Neko Atsume: Kitty Collector, a simple phone game where players put out toys and food to attract cartoon cats, has taken TU’s campus by storm.
Despite the simple premise, it’s surprisingly gratifying to see Joe Dimeowgio pose by his baseball or see Billy the Kitten put his cowboy hat on. However, some students may be taking the game too far by trying to collect and document the cats on campus.
Food bowls and cat toys have been strategically placed in and around campus buildings. Students can be seen filling the bowls with various types of food, leaving for 20-30 minutes, and returning to find cats a-plenty.
The toys left for these cats range from quaint to spectacular in scope. Mechanical engineering student Emily Rohr recreated the game’s 3D Tunnel item, giving spots for four different cats to stick out their heads and/or bottoms for the viewing pleasure of TU students. Students have attempted to appropriate many of the game’s other features to TU as well. One popular feature in Neko Atsume is the ability to rename the cats to whatever the player wishes. On campus, an attempt at this feature has proven rather controversial, as students can’t seem to decide on a name for a popular black cat.
Two opposing groups, #TeamTwinkle and The Puddles Posse, have gone back and forth for the last two weeks naming the cat Twinkle and Puddles, respectively. The rivalry is growing more and more heated by the day, as team members are on constant lookout to change the name tag on the cat’s collar.
Puddles Posse leader Audrey Pluvo feels that “this has become less about Puddles and more about sending a message.” She refuses to let the “Twinkle Terrorists” win.
The cat in question, last pictured in the conductor’s seat of the Cardboard Choo-Choo with the name Twinkle, has not been seen for three days.
