Bingo6 : Play
This one is kind of literal. Cat + Gamer is a manga about a gamer geek girl who gets a cat. Riko (human) describes her cat in gamer terms, and when she gets a new kitty to keep Musubi (kitty1) company, she frames it as a game quest. We get to see Riko playing her games a bit, but also Soboro (kitty 2) and Musubi learning to play with each other.
I don’t even think I missed too much by jumping in at volume 4, but I definitely want to go find volumes 1-3 now. It’s cute, stress-free reading. The cats have tons of real kitty personality, they’re their own individuals, and while we do get to see some of their thoughts too, Soboro and Musubi are pretty real as young cats. Soboro does a surprise attack move on Musibi from behind {cuteness factor 90, accuracy rating 100}, followed by a cat boxing match using front paws/legs {cute factor 100, accuracy 90} all of which Riko interprets (probably correctly) as them playing. Then Musubi goes in to battle whatever is going on on the tv (game) screen, and then Soboro wanders over and gives Riko a blep face. “Battle #1” is Soboro and Musubi trying to headbutt each other out of the way over the same food dish (even though they get fed the same food) [winner: Musubi], followed by “Battle 2” in which Soboro decides she wants to nap in the kitty bed currently occupied by Musubi and joins him by first trying to settle in on top, then the side, and eventually Musubi gets pushed out [winner: Soboro]. Round 3 is zoomies. Etc. Kitties get banished so Riko can finish her game in peace, they decide to find their own fun by climbing around their cat trees, and while Musubi has an advantage by being older/bigger (and Soboro’s a Munchkin) Soboro has some fun with his tail dangling over her, and when Riko finishes her game, it’s Churu time.
Cozy, low stakes, mildly entertaining. That’s it. And really, what else does it need to be?