Enjoy life with your custom cat in this quirky, cozy Japanese indie game 

Developed by indie creator loloop, Nekoto (“With cat”) is a cozy game about living with your feline pal in a Japanese town where everyone has cats. Coming to PC (Steam) this month, the relaxing title allows you to create your own fur baby, decorate your home to please your cat and search for lost moggies. The game is playable in English, as well as Japanese and Chinese.

First of all, Nekoto allows you to create your cat from scratch, using a Sims-like selection of sliders. It seems you will be able to customize every aspect of your kitty- from the length of its whiskers and tail to how big its face and butt are, and much more. It’s up to you whether you strive to create the purrfect cat or design a weird-looking feline. According to the Steam store page, there will be over 26,000 possible cat models in the game, and the cats you come across while playing will have different meows. 

Nekoto will involve living with your pet and using your salary to furnish and decorate every room of your house. Unsurprisingly, there is an entire category for cat-related items. 

Wandering around the Japanese town, you will be asked to find lost cats by other residents. It seems that this game will have a quirky side, as the shopkeeper is wearing a full diving suit for some reason. Apparently, the town is randomly generated so it changes with each playthrough, giving you an incentive to try the game again with a different pet cat. 

On Nekoto’s Steam page, the developer emphasizes that this is a relaxing game and there’s no pressure to do anything: “Since it’s a life sim, it’s okay to just gaze at many cats in the town without working.”  

Nekoto will be released for PC (Steam) in April 2024.