How To Get Lots Of Fish In Neko Atsume

For cat lovers, cute lovers, or people who just want a relaxing app with no real goal beyond “look at more cats”, Neko Atsume is a welcome diversion. First released in Japanese and now translated into English, Neko Atsume gives players an empty backyard which, with some food and a few toys, can be filled with adorable kitties for your viewing and photo-taking pleasure. There are plenty of rare cats you can attract (in costumes!) and expensive toys you can purchase to capture your kitties in goofy, adorable poses, but in order to do any of this, you need plenty of the in-game currency: fish.

Cats visiting your yard leave behind fish, both of the common silver variety and the rare Gold Fish. Spending these fish on more items for your yard attracts more cats, who then oblige with more fish, but naturally some items are better than others. You have a finite amount of space in your yard, and fish procurement can go slow, especially if you’re saving up for that big yard expansion for twice the kitty space. But fret not! There’s no need to spend any real money for your yard to reach peak cat occupancy. In order to stuff your yard to the brim with adorable kitties as quickly as possible, I’ve laid out a guide below as to the best (free) methods for collecting fish early in Neko Atsume.

Upgrade the Yard ASAP

When you’re just starting out with your gifted Silver Fish and Gold Fish, it’s tempting to waste the Gold Fish on Goodies for your yard or high-quality food, but resist. Save up your Gold Fish for the 180 Fish upgrade to your yard, because it doubles the size and thus doubles the number of kitties visiting at one time. If you don’t spend any Gold Fish and keep the food bowl full, you’ll easily be able to expand within a week or two.

Buy Efficient Goodies

Not all toys are created equally. Different toys will attract different cats who will, in turn, stay longer or provide different amounts of fish. Most of the really good fish-producing toys are too pricey early on in the game, but there are a few nifty goodies you can buy with Silver Fish for maximum cat enjoyment.

• Orange and Navy-blue Cubes: there are two of these, and each can house up to three cats at a time while only taking up one space in your yard, making these easily two of the best items you can get for Silver Fish. The Tiramisu Cube costs Gold Fish, so wait on that one, but when you do purchase it, it’s your best chance to attract the rarest kitty in the entire game.
• Rubber Balls: All three colors–you start with a red one. Though these seem ineffectual, most cats like these and you’re likely always to have a cat using these, as opposed to other toys that may sit around unused. Plus, the animation for cats playing with these is really stinking adorable.
• Beach Umbrella: For the large space in the middle of the room, the Beach Umbrella is a cheap way to attract up to four cats at a time early on.
• Cardboard Choo Choo/Kotatsu: While I recommend waiting to purchase Goodies with Gold Fish until you have the yard expansion, once you do, either of these large-size toys can attract oodles of cats (including some rare ones) for smaller amounts of Gold Fish.
• Cardboard House/Zanzibar Cushion: Again for Gold Fish, but both of these items lure certain rare cats who happen to be very generous with the Gold Fish, and will quickly net you a higher return on your investment. The Zanzibar Cushion, in particular, is good, because it only takes up one space.

Do the Daily Password

If you’re not familiar with the Daily Password, you’re missing out. Once per day, you can open the menu in Neko Atsume and touch the News button. Atop the menu, a kitty will appear with a sign that says “Daily Password” and has a random word on it. Simply touch the sign and input the word you just read on the sign for some free Silver Fish and, occasionally, a Gold Fish or two. Doing five of these in a row will reward you with an expensive food item you can use to attract rare kitties.

Purchase Good Food

This may seem counter-intuitive since you’re trying to earn more fish, but buy Frisky Bitz early in the game instead of using the free food the game gives you. Frisky Bitz costs 30 Silver Fish for three portions and is necessary to attract Tubbs, a fat kitty who is extremely generous when fed well. Tubbs will show up if you place Frisky Bitz or better in your yard and gobble up all the food, but when you see him, *don’t* refill the empty bowl until he’s gone. The longer he stays in your yard, the more fish you’ll get! This exception aside, be sure to refill your bowl whenever it’s empty–as often as possible.

Later in the game, you can purchase more expensive food with Gold Fish to increase your chances of seeing rare cats, but early on, stick with Frisky Bitz. When you get the yard expansion, I recommend putting Frisky Bitz outside and using Thrifty Bitz indoors until you’re ready for more pricey food, as Tubbs doesn’t usually like to come inside.

Follow these tips, and you’ll easily have a yard teeming with adorable, silly kitties playing with all the ridiculous toys your fish pile can afford!