If playing with cute cats in VR sounds like your idea of a good time, you should probably go ahead and grab Neko Atsume Purrfect Kitty Collector right now.
One of the best things about chucking on a VR headset is being able to hang out with animals (in my opinion), and while others might prefer the canine companionship and campaign of Arizona Sunshine 2, this cozy cat-collecting game is targeting a much friendlier audience.
Based on the hit mobile game (which has built up a bit of a cult following over the years), the premise of Neko Atsume Purrfect is basic but satisfying; buy toys and food with in-game currency, and wait for various different cats to come into your home, so that you can play with them and take photos of them.
This is of course taken an extra step further in VR. You can physically pet the cats, and they respond with delighted purring. You can also pick them up and hold them up, and play with them. Interacting with the felines in a virtual reality setting is inherently charming, and it scratches the “gotta collect ’em all” itch, much like the mobile version.
There is a twist with Meta Quest 3, as it has a mixed reality mode as well, allowing you to place cute paintings, a doorway and a cat-specific tunnel entrance in your own living room. Having a cute critter walk around your house, and be interactable just like in the cartoon-like in-game house, is bloody adorable.
To be fair, there’s not much more to Neko Atsume Purrfect than what I’ve described. You can only move and place toys in specific locations to get the attention of new cats, and its low-fuss gameplay style and cute visuals add a real breezy quality that makes the game a wonderful example to give to someone new to VR so they can get an experience that is joyful and easy.
Neko Atsume Purrfect Kitty Collector won’t necessarily blow anybody’s mind with its use of technology, but the mixed reality mode is kind of wonderful, and if you’re looking to fill a cat-shaped void in your life, this is an easy recommendation to add to your library, check back in daily and do your best to collect and interact with all 40 cats.
Neko Atsume Purrfect Kitty Collector is out now on Meta Quest.