As with other “collecting” mobile games like Boku to Wanko and the seminal Neko Atsume, Notice Me Senpai is all about biding your time; slowly waiting and baiting all manner of cute boys to come to you.
Notice Me Senpai? What’s That?
Derived from Japanese culture, particularly anime and manga, “I hope senpai will notice me” is a catchphrase commonly used to express a quest to resolve unrequited admiration towards a senior.
Notice Me Senpai is, thankfully, in English; unlike its spiritual predecessors when they first released. For the couple of weeks that I’ve been playing the mobile app, I’ve found it really simple, and really cute too!
In Notice Me Senpai, you are the first female student in an elite all-boys private school and you have taken on a job managing a cafe on the third years’ campus to help pay for your tuition.
How To Play Notice Me Senpai?
Notice Me Senpai is a quirky title that’s essentially a simulator where your goal is to attract cute male seniors from your school to your cafe. Fans of Neko Atsume (or Boku to Wanko) will easily figure out the game’s mechanics.
You have a cafe you can use to place different items to attract different types of senpai, and once the elusive cute boys visit, you can take pictures of them. Get them to visit more often and eventually they’ll leave behind letters or have a special interaction with you.
Items that you can use include confectionery, furniture, musical instruments, and even pet cats and dogs. Every time you attract visitors, they also leave behind coins or gems which you can use to buy more items to attract visitors with. The game becomes increasingly compelling as you mix and match items in an attempt to lure as many senpai as you can.
Attracting Senpai
With currently 20 different senpai to attract (and more coming this valentine’s), each with a different selection of their top 3 favourite items, here is a list of senpai and their favourite items to help you out:
- Nerd Senpai – Chess Set, Soft Armchair, Small Bookshelf
- Young Senpai – Strawberry Shortcake, Pet Cat, Chocolate Cookies
- Lazy Senpai – Strawberry Shortcake, Soft Armchair, Chocolate Cupcakes
- Art Club Senpai – Flower Vase, Mirror, Painting of a Lady
- School Festival Senpai – Taiko Drum, Small Orange Tree, Rose Vase
- Science Lab Senpai – Pet Cat, PC Station, Miso Soup
- Gamer Senpai – Chocolate Cookies, Chocolate Cupcakes, Reclining Chair
- Gourmet Club Senpai – Strawberry Shortcake, Miso Soup, Chocolate Cookies
- Delinquent Senpai – Flower Vase, Basketball, Chocolate Cupcakes
- Basketball Captain Senpai – Basketball, Pet Cat, Guitar
- Drama Club Senpai – Strawberry Shortcake, Mirror, Stuffed Bear
- Goat Senpai – Rose Vase, Flower Vase, PC Station
- Calligraphy Club Senpai – Reclining Chair, Piano, Kanji Painting
- Butler Senpai – Fancy Tea Set, Piano, Large Bookshelf
- Student Council President – PC Station, Reclining Chair, Large Bookshelf
- Crammer Senpai – PC Station, Stuffed Bear, Reclining Chair
- Idol Senpai – Piano, Stuffed Bear, Reclining Chair
- Rocker Senpai – Guitar, Stuffed Bear, Reclining Chair
- Sensei – Reclining Chair, Stuffed Bear, Guitar
- Childhood Friend Senpai – Stuffed Bear, Reclining Chair, Guitar
However, these aren’t everything that can make them appear. For example, a Kanji Painting can still make a Calligraphy Club Senpai appear even though it may not be listed under his top 3 favourite items. And a Flower Painting can make Art Club Senpai appear. So it still benefits you to buy different items and try them out.
Getting senpais to visit the cafe more often increases their hearts and at three hearts (green heart), they will leave you a sweet little note. At five hearts (red heart), you will trigger an event and unlock their character art. The senpais at the top of the list above will only take a few visits to get them to five hearts, then the number of visits required increase as you move down the list.
Here are a couple of additional tips if you’re playing the game:
- Save up your gems until you get 200 so that you can expand your cafe. It helps you encounter more senpais at once and since there are more of them, you can easily earn back all your gems.
- Once you feel that you have enough coins, switch over to Gourmet Beans which allows rarer senpais to show up more often.
So if you’re feeling lonely and without a date this valentine’s, perhaps you can seek solace in managing your cafe of cute boys. You’ll be constantly checking your phone to see if you have any new visitors.
Notice Me Senpai is available on iOS and Android.