Smart Phone app sensation Neko Atsume (or Cat Collector, if you prefer) purred its way into a worldwide hit, resulting in several merchandise lineups of in-game items brought to life, its own official store, and even a movie. Depending on your smart phone game habits, your interest in keeping up with your virtual backyard kitties may have cooled, but the adorable characters of the game have sort of transcended the phone screen and joined the pantheon of cute characters and mascots in Japan, and perhaps these DIY needle felt craft Neko Atsume kitties may be the best way to bring your favorite felines to life.

There's definitely been some awesomely adorable felt kitty creations making waves on Japanese social media before (although the gigantic super-realistic terrifying felt cat heads are an entirely different story), but these DIY Neko Atsume kits seem to perfectly capture the friendly and charming aesthetic of the popular game.

Available from Japanese digital design magazine Deagostini, the series based set comes with material and instruction sheets that make the needle felt creation process easy for even beginners.

The first three issues give Shironeko (Snowball), Sabatora (Misty), and Mike (Callie). Fan favorites such as Manzoku (Tubbs) also appear to be available.

Cute game background sets also come as part of the package.

Deagostini is subscription order-based, with materials being released and shipped in bi-weekly series. The official set will be released in Japan on January 30th, 2018, but orders made by March 26, 2018th will include a special cat tower and two extra needles.

Once assembled, they can be turned into key-chains, straps, or just hang around your house as your own personal cat buddies. Unfortunately, they are currently only available on Deagostini for domestic release in Japan, so they could be a hassle to get from overseas without a Japanese buddy. When a complete set is released, it's not unthinkable that Amazon or Rakuten might carry them, however.