Best of 2015: Neko Atsume is the Most Adorable App, and Y'all Need to Get On This Immediately

Send help: I am OBSESSED with Neko Atsume! This free app is basically the cutest thing I have ever seen, and I have to tell y'all about it.

Neko Atsume is a Japanese app that was released last year. It's since become a HUGE deal worldwide, surpassing Candy Crush in downloads. MORE DOWNLOADS THAN CANDY CRUSH. That's a big dang deal. An English version was released on October 30, 2015, and your girl has been Neko Astume obsessed since Mid-December.

Neko Atsume means "Kitty Collector" in Japanese. The app lets you "collect" stray kitties, and WHOO BOY, are these babies cute.

A screenshot of my current "yard" of cats. (Hit Point/Neko Atsume)

SEE WHAT I MEAN? I just want to leap into the screen and cuddle them and make them all mine mine MINE, which is odd because I DON'T EVEN LIKE CATS. I'm more of a dog person, and yet here I am transforming into a crazy cat lady.

But I digress.

In Neko Atsume, you have a "yard." You place toys and food in said yard to attract stray cats. The strays come; you take pics and thus "collect" as many as you can. It is stupid and pointless and wonderful.

Here's a pic of my yard the other day. (Hit Point/ Neko Atsume)

You take photos of the kitties for your "Cat Book," which allows you to keep track of the cats who've paid you a visit. The cats have sweet little names (you can rename them if you want); rare cats have silly names. Example: there's apparently a chef cat called GUY FURRI. And a sensei cat named MISTER MEOW-GI. I'm a sucker for a good pun, man.

a page in my Cat Book (Hit Point/ Neko Atsume)

The cats will leave you gifts: mementos you can collect and "fish" you use as currency. Fish are used to buy toys and accessories. You buy as many as you can afford/want, and you can switch them out in hopes of alluring as many kitties as possible.

a few of the "goodies" in my collection (Hit Point/ Neko Atsume)

Different "goodies" attract different types of cats, and cats interact with the goodies in a way that's entertaining and endearing and just totally presh.

one cat has his head in a bag, and one's too chunky monkey to squeeze in that lil' box (Hit Point/ Neko Atsume)

LOOK AT MY BELOVED CHILDREN (Hit Point/ Neko Atsume)

I don't know what it is about this app, but opening it and playing for a while is like INSTANT CHILL. I'm so stressed all the time (being a working mom will do that to you), and playing Neko Atsume just makes me happy. My daughter digs it, and we have fun playing together. There's hardly any pressure to this game. It's just fun.

You can expand your yard to attract more cats, and if you don't want to wait you can pay to purchase more fish whenever you please. I'm trying to be patient and earn the required fish on my own, but I'll probably cave at some point.

There are so many fun things about this app! The weather changed on Christmas, and it snowed in my yard.

Snow! (Hit Point/ Neko Atsume)

One more thing: some people who play this game do not like one particular cat. There's a chubby angel named Tubbs who'll stop by your yard and eat all your food. This is a problem for people, and I don't know why. Tubbs may eat a lot, but he brings tons of gifts, so... why y'all hating on my baby?

MY BABEH (Hit Point/ Neko Atsume)

Look at how fat and perfect he is. JUST LOOK.

Anyway, Neko Atsume is super fun. I can't recommend it enough! I never play games or use many apps besides social media platforms, so my being obsessed with this is a big deal for me.

Neko Atsume is a free download in Google Play and the Apple Store, so check it out!