Neko Atsume on Quest is cute, cuddly, and a great use of mixed reality

Neko Atsume Purrfect Kitty Collector is available today for Meta’s VR headsets.

Sure, Meta’s Quest VR headsets have games like Beat Saber, a VR Assassin’s Creed, and access to the entire Xbox Cloud Gaming library, but starting today, you can play Neko Atsume Purrfect Kitty Collector, a VR take on the classic cat-focused mobile game Neko Atsume.

The game is adorable. The cats have that same cartoony and slightly vacant look that makes them so endearing in the mobile game, and they get up to plenty of shenanigans. But because you’re playing in VR, you’ll also be able to do things like “pet” the cats and pick them up using your controllers.

I was given early access to the game ahead of today’s launch, and I’ve messed around with it for about 30 minutes. Like with the phone version of Neko Atsume, Purrfect is not a particularly involved game. Most of the charm is in collecting the cartoon cats and watching them do silly cat stuff. But it is cute to see the cats run around in VR, give them some virtual scritches, and carry them around like teddy bears.

On the Quest 3, you can also try a mixed reality mode, where one Neko Atsume cat can show up in your real-world environment. This worked surprisingly well — I had an interesting moment where, without thinking about it, I picked up the virtual cat in my living room and tried to show it to my wife, who obviously couldn’t see it.

This actually isn’t the first time Neko Atsume has been available in VR. If you have the original PlayStation VR, you can try Neko Atsume VR right now (though it has fewer cats than Purrfect does). But if you just picked up a Quest 3 or want to find something new to play on your Quest 2 or Quest Pro, Purrfect is a lighthearted way to spend some time in virtual or mixed reality. (However, at $19.99, it’s a bit pricey.)