Neko Atsume game guide: How to collect all the cats!

The quickest way to get the most gold fish and collect rare cats!

Updated on 1/28/17 to add info on new rare and semi-rare cats, plus additional tips on how to unlock wallpapers and a bonus tip about Whiteshadow.

Neko Atsume is a cat collector game. But, you don't get to pet or play with these little fur balls. All you can do is put out toys and food, and hope they grace your yard with their presence. So, what's the point in playing? I... don't really know. There is something addictive about figuring out which cats like which toys — and its always a wonderful surprise when you open the game and new cats are hanging out in your yard.

If you are new to Neko Atsume, or you're stuck trying to get one last rare cat or one last Momento, we've got a game guide that may help you out.

• Expand your yard ASAP
• Remodeling is key
• Maximize your space
• Find those rare cats (spoiler alert)
• Get those Daily Rewards
• Mementos show they care
• What are power levels anyway?
• Buying wallpapers in the Gallery
• Tips

Expand your yard ASAP

When you first start playing Neko Atsume, there are only five spots. It is important to unlock the yard expansion so that you can increase that number to 10. The more spots you have, the more toys you can place. The more toys you place, the more cats you will attract.

To earn the 180 gold fish needed for your yard expansion, you'll need to build up your goodies with as many gold-yielding toys as possible. There is no official list of toys that bring the most gold, but I've noticed that the following low-cost toys tend to yield higher silver and gold returns, depending on the cat (500 silver fish can be traded for 10 gold):

• Zebra Grass Gadget (90 silver fish)
• Green Cushion (100 silver fish)
• Yellow Cushion (100 silver fish)
• Thick Cooling pad (130 silver fish)
• Nature Tent (170 silver fish)

Try to purchase these items early on in order to quickly generate as much gold as possible.

Different cats prefer different goodies, but with a well-rounded yard, you'll draw in the regulars without effort. Take a picture of them as you see them, so they are easier to identify in the future. Plus, your Catbook looks much better when each feline has a face.

Don't waste gold on expensive food, especially not at first. Frisky Bits, which costs 30 silver fish for a three-pack, generates more gold over time than the others. Stick with Frisky Bits and replenish your bowl every six hours.

Once you start focusing on collecting rare cats, you can experiment with fancier foods, but rare cats aren't picky eaters either, so don't squander expensive meals on them. It can sometimes be a way to entice them faster, but it's not a necessity.

Remodeling is key

Expanding your yard is only part of the process. You'll also want to spend the big bucks remodeling your landscape. Different landscapes seem to draw cats in more often. Though I haven't unlocked all of the remodels yet, I found that the Zen Garden is the most lucrative for attracting cats to every possible spot in the yard. I recommend spending your next 140 gold fish on the Zen Garden.

Cats are also inquisitive by nature. So, it is beneficial to have a couple of remodels in your pocket. You may start seeing a common cat that hadn't come around in a while if you change the landscape.

Wait until there are no cats in your yard before you set a remodel. Otherwise, everyone in the yard will disappear and you'll only receive one silver fish from each of them.

Your first remodel will only cost 140 gold fish, but after that, remodeling goes up to 280, so choose wisely.

Note: The remodeling store is held in a different spot than the Goodies. Tap Menu, Other, and then Remodel.

Maximize your space

As your coffers grow with more silver and gold fish, be sure to have a few multi-cat Goodies lying around. For example, the Cat Metropolis can hold up to six cats across two spaces (Large items take up two spaces in the yard). The Stump House and all of the Cubes can house two cats in one spot. More cats mean more fishy gifts.

Find those rare cats (spoiler alert)

Once your yard is set up, you can start spending your gold and silver fish on items that will attract rare cats. You'll quickly notice that the first two dozen or so cats are ready and willing to visit your yard. But, there are semi-rare cats and rare cats that take a little extra coaxing to bring around.

Here is a list of some of the goodies (but not all) that each rare cat prefers:

Semi rare

• Peaches - Cat Metropolis
• Apricot - Green Cushion
• Ganache - Toy Capsule
• Macchiato - Mister Dragonfly
• Melange - Cardboard Cafe

Rare

• Joe DiMeowgio - Baseball
• Senior Don Gato - Mister Mouse
• Xerxes IX - Zanzibar Cushion
• Chairman Meow - Earthenware Pot
• Saint Purrtrick - Silk Crepe Pillow
• Ms. Fortune - Cardboard House
• Bob the Cat - Cat Metropolis
• Conductor Whiskers - Cardboard Choo-choo
• Tubs - all food except Thrifty Bits
• Mr. Meowgi - Scratching Log
• Lady Meow-Meow - Luxurious Hammock
• Guy Furry - Glass Vase
• Kathmandu - Temari Ball
• Ramses the Great - Pyramid Tent
• Sassy Fran - Cardboard Cafe
• Billy the Kitten - Cowboy Hat
• Frosty - Snowy Pillow
• Jeeves - Fairy-tale Parasol
• Sapphire - Fairy-tale Parasol
• Bengal Jack - Luxury Treasure Box
• Whiteshadow - Bonita Bitz

All of the semi-rare and rare cats approve of Frisky bits. You can attract some of them faster with fancier food, though. For example, Lady Meow-Meow enjoys Sashimi, while Sapphire, Jeeves, and Bengal Jack prefer Deluxe Tuna Bits. Note that Whiteshadow is the only rare cat that is attracted specifically by food. He doesn't care for toys, and appears in the background, like a ninja cat.

Get those Daily Rewards

It may not be much, but you can earn a few silver and gold fish each week if you submit the daily password. After you submit five passwords, you'll earn a can of Ritzy Bits and the password collection starts over.

Tap Menu, News, the Daily Password, and then Input Password.

Mementos show they care

Each cat will bring you a special little gift at some point, maybe it will be a freshly laundered handkerchief or a Cicada skin. It is each cat's way of saying thank you.

The way to get a cat to bring you a Memento is to get it to visit a lot. They will need to visit anywhere from 10 to 15 times before they will bring you something (though I've heard that Sapphire has been known to bring a memento after her first visit and Rascal takes at least 20 visits). If you notice any cats that haven't brought you a Memento yet, look at their page in the Catbook and place one or more of the Goodies on their top three list in your yard to ensure they appear more often.

To see which Mementos you already have, tap Menu, Cats, and then Mementos.

What are power levels anyway?

Power levels determine which cats have playtime priority. If one cat has a higher power level than another, it will take over using a Goodie. If you can't seem to attract a lower power level cat, it's probably because a higher level one keeps taking up all the space.

Buying wallpapers in the Gallery

In Neko Atsume, you are rewarded by more than just mementos left by cats. You can also buy high-resolution wallpapers of your favorite cats. Each wallpaper costs 20 gold fish. Not all wallpapers are available right away. You can unlock the ability to buy them "as you meet certain conditions."

For example, you might unlock a wallpaper by having Snowball visit your yard 100 times, or have Speckles visit 50 times. Some wallpapers unlock when you receive mementos from cats like Frosty or Bengal Jack. If you buy a lot of goodies (21 pages worth), you'll be more likely to unlock wallpapers that have specific cats in them.

You can find wallpapers by tapping Menu, Shop, and then Gallery.

Bonus tips!

• You can kick a cat off of a Goodie if you want to free it up to possibly welcome a different cat with a lower power level. Tap the item in your Goodies storage to remove it from the yard. Then tap it again to place it. The previous cat will disappear (gifting you a single silver fish).

• Tubbs is too lazy to go inside to eat the food, so if you don't want him to finish off your expensive food too fast, put it indoors.

• Tubbs will go inside under one circumstance: the Giant Cushion. If you place the Giant Cushion indoors, put Frisky Bits (or something more expensive) in the indoor bowl and leave the outdoor bowl empty, or only fill it with Thrifty Bits, he will climb inside and make himself at home on his favorite cushion.

• Frosty has a straw coat. When she comes to visit you outside, she will wear her coat. When she visits inside, she will take it off.

• Frosty has the lowest power level of all cats in Neko Atsume (so far), so she will rarely visit. If another cat is already sitting on the Snowy Pillow, she won't come around. You can try kicking off other cats to try to attract her.

• Snow on the ground has nothing to do with Frosty. It also has nothing to do with real life weather patterns. It is simply a feature that the developers at Hit Point decided to add in a game update.

• Whiteshadow will stay in your yard, even after a remodel. So, when he appears, you can switch yards and grab a picture of him with all of your remodel backgrounds.

Any secrets?

Neko Atsume has a wealth of secrets to discover and there is no official way to play it. Feel free to share your best practices for enticing rare cats and getting the most gold fish.

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