What is the same as Pokémon GO?

The map, the walking, the collection, the rarities and the leaderboard. The itch it scratches is the same one.

The cats are real, so nothing is thrown at them and nothing fights. A cat needs four different people to find it before it is caught, which is why you want your friends playing. And the rules protect the animal first: the map shows an area, not a doorstep.

Is there anything to buy?

A pack of ten printed cards of cats you have found, posted to you. Everything else is free, with no sign-up.

Pokémon GO, but for cats

Chonk Finder is the Pokémon GO for cats: a free app where you walk around, find real street cats, photograph them, and collect a trading card for each one, with a map of what is near you and a leaderboard. The difference is that the creatures are real animals, it takes four people to catch one, and nobody fights.

Free on iPhone and Android. No sign-up.

Pokémon GO proved that a map, a collection and a reason to walk will get a great many people out of the house. What it never had was anything real at the other end of the walk.

Street cats are real, they are everywhere, they have territories and regulars and rarities, and nobody had built the game around them.

A live map of the cats nearby, with pins that fill as more people find each one

A map of what is near you

Open the app and the cats around you are on the map, found by other people. A pin fills as more people find that cat, and the fourth finder turns it into a Chonk.

A trading card for Max, a ragdoll who is king of his street

A card for every catch

Photograph a cat and you get a trading card: name, Chonk Level from 1 to 10, rarity from common to legendary, coat, place, and attacks written for that cat. Share it and it carries your invite code.

The leaderboard, with a podium for the top three finders

A leaderboard and permanent titles

Points for discovering, for being early, for inviting. The first four finders of a cat are on its card forever, and whoever finds a cat most often is its Chonk’s Favorite until somebody takes it.

The three questions that stop people

What is the same as Pokémon GO?: The map, the walking, the collection, the rarities and the leaderboard. The itch it scratches is the same one.
What is different?: The cats are real, so nothing is thrown at them and nothing fights. A cat needs four different people to find it before it is caught, which is why you want your friends playing. And the rules protect the animal first: the map shows an area, not a doorstep.
Is there anything to buy?: A pack of ten printed cards of cats you have found, posted to you. Everything else is free, with no sign-up.

There is probably a cat outside right now.

What the app is for · How to keep track of the cats in your neighbourhood · Where to find cats when you travel · Every question people ask about the app