On August 20, Douyin quietly launched a mini-game called “Craving Cat Food Delivery” (馋猫外卖). It simulates ordering takeout, but the orders placed in the game never actually generate or get delivered. The money you pay goes straight into a “Craving Cat Money Jar,” and you can withdraw it anytime.
When I tried out “Craving Cat Food Delivery,” I found it’s a near-perfect replica of mainstream food delivery platforms like Meituan and Taobao Flash Purchase (formerly Ele.me). In the top-left corner, the delivery address section lets you switch between fun spots like “Weight-Loss Fail Neighborhood,” “Midnight Snack Street,” “Open University East Gate,” and “Cat Planet · Food Zone.”
Right below that sits a search bar for keyword searches. Then comes a heads-up: Craving Cat Food Delivery is a money-saving game brought to you by Douyin Pay. All the shops and products are virtual, and no orders will actually be delivered – it’s all about feeding your impulse-buying dopamine.
You can pick from eight categories: quick bites and snacks, spicy Sichuan and Hunan stir-fries, hotpot and BBQ, Western and Japanese cuisine, local specialties, and more.The shop listings show all the nitty-gritty details – ratings, monthly sales, distance, delivery time, and pricing. When you check out, you can choose specs, leave flavor notes, see packaging and delivery fees calculated, and enjoy discounts like free-shipping thresholds. Hit “confirm order,” and a prompt pops up: “Activate and save to Craving Cat Money Jar.”
According to the user service agreement for “Save Together” (一起攒), the feature currently offers two modes: group saving and solo saving. Group saving involves at least two people saving together toward shared goals, with rotating categories like wish-list saving or travel saving that keep evolving. Solo saving is for individuals, and it also has multiple evolving types – “Craving Cat Food Delivery” being one of them.
Craving Cat Food Delivery is a solo saving mode designed for users. It uses fun, gamified interactions like “simulated takeout ordering” to help you hit your personal savings goals. No invites needed – you just sign up and use it on your own. Everything shown on the page – shops, dishes, reviews, orders, deliveries, riders – is purely fictional. These aren’t real transactions, and Douyin doesn’t sell any products or offer actual food delivery services.
After you place a virtual takeout order and pay, the money lands in a dedicated savings sub-ledger under your Douyin Pay account (like the “Craving Cat Money Jar”). You’re not paying any merchant or third party. Craving Cat Food Delivery is simply your own money-saving tool – the funds sit in the sub-ledger, earn zero interest, and Douyin provides no wealth-management services or promised returns. You own every cent recorded in that sub-ledger.
The service agreement also notes that you can withdraw all or part of your savings to your Douyin Pay wallet balance anytime, with no extra strings attached. The only exception is if authorities freeze, investigate, or deduct the funds due to disputes or legal proceedings involving you.
Interestingly enough, a similar virtual takeout site has been blowing up in South Korea too. It’s called FoodNeverComes – “the food never comes” – and it looks just like local delivery apps: tons of dishes, mouth-watering photos, even coupons. You can add items to your cart, check out, and watch a virtual rider zip around on a map. The catch? Your order never arrives, and your wallet stays untouched.
Psychologists have dubbed these kinds of apps and websites “dopamine sites.” The idea is simple: young people get that hit of satisfaction their brains crave without shelling out real money – they just simulate familiar daily routines to trick their reward system.
Some analysts believe academic pressure, workplace stress, and the grind of real life have shaped South Korean youth’s unique online habits and their way of escaping it all. This trend also connects to the rise of “mukbang” culture – watching someone else feast while you don’t eat a bite, yet still feel a weird sense of secondhand satisfaction. Simulating everyday activities without the physical effort or financial cost offers a comforting little escape hatch from reality.
