In the Ehime Prefecture of Southern Japan, around 40 minutes from Nagahama Port, sits the remote, mile-long island of Aoshima. You may not have heard of Aoshima Island, but every year masses of tourists dock at its tiny harbour to sample the isle's hospitality. Yet, there are no shops, restaurants or cars, there's barely even people. You see, what Aoshima has to offer is cats. A lot of cats. In fact cats outnumber the approximately 20 elderly residents of the island by six to one, hence how the island earned the name Nekojima, or Cat Island.
However, Aoshima is not completely unique. It is one of eleven cat islands in Japan, each a curiosity for tourists and a haven for cat lovers. "If we make enough money from this game, it's our dream to visit a cat island", Bae Team's Ruby May Roberts told me at EGX in September, when I first dipped my paw into cat-dating simulator Purrfect Date. At the time, I thought little of her admission, perhaps blinded by the peculiarity of dating cats and churning out feline-related puns - or it may have been because Ruby, herself, was dressed as an adorable pink cat herself. Regardless, this statement did not strike me again until I sat down to play Purrfect Date in its entirety and I realised this dream had seeped its way into every fibre of the game. This is the work of people who really love cats
Primarily a visual novel, crossed with a dating-simulator, Purrfect Date takes place over six main chapters. In each chapter, players take on the role of a different, newly appointed, human research assistant, employed to research and look after cats on the mysterious Cat Island, alongside the eccentric Professor Pawpur.
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