Run a sweets shop with catgirls

NEKOPARA Vol. 1 is a role-playing video game that has you running a patisserie with a bunch of catgirls. Developed by NEKO WORKs and Sekai Project, this 2D Japanese visual novel features a cutesy art style that uses live2D animation to give the visuals more pep to them. 

Similar to Miracle snack shop 기적의 분식집, NEKOPARA Vol. 1 is the first of the NEKOPARA game series and introduces the main cast and its world’s premise of having catgirls around. Take note that this game has some mature content—but it’s still the SFW version and has a free downloadable demo.

This is a different cat paradise

The NEKOPARA series first started out as a series of doujinshi or self-published print works by Sayori from NEKO WORKs. In it were the two mascot catgirl characters, Chocola and Vanilla, and the series eventually went on to become a full-blown visual novel. For this first game, you play as Kashou Minaduki, who hails from a long line of Japanese confection makers and dreams of opening up his own shop.

The start of the story here involves you finding that two of your family’s catgirls—or “Nekos”, as they’re called—have followed you to your new shop. You eventually decide to let them stay and have them help around. The plot is pretty linear, however, and you can’t make player choices for other endings or even raise affection with the characters—despite the cast line-up looking like something designed for a harem story. 

What makes this game unique is the implementation of the “E-mote” system or the live2D animation. This allows the characters to move a bit and easily express their emotions as you progress through the story. However, expect that since this has mature content, the live2D animations will involve lewd jiggle physics that might not be safe for work regardless of the lack of explicit scenes.

Not really focused on character endings

Despite this, NEKOPARA Vol. 1 is still an interesting and lovely game to play for any fan of catgirl characters. While the story only has one ending, this visual novel solidly establishes the series for the rest of its sequels and prequels. The inclusion of live2D aspects also makes for a great reading time as the character expressions come through much easier and let you see their distinct personalities through movement.