Mixed reality

This Mixed Reality Quest 3 Game Gives Us the Virtual Cats We’ve Been Waiting For

It’s like Nintendogs, but better.

by Jackson Chen
Neko Atsume in mixed reality
Neko Atsume

For those of us who want pets but don’t want to deal with the downsides, mixed reality is here to help.

One of the cutest cat collecting games out there recently made its way on Meta’s Quest headsets, introducing a mixed reality mode that’s perfectly suited for the Quest 3. It’s called Neko Atsume Purrfect Kitty Collector and it truly feels like the future of virtual pets.

For those unaware, Neko Atsume started out as a chill mobile game where you collect cats and watch them hang out in a virtual space. While the original game was relaxing, it was screaming for mixed reality treatment. Now that we have the Quest 3 and its incredible passthrough capabilities, it’s a match made in heaven.

Just like the real thing

Instead of just watching your virtual cats wander around, you can pet them, pick them up, and even play with them in Neko Atsume Purrfect Kitty Collector. This is a whole new level of immersion that makes the game far more interactive and interesting. To those with some cat-collecting experience, the XR update still follows the same concept of leaving out food and seeing which cats come in, of which there are 46 to collect.

For those of us who grew up on Tamagotchis, Neko Atsume Purrfect Kitty Collector feels like a mindblowing modern-day rendition. The game was previously ported into PlayStation VR, but this mixed-reality version has a much smarter design. The best part about it remains though, which is not having to deal with any of the headaches of actual pet ownership, like cleaning up after, vet visits, and buying food.

It’s almost like playing with a real cat.

Neko Atsume Purrfect Kitty Collector

No Dogs Allowed

Neko Atsume Purrfect Kitty Collector is already available on the Meta store for $19.99. It’s compatible with the Quest 3, the previous Quest 2, and even the Quest Pro. Don’t worry, we won’t judge you if you spend most of the time on a $1,000 headset petting virtual cats.

As for the dog people out there, Neko Atsume Purrfect Kitty Collector is just for cats like the title implies. That doesn’t mean we can’t hold out hope that Nintendo does a Nintendogs in VR.

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