I don’t think I would say Boku to Wanko isn’t a rip off of Neko Atsume, but that’s okay. Dog lovers needed their own game in the same vein, even if it came from different developers.
Though it may be similar, Boku to Wanko is different in some ways:
Dogs can visit your yard even when you are playing the game
Each dog doesn’t have an individual name, instead you see the breed
Multiple dogs of one breed can visit your yard at a time
Gold Bones (think Neko Atsume’s Gold Fish) seem to be harder to get
Mementos are given after a dog has spent enough time visiting you
You simply double-tap a dog to take a picture
Cats will sometimes wander into your yard and eat your dog food and you have to tap them away
Dogs’ weight, gender, and time spent at your home are listed instead of power level, times visited, and personalities
Boku to Wanko is currently only in Japanese
If you waited until Neko Atsume got an English release, you just might have a tough time dealing with the Japanese menus in Boku to Wanko. Luckily enough, the language barrier isn’t too high and the game is easy enough to play without any Japanese knowledge – as long as you know the game basics.
Navigating the UI
Boku to Wanko is even easier to navigate than Neko Atsume, which is a plus if you’re coming into it without knowing a lick of Japanese. Here’s a look at the yard UI and the translations for what each main button does:
Buy Gold Bones - You can buy Gold Bones using real money here.
Inventory - Lists the items you have and lets you remove or add them to your house/yard.
Shop - Where you buy toys, food, and can exchange between Bones and Gold Bones.
Notebook - A log of all the dogs that have visited you so far with their information.
Gifts - This is where you collect Bones dogs have given you as thanks for letting them visit, like sardines in Neko Atsume.
There are also the camera and volume buttons to the top right, which are fairly self-explanatory. Tap on the food bowl to buy different types of foods, which I will be translating further down in this guide.
Inventory menu translation
The inventory menu is very simple and only lists the goods you have along with a remove and place option, depending on whether or not you already have those items laying out.
When you tap ‘Remove’, you will be asked if you’re sure you want to remove that item from the yard.
At the top right is also a button to the shop so you don’t have to exit your inventory before you go shopping. Very convenient!
Shop menu translation
When you tap on ‘Shop’ from the yard screen, you’re prompted with three options:
Toys - You can buy toys to lure dogs into your home to take pictures of them! Oh wait, that’s the whole point of the game, isn’t it?
Area Expansion - Just like Neko Atsume, you can expand your view to put more toys out for your doggy friends, with one being 120 Gold Bones and the other needing 180 Gold Bones.
Bone Exchange - Here you can exchange Bones for Gold Bones. You can trade 500 Bones for 10 Gold Bones or 10 Gold Bones for 250 Bones.
The shops themselves are easy to navigate and don’t need any translations of their own here.
Notebook translation
The Notebook in Boku to Wanko is familiar yet.. different.
The types of information shown here are definitely different from Neko Atsume. The most important bits to watch here are the ‘Minutes spent at your house’ and ‘Amount of minutes left to get the memento’ translated bits.
In Boku to Wanko, a dog must spend enough time hanging out at your house before it will give you a memento. The amount of time needed until this happens can be seen next to the question mark at the bottom of a dog’s Notebook entry. This makes it a little easier to get mementos, but it can take a long time.
The other parts of the Notebook aren’t as important, but they are translated above.
Gifts
Getting Bones and Gold Bones is important to keep progressing, and they come pretty fast in Boku to Wanko. Just head into the Gifts screen then exit to claim any Bones the dogs have left for you.
Dog food translation
You want to know what you’re giving your dogs, right? Tap the dog food bowl to be taken to the dog food menu.
You must buy food before you can place it. The game will tell you to buy the food first if you press ‘Place’ on a food you don’t have.
Each food draws different breeds to your home and each one lasts a different period of time.
Dry food (Free) - Lasts 12 hours Bone-shaped bolo (30 Bones) - Lasts 8 hours Jerky (3 Gold Bones) - Lasts 4 hours Meatballs (12 Gold Bones) - Lasts 3 hours Rabbit-cut Apples (5 Gold Bones) - Lasts 3 hours
It’s important you know the times they last so you can make sure to come back and restock the bowl once the time runs out.
Boku to Wanko will hopefully get an English translation one day, but for now hopefully these translations will help you get started with your own adorable dog collection!
