Seething with jealousy after seeing your colleague's Snapchat of their cute cat and all you have is the rogue feline at the mamak badgering you for food? Or are you just looking for something to fill the Meowth void in your life until Pokémon Go is finally available in Malaysia? Worry not, for I too am cat-less and itching to get my hands on Jigglypuff. With the help of these five cat games, you can imagine you have a pet to feed and safely catch all 'em critters (instead of possibly getting robbed).
1. Neko Atsume
The reigning champ of all cat games, and for good reason too. It’s spilling with cute cats full of personality (my favourites are indecisive chocolate-and-white Cocoa, diligent yellow-eyed Gabriel and bashful red-with-white-socks Ginger), has cute music and a reputation for being incredibly addictive (at my peak Neko Atsume obsession, I was checking my phone every 30 minutes to see my cats play with their toys and give me silver fish). Gameplay is simple: put out toys and food in your yard, collect the cats (by taking a photo) when they appear, and be ready to have your heart stolen. Tip: once you've collected every cat and their memento, bought every remodel and item and completed your cat butt photo album, find out how to get the food bowl total to 100 (the supposed maximum is 99). Good luck!
Available on iOS and Android, free.
2. KleptoCats
Like their kleptocrat namesake, these thieving cats steal items that reference pop culture, memes (look for Pepe the Frog and Dat Boi) and if Reddit can be believed, the cats are holding you captive. Was I spooked by the theories? Yes. Was I more intent on scooping up every cat and item instead of poring over clues and freaking out about that hostage behind the glass? Also yes. It’s easy to get sucked into this game: pet your cat or feed it, send it out, receive your items and money, and watch as the room fills up with tiny cats and curious items.
Available on iOS and Android, free.
3. Bread Kittens
Now this is what I'm here for: putting bread on cats (it’s the first thing I’ll do if I have a real-life cat). There's some storyline in the beginning explaining why you have to build your army of bread kittens, but wave that aside because you need to focus on baking bread (the pizza which gives your cats a 60 percent boost to all stats is a prized bread). Battle your troop of cats with other feral ones and if the rival cat is of a lower level than your own, throw some bread to capture it and grow your troop. I may have spent a whole day just letting my cats battle it out and waiting for my bread to ding out of the oven (remember not to bake real-life pastries while playing this game as you'll most likely forget about them).
Available on iOS and Android, free.
4. Battle Cats
I actually downloaded this game a few years ago and spent many happy hours as a college kid battling my black-and-white doodle cats (I think I like seeing cats fight). You unlock cats as you go, spend cat food to evolve them and watch in amazement as the cats get weirder and weirder while fighting scary boss cats (look out for the Dom Cat and the Kotatsu Cat that evolves to Sadako Cat). My favourite is the Sushi Cat, not for its power or high attack levels, but the fact that it evolves into Tempura Cat at level 10.
Available on iOS and Android, free.
5. Nom Cat
As a collector and not a bona fide gamer, Nom Cat was very difficult for me (I uninstalled it after several frustrating attempts at getting my cats’ mouths to open for food and close when a bomb dropped). This arcade game requires speedy fingers and a quick brain, which is not what I want to do when playing a cat game. If you like Don’t Tap The White Tile or actually got a double-digit score during the Flappy Bird frenzy, go nuts for Nom Cat.
Available on iOS and Android, free.
Now that you have these games, your friends’ cute cat photos won’t faze you and the cat-less hole in your life will be filled. Until you’ve uninstalled them and set out for Pokémon Go, that is.