after the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maneki-neko Maneki-neko]], a Japanese figurine that is believed to bring good luck to its owner, and is anything but bad luck.
80	* RandomPowerRanking: The cats' power levels are more unique traits to each of them, but they don't serve any in-game purpose.
81	* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: ''All'' of the cats!
82	* ShapedLikeItself: Tabitha's memeoty is a set of random seeds. The description is just "random seeds" again.
83	* ShoutOut: Several of the English-language special cats' names refer to famous people or fictional works:
84	** Billy the Kitten refers to UsefulNotes/BillyTheKid.
85	** Chairman Meow refers to UsefulNotes/MaoZedong.
86	** The chef-themed Guy Furry refers to [[Series/DinersDriveInsAndDives Guy Fieri]].
87	** Jeeves refers to archetypal English butler Jeeves from the Literature/JeevesAndWooster series.
88	** Joe [=DiMeowgio=] refers to the famous baseball player Joe [=DiMaggio=].
89	*** Though it's lost in the cultural barrier, Joe's outfit is one to a Japanese professional baseball team, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanshin_Tigers the Hanshin Tigers]].
90	** Lady Meow-Meow refers to Music/LadyGaga. (There is a well-known burlesque performer and actress called Meow Meow, but she probably isn't being referred to.)
91	** Mr. Meowgi refers to Mr. Miyagi from the ''[[Film/TheKarateKid Karate Kid]]'' films.
92	** Señor Don Gato refers to the Spanish title of ''Literature/PussInBoots''.
93	** Bengal Jack is perhaps a reference to [[Main/{{Pirate}} "Calico Jack" Rackham]].
94	** Xerxes IX is named after several ancient kings of Persia names Xerxes; there was no Xerxes the ninth, but the number likely refers to the common saying that cats have nine lives. It also resembles a real life Persian cat, and appears to be wrapped in a Persian carpet.
95	** Gozer, though not a rare cat, is named after the main antagonist from ''[[Film/Ghostbusters1984 Ghostbusters]]''. His personality is even described as "sore loser"!
96	** The witch-themed cat is named [[Literature/HarryPotter Hermeowne]].
97	** While it's likely a coincidence, Tubbs' appearance is described as [[Creator/GabrielIglesias "Fluffy"]].
98	* SeriesMascot: Snowball seems to be this - its face is featured on the app's menu icon, it is the cat seen on the loading screen, and is the first cat who will visit you after completing the tutorial.
99	* TheSlacker: Apricot is described as a "Slacker" and Misty is also described as "Lazy".
100	* SupremeChef: Guy Furry, the cat chef who makes ice cream sundaes with ''glass vases'' and cooks pizza on top of a ''kerosene heater''.
101	* UnclePennybags: Lexy's personality is given as "expensive tastes" and many of the toys they play with are quite expensive, but they regularly give some of the largest fish rewards of any non-special cat.
102	* VideoGameCaringPotential:
103	** The entire point of the game, really - especially if you go out of your way to give the cats the nicest possible food and toys.
104	** Tubbs can be annoying, as he regularly shows up to eat up all the food you have put out, and no food means no cats will come. You can shoo him away by putting out a fresh bowl, but if you leave it empty and let him stay until he decides to leave on his own, he will leave you a ''very'' generous amount fish as a gift, far more than almost any other cat.
105	** The ''VR'' edition of the game lets you call cats to come to you. You can then pet them or pick them up.
106	* WizardNeedsFoodBadly: As cats come to visit, they'll eat the cat food you have out in the yard's cat bowls. If your food runs out, you'll have to refill the bowls to get more cats to show up.
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108	!!The movie adaptation provides examples of:
109	* BookEnds: The movie opens with young Sakumoto sleeping on his patio and Smokey wandering up to the house. It ends with him dreaming the same memory and Smokey meowing at him.
110	* CaffeineFailure: Sakumoto drinks so much Red Bull in an attempt to stay awake to write, but it's useless as he's so exhausted that he still passes out asleep in his bathroom.
111	* TheCityVsTheCountry: As a way to escape Michiru's badgering and his writer's block, Sakumoto retreats to a house in the countryside. Unfortunately for him, his writer's block has followed him.
112	* EmptyFridgeEmptyLife: Sakumoto's apartment is so sparse that it's practically empty and his refrigerator contains nothing but cans of Red Bull.
113	* ExecutiveMeddling: [[invoked]] The newspaper that publishes Sakumoto's serial fiction asks him to change the genre of the story from romance to apocalyptic zombie horror. Michiru has the unfortunate task of [[spoiler:letting him know that the paper is cancelling his serial due to low popularity.]]
114	* KindheartedCatLover: Sakumoto takes a shining to the local stray cats that hang around the house. He gradually buys more and more toys to put out in the yard for them. He stops short of going full [[CrazyCatLady Crazy Cat Guy]] as Michiru and his landlady have to remind him that he does need to pay his bills.
115	* OutOfFocus: The cats themselves, since the film is from the perspective of the yard owner, although several of the regular cats do show up. Cocoa shows up most frequently, as it's the first cat that Sakumoto sees, and Smokey is the little black cat from his childhood dreams.
116	* PragmaticAdaptation: Because it would be extremely difficult to replicate the game as a live action movie, the movie instead takes on the perspective of the yard's owner. The yard itself, the toys, the location of the food bowls, and even the gameplay of taking pictures of the cats is replicated in a believable fashion.
117	* ShipTease:
118	** Sakumoto and his editor, Michiru, occasionally have some lingering glances each time she visits him to check on his writing progress. [[spoiler:Their relationship remains strictly professional, as she tells him that she's going on maternity leave because she and her husband are expecting. This surprises Sakumoto because he didn't even know she was married. The movie concludes with Sakumoto sending her his completed manuscript.]]
119	** Yoko, the local pet store owner, likes winding him up and offers him a part-time job so he could pay his bills.
120	* StealthHiBye: Sakumoto gets so caught up watching zombie movies that he doesn't see Michiru sitting at his stoop with a stern look on her face.
121	* TrademarkFavoriteFood: All that Sakumoto is seen eating and drinking is copious amounts of Red Bull energy drinks and an occasional snack or coffee.
122	* UnexpectedlyRealisticGameplay: Sure, Sakumoto would rather spend his time watching the cats play in his yard, but his income is dwindling and his landlady has to remind him that rent is due.
123	* WritersBlock: Masaru Sakumoto's first novel made him a promising up-and-coming literary sensation. He subsequently struggles to follow up on it and is reduced to writing crappy serial fiction to pay the bills. [[spoiler:His writer's block breaks at the end and he manages to submit a second manuscript to Michiru.]]
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125	-> ''Daily Password: '''tropes'''''

Context VideoGame / NekoAtsume