If you are the type of person that loves cats but is deterred by the difficulty of keeping a live one, then the app “Neko Atsume: Kitty Collector” is for you.

Released on Android and iOS by the Japanese company HitPoint, this free, fun app is an excellent stress-reliever after a hard day in school. The goal is simple: set out food, toys and furniture in your garden to attract cats.

After you put the items in the garden, you have to exit the app for a cat to appear, and it may be seconds, minutes or even hours before a cat comes to visit.

Once a cat does come, its name, appearance, personality and strength level are recorded in the Catbook. The app also has a camera option so you can get a photograph of the cat.

After you exit and then enter the app again, the cat gives you silver or gold fish after leaving the garden. Those fish can be used to buy more food and goodies in the in-game shop. You can also purchase gold fish using real money.

There are currently 49 unique cats that can visit your garden, though 17 of these are themed “rare cats” that require special items to be placed before they visit, such as a pyramid-shaped tent for Ramses the Great, or a giant cushion for the obese Tubbs.

One of the great things about the app is that it does not involve a huge investment of money. In comparison to another app that may force you to pay $4 every time you buy a costume (and has 400 costumes), Neko Atsume has only one such micro-transaction in the entire app: paying for 50 gold fish costs only 99 cents, and even that is not required to get all 49 cats.

Not only that, but the game’s design can appeal to both casual and hardcore players. You can stop by a couple of times a day to refill your food and see if there is a visiting cat, or you can be a dedicated 100 percent completionist that buys every single toy and creates spreadsheets listing the necessary items to get each rare cat. The player, not the game, chooses the difficulty.

The distinctive, but simple art style is a major feature that sets it apart from other virtual pet games, as is the fact that there are no consequences for not feeding the cats, so you can easily start the game up again after leaving it dormant for a couple of months.

But the best part is that it appeals to your soft side. It is unabashedly, unashamedly cute and this is the reason it has such a huge number of fans. I get a fuzzy feeling in my heart from seeing Peaches bat around a soccer ball or Billy the Kid sleep in the garden.

So if you are a fan of virtual pet games, love cats or just need some cheering up after a rough day, go onto your smartphone and get this game from the app store.