Samurai Cats

Samurai Cats (のぶニャがの野望, Nobunyaga no Yabou) is a social game adaptation of the Nobunaga's Ambition series which turns historical figures into cats with kitty themed names. It debuted to the public on the informal Japanese holiday, Cat Day. The game's East Asian titles are a portmanteau of Nobunaga's name and the onomatopoeia for a cat's meow (ニャ or 喵).

According to company executives, it is one of their most popular social games at the moment. It won the fan voted popularity award in Taiwan's Bahamut 2012 Game Awards. During the Taipei International Game Show 2013, the Taiwanese version was granted a Game Star award for web browser games. As of March 2013, over one million players have registered on the Japanese and Taiwanese servers (approximately 500,000 each).

Since the game's inception the titular character, Oda Nobunyaga, has been the company's mascot for several historical festivals in Japan. He also appears at the company's booth within game shows and as a special guest in the lobby of voice actor events. Date Masiamune and Utsunomiyah Kunitsuna have since joined him as costumed mascots.

Beta testing for a North American version of the game began on October 19, 2012. During testing, players could register in tournaments and use Mobage's digital currency to purchase the game's paid content. Its services were discontinued by Mobage in mid-February 2013.

Gameplay
The game's controls are simple. Players simply tap the touch screen (smartphones) or use the left-mouse button (PCs) to confirm their commands in the game. The game is played in real time, and timers are needed for nearly every action in the game.

Unlike the majority of the Nobunaga's Ambition series, the player primarily acts as the leader of their own forces. They are required to affiliate themselves with a clan and can randomly select their starting characters. The clan they first pick affects their base affinity rating with the land's daimyou. Sixteen clans are currently available. From west to east, the clans are:


 * 1) Ōtomo
 * 2) Ryūzōji
 * 3) Shimazu
 * 4) Mōri
 * 5) Chōsokabe
 * 6) Amago
 * 7) Miyoshi
 * 8) Ashikaga
 * 9) Saitō
 * 10) Oda
 * 11) Tokugawa
 * 12) Takeda
 * 13) Uesugi
 * 14) Hōjō
 * 15) Mogami
 * 16) Date

After the player completes Myaamoto Musashi's tutorial, the player is free to travel to different castles throughout the land. Similar to its predecessor, the entire game is a battle royal with other players.

Five elements are used as resources throughout the game: fire, earth, wind, water, and void. Elements determines a card's stats and weaknesses and act as the resources for the player's village.

Each player is given a plot of land which exists in hammer space. They can build a maximum of nineteen buildings which can either strengthen their generals and troops, restore lost troops, and so on. More buildings can be earned based on the player's progress, and existing facilities can be upgraded using elements. Troops and troop supplies are imperative for traveling and initiating battles.

Battles are accessed on the world map. Pirates, ninja, and rioters are the common encounters in the game and will likely be the first icons to pop onto the screen. Friendly units appear as green icons on the world map. Occasionally, a random quest giver on the world map can unlock a special enemy icon. The player will receive reports of their whereabouts each time they access the world map. Clicking on an enemy icon lists the rewards, time, and difficulty of the encounter. The player may then choose to subjugate the particular foe.

Before each battle, the player determines their army's commander and their army's formations; special abilities for generals can be learned within the village and can be assigned here if they should desire. Once the order is complete, the troops are sent. The player can only send one army at a time.

Results are given to the player as a detailed report after a short waiting period. Victory rewards the player with elements and other goods; stalemates grants a small amount of the battle's promised reward. If the player desires, they can watch a replay of the battle and change their formations accordingly for future encounters.

Special PVP tournaments or campaigns are routinely scheduled with the game's updates. News reports and the game's starting screen informs users of such events. The player can participate in them by clicking the main gate of their village and can register their particular team. Tournaments automatically has participants at maximum health and will not drain troops or special abilities. Matches between other players are random. Players who obtain a specific tournament ranking can be additionally rewarded with treasures and a special card.

Players can also participate in Wars or Castle Sieges scheduled by the developers. The player must move to the location of each battle on the world map either event is taking place. They can then choose to be loyal with a particular faction. These special battles rewards players based on their ranking per encounter; the higher their ranking, the greater the rewards.

In Wars, the player can side with one of three battalions. In short, it's a three man tug-of-war which ends once one of the battalions reaches a clan's main camp. Live updates routinely appear to reflect the battle's situation, enlightening players of which battalion has the least supporters each time. Players cannot switch their active army and are given five minutes to decide their formation and abilities for each encounter. Regardless of their overall participation, the player is awarded if their particular side emerges victorious. Rewards increase based on whether the player fought or not.

Castle Sieges are hourly live events which follow a schedule. Players can either attack or defend a castle whilst ordering their personal army on a separate map. Defenders can call upon their reserve generals to act as road blocks on the attacker's path at the cost of troop supplies. Attackers gradually inch towards the defender's commander by destroying gates and any other obstructing units along a divided numbered path. If their active army loses its vitality, however, the player must fall back to their starting position and are grounded for two minutes of real time. It takes thirty seconds of real time to move one space within the map, meaning that it's a race against time if either side appears to be failing.

If there is no event currently being held, the player can still click on their village gate to initiate PVP matches with a randomly selected opponent. Winning these battles increases the player's fame and their overall ranking with other players. Fame changes the designations present in their player profile and changes which buildings a player can construct for their village.

When the player runs low on resources, they can stop playing to have their village naturally restore their army. Mobage Coins (virtual money) can also be used to buy restorative items.

Scenarios
As of December 14, 2012, players may choose to participate in miniature historical events starring the kitty generals. Character dialogue and dramatizations can be earned and triggered by completing a chain of affiliated story missions on the world map. As players complete missions for each event, they can compare their rankings in their profile. High ranked players can earn special rewards and a special title depending on their rank and earned points. Similar to tournaments and castle sieges, these scenarios are limited timed events.

The following scenarios have appeared in the game:
 * 1) Nyanko Risshiden - December 14~December 19, 2012; 30 episodes total. Hideyoshi themed story. Begins with his beginnings as a peasant at Okehazama and ends with his death.
 * 2) Mikeda Senki - January 18~January 24, 2013; 30 episodes total. Shingen's youth and rivalry with Kenshin. Starts with his relationship with his father and ends with his death.
 * 3) Kengou Retsuden - February 16~February 22, 2013; 30 episodes total. Musashi's memoirs during his elderly years. Includes duels of other sword masters of the era like Bokuden Tsukahara and Yoshiteru Ashikaga.

Cards
Every battle and special quest rewards the player Nya Points for completing them. These points (or Mobage Coins) can be used to purchase a random character card. Once the card has been obtained, it can be used to summon the pictured character immediately into the player's service. Any befriended Mobage users can also trade cards with another to complete their collection. Users with Mobage Coins can purchase multiple tickets or pray to the Cat God to obtain several cards in one sitting.

The card's rarity is indicated by the color of its edges. Gray is common and pink is uncommon. Rare cards are silver and ultimates are golden. Treasure cards can only be earned through special means and have a rainbow background. New cards are routinely added to the game and reported on Japanese video game news sites. The newest rarity, Fame, adorns cards with rippled red-orange borders.


 * Left side
 * Elemental Icon - located above character's name. This card's element is fire.
 * Stats - bottom numbers. From left to right: Attack, Defense, Speed, Virtue (ability to build up Special Attack Guage during battle), and Scheme (increases Special Attack's power; also increases defense against enemy Special Attacks).
 * Troop Type - bottom left icon. Troop types are infantry, cavalry, and riflemen. Infantry are strong against cavalry, and cavalry are strong against riflemen. Riflemen are the distance fighters who can dwindle a unit's health.
 * Cost - bottom right. Cost to have card within an army formation. The default limit Cost for each army is ten; this value gradually increases based on the player's performance. The card's Cost rating also determines the amount of troop supplies the player drain to use them in an formation. Higher Cost ratings (most Rare or Ultimate cards) are usually the most expensive.
 * Available Troops - bottom right hand number. The maximum amount of troops this card can lead into battle. It also serves as a current life bar for the particular card if it is wounded during combat.

From Top to Bottom:
 * Right side
 * Character Quote - Personality for the image.
 * Meritorious Service - Lists experience points for the character. Higher numbers increases the amount of Special Attacks the character can use and lowers the necessary resources needed to use it.
 * Training - Indicates the training level of the card. Training can be performed by dragging and clicking this card's icon on top of the appropriate building within the player's village. Training can also change the card's default stats based on the element used to train them. Elemental affinities are marked in the Stats section.
 * Elemental Levels - From left to right: fire, earth, wind, water, and void. Keeps track of current elemental level. Each card has their individual elemental levels which is told to the player during training (i.e. higher fire levels means greater attack power). Elements can be mixed and matched to learn each card's special ability.
 * Special Abilities - Lists the abilities learned on the character card. These abilities can be learned after training and secured by pressing the double exclamation point icon which appears. Certain cards can start with an ability already learned without any training.
 * Character Type - Indicator for which special abilities can be learned in the game.
 * Flavor Text - Brief character biography to describe the historical inspiration of the character card. Includes the kitty's real historical name.

Aside from training, the player can strengthen cards by fusing them together. This alternate method can be used to further update a single card's the maximum capacity for Training and Special Abilities. It also useful for recycling repeat cards the player might obtain. Characters who are united under a theme within an army's formation can also perform stronger in battle. The Three Azai Sisters, for instance, will be stronger together. Cards which generally have friendly ties will likely succeed over those without them.

The player can have thirty-six active generals at a time and can keep fifty cards in storage. These numbers can increase based on the headquarter levels found within the player's village.

Related Media
Samurai Cats has had collaborations with all of Koei-Tecmo's current MMORPGs. Each MMORPG features unique kitty themed items with the event and players can be rewarded a special Treasure card of one of the game's characters. These crossovers cards can be seen on Nobunaga, Masamune, and Hanbei's pages. Other crossover collaborations include Hyakuman-nin no Nobunaga no Yabou, Sengoku Musou 3 Z Special and Dynasty Warriors 7: Empires.

Other serial code collaborations for cards have been published within the following sources:
 * Appli Fan Vol. 2 - Tama-nyan
 * Dengeki Game Appli Vol. 4 - Treasure card version of Ogo-nyan
 * Famitsu Mobage Vol. 3 - Obu Toramasa
 * Famitsu Mobage Vol. 5 - Ishida Nyakichi
 * Nobunyaga no Yabou Kouryaku Neko Bukan - Treasure card versions of Izumo no Okunii, Sanyada Yukimura, and Oda Nobumiide
 * my GAMECITY - Nouhime-nyan (TGS 2011), Toyotomii Hideyori (TGS 2012)
 * Yuru Chara Matsuri in Hikone 2011 - Ishida Mitsunyan
 * Samurai Cats merchandise - Treasure card Iroha-nyan
 * Crane UFO dolls - Treasure card version of Toyotomii Hideyoshi
 * Taiwan only campaign - Treasure card version of Tokunyawa Ieyasu
 * Nobou no Shiro ticket and event - Treasure card Nyarita Nagachika
 * Hyakuman-nin no Winning Post Special tie-in campaign - Treasure card Sanyada Yukimura and Treasure card Miiura Anji
 * Hyakuman-nin no Nobunaga no Yabou PC browser tie-in campaign - Treasure card Iroha-nyan and Treasure Card Omiichi no Kata
 * Hyakuman-nin no Sangokushi Special tie-in campaign - Treasure card Toyotomii Hideyoshi
 * Hyakuman-nin no NINJA GAIDEN tie-in campaign - Treasure card Oda Nobumide and Nyattori Hanzo

The social game's collaboration with Nobunaga no Yabou Online included a "haircutting death match" publicity stunt between the producers of both products. It was a simultaneous collaboration with the wrestling group, SMASH!, and it celebrated the MMORPG's eighth year anniversary. Players of both games were rewarded special items and could decide whose hair would be cut on stage. The loser was the social game's producer.

To celebrate the debut of Hyakuman-nin no Winning Post Special, players of this social game can sign into their accounts and receive a preemptive email. They can then obtain three Nyao Coupons, tickets for Rare or Ultimate cards which would normally usually require a monetary fee.

Short animated flash cartoons of the Samurai Cats characters were shown on episodes of Sengoku Nabe TV, a variety program which is loosely based on the Warring States period. A short promotional video with Nobunyaga's voice can be seen on Koei-Tecmo's Youtube.

A live quiz event was hosted at select Toshimaen amusement parks. Participants formed teams to outwit the other in a series of Warring States questions. Winners received a downloadable serial for a Treasure Omiichi card. Everyone who attended obtained postcards with additional serial codes. A serial card for this card is offered again to fans attending the 2012 Sekigahara festival and as a part of the Hyakuman-nin no Nobunaga no Yabou tie-in campaign.

This social game is one of the titles Koei is using for its collaboration with the live action film, Nobou no Shiro. Users who purchase a ticket using Famima's online service can receive a kitty version of the film's protagonist, Narita Nagachika. Another special campaign is scheduled for players in October to obtain a rare version of Nyarita Kaihime themed to the film.

Visitors of Koei-Tecmo Group's amusement parks, Tecmopia, may have a chance to visit Nobunyaga in person. Scheduled events will include a live quiz show and other games with the kitty characters. New characters will appear in these events.