Finding the best gacha games isn’t quite as easy as you might think. Since Genshin Impact exploded in popularity in 2020, the global market’s seen increasingly more games like it–action-RPGs with open worlds, turn-based strategy, and striking anime-style visuals.
Over the years, though, we’ve seen a wider variety of games find their niche, like Infinity Nikki with its extensive fashion focus or Limbus Company’s heavier emphasis on storytelling. It’s a lot to sift through, but we’ve done the work for you and compiled a list of the best gacha games worth your time right now.
Fire Emblem Heroes
- Developer: Intelligent Systems
- Release date: February 2, 2017
- Platform: Android, iOS
Okay, so Heroes’ story is nothing to write home about, but if you don’t mind the fluffy insubstantial nature of something like Fire Emblem Engage, then you can get through this just fine. The real appeal, aside from having so many characters from across the series’ history, is how Heroes manages to take Fire Emblem’s brilliant tactical strategy and shrink it to pocket-sized missions without losing much of the complexity. It’s like the Fire Emblem equivalent of taking a short break for a sudoku puzzle or two–not too taxing, not too fluffy. Just right.
Infinity Nikki
- Developer: Infold
- Release date: December 5, 2024
- Platform: PC, PS5, Android, iOS
Infinity Nikki is one of the most chilled out gacha games you can play now. There’s a story, sure, all about darkness encroaching on a land of happy people, and like previous Nikki games, it gets surprisingly heavy at times. But you’re free to dip in and out as you see fit or just ignore it entirely and explore the world. Unlike previous Nikki games, style competitions come second. The real main attraction is digging into the beautifully realized open world, a combination of Breath of the Wild’s exploration and Genshin Impact’s buffet of puzzles and minigames.
And you can do it all for free. Infinity Nikki might have a baffling number of currencies and more banner changes than most gacha games, but most of the items from those banners have little bearing on your time in Miraland. You can win most style contests–and all contests required to progress the story–with outfits found in the open world or crafted from patterns you obtain during quests, so as gacha games go, Infinity Nikki is pretty low-pressure. And if you come up against a style match you can’t do at some point, you can just… not do it. There’s no penalty for skipping a challenge, and there are plenty of free ways to obtain new or better outfits
Wuthering Waves
- Developer: Kuro Games
- Release date: May 23, 2024
- Platform: PC, PS5, Android, iOS
Wuthering Waves had a rough start, thanks to some long-winded writing and a story that went nowhere, despite taking itself very seriously. However, developer Kuro Games adapted quickly based on player feedback and set Wuthering Waves on a better path. It takes more ambitious swings with its blend of fantasy and science fiction, and the visual direction and environment design alone are enough to quell those “Genshin clone” criticisms from the game’s initial launch.
That said, it is sort of like Genshin Impact. Wuthering Waves is an action-RPG set in a large open world absolutely crammed with traversal challenges and secrets to sniff out. In between story beats, you’ll gather resources and fight bosses for materials you can upgrade your characters with, but the roster of characters is where Wuthering Waves does one better than Genshin. Its combat is more skill-based, sort of like a more complex version of Zenless Zone Zero. And that reliance on skill-based combat over specific character gimmicks makes Wuthering Waves more free-to-play friendly than some of its competitors as well. Older or 4-star characters might not have novel-length skill descriptions like some of the more recent characters do. Once you learn the ins and outs of their kits, though, you can clear even challenging endgame battles just as efficiently as if you were using a meta character.
Epic Seven
- Developer: Smilegate
- Release date: August 30, 2018
- Platform: Android, iOS
The first thing that stands out about Epic Seven is how Vanillaware-coded it is, from its art direction to the side-view team combat. Stick around for long, though, and you’ll see developer Smilegate is doing quite a lot more than just copying something popular. Epic Seven’s combat system is built around a system of elemental strengths and weaknesses, but within that system is an array of unit types to plan your strategy around. Thieves, healers, and tanks sit alongside less familiar archetypes, and you can mix and match as you see fit.
Epic Seven’s gacha system is slightly more forgiving than most as well. There might be a lot of banners, for example, but once you hit pity, you’re guaranteed to get that banner’s character instead of some other 5-star you don’t want.
Umamusume Pretty Derby
- Developer: Cygames
- Release date: February 24, 2021
- Platform: PC, Android, iOS
Umamusume: Pretty Derby, a game about horse-girls attending school and learning how to race competitively might seem like a silly concept initially. Underneath the unusual premise is a surprisingly deep and absorbing sports game, though. You play as a coach helping trainee Umamusume develop their talents and aim for the top spot in races of increasing national significance, and the training gets pretty in-depth. You decide a training regiment based on your trainee’s personality and strengths each day leading up to a big race, but under all that is a complex network of interactions stemming from Pretty Derby’s support card system. Who your Umamusume has on their side helps decide things like what training boosts they get and which skills they learn, and it’s all delivered in cute little scenes that showcase just how strong Pretty Derby’s localization is.
Reverse: 1999
- Developer: Bluepoch Games
- Release date: October 26, 2023
- Platform: PC, Android iOS
The vibes of Reverse: 1999 are impeccable. Its combination of sci-fi and fantasy is one thing, but the unique mixing of art styles–Art Deco with streetwear, oil painting with art nouveau–sets this apart from every other gacha game out there at the moment.
Granted, it’s got a lot more going for it as well. The combat is strong, even if it’s not as inventive as something like Wuthering Waves or as challenging. It’s free-to-play friendly, with enough rewards per update cycle to hit pity at least once. And there’s less pressure to pull for duplicates compared to something like Honkai Star Rail. Best of all, though, is that the paranormal sci-fi story takes itself seriously. There’s plenty of fluff and fun between main story beats, but the broader tale about the tension between civilizations progressing and regressing is never out of sight for long.
Love and Deepspace
- Developer: Infold
- Release date: January 18, 2024
- Platform: Android, iOS
Two years after Infold launched Love and Deepspace, it’s harder than ever to summarize just what this romance game is. It’s an action-RPG, cuddly romance simulator, story-heavy sci-fi game, catnip for virtual photographers, home decoration elements–almost literally a bit of everything. The broad premise is that you play as a woman who joined an organization called the Hunters to keep her home city safe from invading space monsters. Joining her is a selection of young men who all have some kind of connection to her from a past life, and none of them are quite what they seem like on the surface. The story is best left unspoiled, but it goes places and gets surprisingly emotional. Character personalities are complex, and their stories well-written. But if you want to take a break from all that and just play dress up or decorate an apartment or hang out with your favorite lad, you can do that too. One of the things that makes LADS such a good gacha game isn’t just how much there is to do outside the main story. It’s how substantial it all is.
Just bear in mind that LADS isn’t the most free-to-play friendly if you want to ace the endgame battle mode, as it’s a demanding set of challenges with strict guidelines on which characters and cards you should use. Infold does dish out free currency, but it takes a while to save up. Character stories are also frequently locked behind the gacha system, but you can usually find those on YouTube.
Honkai Star Rail
- Developer: HoYoverse
- Release date: April 26, 2023
- Platform: PC, PS5, Android, iOS
HoYoverse melded popular JRPG battle systems together for Honkai Star Rail, with bits of Persona 5, Nihon Falcom’s Trails series, Suikoden, and a lot more, before gradually building it into its own thing. Now, several years after the sci-fi game launched, it’s set a new standard for team-building and thoughtfully developed combat skills in the genre. Star Rail’s plot has grown into itself as well, as HoYoverse finally managed to balance multiple storylines spread across different worlds.
Of HoYoverse’s three mainstream games, Star Rail has the most demanding endgame challenges. It’s possible to complete them with a team comprised of free characters, and you do get plenty of currency through clearing events. However, enemy teams and battle conditions are heavily skewed toward the latest round of new characters. These are all optional, though. You can progress through the story with any team and even sweep early and mid-level challenges in endgame modes without perfectly optimized setups.
Genshin Impact
- Developer: HoYoverse
- Release date: September 28, 2020
- Platform: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Android, iOS
You might think–powercreep, a term used in ongoing games that describes how older characters get overtaken by new ones–is a concern for a game that’s been around as long as Genshin, but HoYoverse has done an impressive job of maintaining a solid balance between old and new. One of the best support units is still one you can get for free, and in the 6.x series of patches, a selection of the game’s original characters got a hefty boost to keep them relevant in the current meta.
Beyond that, Genshin Impact is still largely Genshin Impact. It’s a top-tier open world game with environment design that’s only become more sophisticated with each passing year. The simple hills and valleys of Genshin’s starting areas give way to undersea palaces, roaring volcanoes, and dense tropical forests, all packed with rich side quests and puzzles. And you don’t have to trudge through everything before seeing the latest additions, either, thanks to HoYoverse’s overhauled progression system that lets you jump right in after finishing the prologue.
AFK Journey
- Developer: Farlight
- Release date: March 22, 2024
- Platform: PC, Android, iOS
Gacha games developed a (well-earned) reputation for demanding a lot of your time. AFK Journey is not like those games and lives up to the first part of its name. It’s got all the usual trappings: a huge story that spans years, lots of grinding and currency, and an in-depth battle system. But once you get going in it, you can easily slide into a routine where you dive in for maybe 30-45 minutes each day, get some materials and clear a few battles, then be done for a day or two without feeling as if you’re missing out on anything.
Path to Nowhere
- Developer: Aisno Games
- Release date: October 27, 2022
- Platform: Android, iOS
Path to Nowhere has a bit of something for every taste. Strong art direction. Excellent character design. Better, more intentional writing than many other gacha games, in that every scene matters, with few instances of filler. A well-paced dark fantasy story that isn’t afraid to dig into complex matters of morality and autonomy, as you shackle Sinners (pull characters from banners) and enlist them in a militia force designed to protect your city. Forgiving pity systems (it takes 80 pulls to hit pity, instead of 120 or more). And despite letting you clear most challenges with comparative speed, there’s a lot of incentive to keep coming back for more battles. Path to Nowhere puts a small action-RPG twist on tower defense by letting you control your units directly, so your team composition and what you can do with your units stays fresh for longer.
Limbus Company
- Developer: Project Moon
- Release date: February 26, 2023
- Platform: PC, Android, iOS
Limbus Company may not be the first game in Project Moon’s complicated Lobotomy Corporation series, but it’s the best place to get on board. The broad story is something best left unspoiled, but the plot is less of a factor in what makes Limbus Company good than how it’s delivered. Unlike a lot of gacha games, where new chapters introduce fresh characters who move the story forward, Limbus Company keeps the focus on a smaller, set cast, which means you get to see them develop as the narrative progresses. It sounds simple, but it makes a big difference in how much you end up caring about what happens to everyone.
On top of that, Limbus Company is very generous with its in-game currency and encourages you to experiment with teams that aren’t meta. Endgame challenges are less difficult than you might be used to with these kinds of games, in that almost every team is viable. So you’re free to make your own challenge by running teams with characters you like, instead of using the same roster every time.
Zenless Zone Zero
- Developer: HoYoverse
- Release date: July 4, 2024
- Platform: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Android, iOS
If Star Rail’s auto-battles and Genshin’s comparatively more casual combat aren’t quite your thing, Zenless Zone Zero, with its skill- and timing-based battles and flexible team building, is definitely worth checking out. It’s not quite as involved as Wuthering Waves, but using even the free starter characters requires good timing and careful planning. It keeps the grind for upgrade materials interesting, and the skill-based element also means you can get a lot out of characters who typically aren’t in the top spots on tier lists.
ZZZ also takes more of a relaxed, slice-of-life approach to storytelling. What’s happening around the main cast–a timely tale of corporate corruption and political skullduggery–matters, but equally important is how the day-to-day relationships between characters evolve over time. HoYoverse’s dramatic plot climaxes might get the most attention, but ZZZ is where the studio’s quieter writing shines.
Arknights
- Developer: Hypergryph
- Release date: January 16, 2020
- Platform: Android, iOS
The original Arknights stood out at launch for being a tower defense game–unique, given the turn-based or action-RPG direction most gacha games take–and over half a decade later, there still isn’t much like it out there. An uncommon genre only takes you so far, though. Arknights excels with its visual direction and world-building, which makes up for some slightly clunky storytelling, and it does a much better job than most at easing new players into the complexities of its multi-layered strategy.
And, unlike Wuthering Waves and Honkai Star Rail, Arknights’ character designs aren’t oversexualized. Now there’s a concept.
Sword of Convallaria
- Developer: XD Entertainment
- Release date: July 21, 2024
- Platform: PC, Android, iOS
There aren’t many gacha games like Sword of Convallaria. Developer XD Entertainment adapted the soul of strategy games like Tactics Ogre and Final Fantasy Tactics into something even more satisfyingly complex thanks to a few simple additions: skill trees and weapons with abilities. Characters have differnet skills they can learn as you level them up, and while that sounds simple on paper, in practice, your choices create drastically different scenarios on the battlefield.
Sword of Convallaria is free-to-play friendly if you stick to the main story and PvE modes. There is a PvP component as well. But like with any online modes in free-to-play games, you’re always going to get stomped on by the folks who spent far too much money. It’s not worth it, and there’s plenty to keep you busy PvE.
