There are a literal ton of gacha games available to play on mobile from enormous franchises like Marvel, Star Wars, Disney, and more. If you have not yet tried them out, we are here to help you know more about the best gacha games available to play on mobile, be it iOS and Android.
Gacha refers to a toy vending machine where customers can put money and expect to win a collectible. This mechanism has been introduced into video games, especially mobile-based games.
Essentially, gamers spend in-game currency to receive a virtual item that can be equipped in-game. Similar to loot boxes and prize crates in video games, the gacha system generally works with free-to-play mobile games.
A huge part of the Japanese mobile game culture, gacha has since been adopted by Chinese, Korean, and even western games as well. Along with long story lines and old school combat mechanics, gacha games also deliver on special events where collectibles are much easier to acquire.
With so many different gacha games available, getting into the best one could prove a little difficult, and gacha games require some work put into them too, so you would not want to work out on the wrong game for long.
How about we get to finding the best gacha games available for iOS and Android.
Best Gacha Games
Final Fantasy Brave Exvius
Final Fantasy is a hugely popular gaming franchise with over 15 different games available to play on consoles, PC, and mobile. Property of Square Enix, the gacha version of the franchise, Final Fantasy Brace Exvius is one of the most famous and highly acclaimed games in the genre.
Developed by Gumi, it is totally free to play and features a turn-based jRPG style of combat with characters dawning special abilities. It also has a lot of crossovers with other Square Enix properties. Gumi has also developed another gacha, known as Brave Frontier. It is exactly the same as Brave Exvius, without the Final Fantasy part.
Price: Free to play
Release Date: 22 October 2015
Developers: Alim Co. Ltd, Gumi
Rating: 73% Metacritic
Fire Emblem Heroes
Fire Emblem Heroes is a free to play tactical RPG, and Nintendo’s foray into the gacha gaming genre. This game is essentially a spin-off of the incredibly popular Fire Emblem series on Nintendo consoles featuring its characters.
The game is incredibly fun to play with bright graphics and packed with quests and things to do. Characters from the series are very well bought into the mobile genre, keeping their essence and plunging them into a different setting. Its RPG mechanics are solid, and the game even lets you in on the chances of spawning in the more powerful units.
Otherwise, it is a straightforward game with gameplay mechanics more or less similar to the Nintendo DS and 3DS versions of the game.
Price: Free to play
Release date: 2 February 2017
Developers: Nintendo, Intelligent Systems, Nintendo Entertainment Planning and Development
Rating: 72% Metacritic
MARVEL Strike Force
Marvel Strike Force, released in March 2018, is a turn-based, RPG developed by FoxNext for Android and iOS devices. The game is set in the Marvel Universe and features a ton of your favorite characters from the comics.
It is one of the few good west-made gacha games and has a roster filled with heroes and villains alike. The story is decent enough to get through, but the gameplay is what shines through. The PvP, or player vs player aspect of the game is honestly terrible due to the developers charging users a ton of money to unlock the more powerful characters.
The PvE experience in combination with the story line is enough to allow for a pleasurable and fun experience.
Price: Free to play
Release date: 28 March 2018
Developer: FoxNext
Rating: 74% Metacritic
Raid: Shadow Legends
Raid: Shadow Legends is effectively the biggest and most visually appealing gacha games of all times. The game was developed by Israeli game developer Plarium and instantly became popular thanks to its graphics and well featured RPG elements. Users have the ability to collect and battle with a wide variety of heroes.
It comes with PvE and PvP elements that are incredibly balanced and super fun to play with. The game was so popular, it saw a PC version released in 21 January 2020. Raid is easily one of the best gacha games available to play.
Raid is also best played on earphones/headphones. If you do not want to miss out on the experience, check DangoBuds Review.
Price: Free to play
Release date: 29 July 2018
Developer: Plarium
Rating: 4/5 Common Sense Media
Dragon Ball Legends
If you are a Dragon Ball fan, Dragon Ball Legends might prove incredibly enjoyable to you. It features anime action within an RPG setting and features incredible 3D visual and animations.
The user plays as a brand-new character, Shallot, designed by the creator of Dragon Ball himself, Akira Toriyama. With card-based action, battles and gameplay looks stunning, while allowing for a right-at-home Dragon Ball experience.
Unleashing combos can be done with the touch of a finger and the game even allows you to create a powerful party of your most favorite characters from the beloved franchise’s history.
Price: Free to play
Release date: 17 May 2018
Developer: Bandai Namco Entertainment, Dimps
Rating: 4/5 Common Sense Media
Pokemon Masters EX
Pokemon is obviously a hugely popular phenomenon and has also graced the mobile gaming genre. No, we are not talking about Pokemon Go.
Pokemon Masters is an official Pokemon gacha game that has you collecting pairs of your favorite Pokemon trainers and their respective Pokemon from the franchise’s history.
It’s a free-to-play game for both Android and iOS and published by DeNa. Set on an artificial island of Pasio, the player essentially battles and recruit trainers from the main series.
Price: Free to play
Release date: 28 August 2019
Developer: DeNA Co. Ltd.
Rating: 63% Metacritic
Tom Clancy’s Elite Squad
The highly popular Tom Clancy franchise known for its military-based video games also tried out the gacha genre as well. The game allows the player to obtain, assemble, and upgrade heroes and villains from across the Tom Clancy franchise that include, Rainbow Six, Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon, and The Division.
Once assembled, you essentially must lead them into battles that occur in real-time across three game modes, Campaign, Arena, and Territory War. Soldiers are broken into heroes and villains and each have a class that represents their role.
As you obtain soldiers, you then train, equip, and upgrade them using different weapons and gear. You must find the best strategy to win battles relative to the game mode you are playing.
Price: Free to play
Release date: 25 August 2020
Developer: Owlient
Rating: 46% Metacritic
Another Eden
Another Eden is one of those gacha games that is not that popular but stands up against its competitors quite well. Developed by Wright Flyer Studios, Another Eden features an incredible story coupled with an unforgettable music score.
The game has minimal tropes usually seen in an RPG game but ensures an engaging storyline and missions. The game has time travel and engaging missions revolving around its frankly interesting story.
Another Eden is one of those games you could play using a keyboard and a mouse too. Since connecting peripherals to a mobile is difficult, you could simply use Keyless PRO for a better experience.
Price: Free to play
Release date: 12 April 2017
Developer: Wright Flyer Studios
Rating: 88% Metacritic
The Alchemist Code
The Alchemist Code is a free-to-play mobile strategy game developed by Gumi for iOS and Android devices. The role-playing-game is a turn-based tactical game that uses elements similar to that of Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre.
The jRPG game has you moving units around a playable board to attack the bad guys. It features 50 collectible characters, a multiplayer mode with co-op features, a competitive PvP mode, and loads of special events that take place on a weekly basis.
With some awesome music, graphics and a lot of quests to complete, The Alchemist Code is one of the best gacha games available to play.
Price: Free to play
Release date: 13 November 2017
Developer: Gumi
Rating: 88% Metacritic(User)
One of the most popular, and arguably one of the best gacha games out there. Genshin Impact is an action RPG developed by miHoYo. The game features an open-world environment for players to actively participate in. Its action-based battle system using elemental magic and character switching allows for exciting, graphically engaging battles.
Genshin Impact
Looking and feeling like Zelda: Breath of the Wild, its open-world is incredibly fun to explore and the game even gives you a glider to make things easier. The decent soundtrack and storyline, coupled with interesting characters and an exciting combat system allows for incredible gameplay and loads of fun to be had.
Price: Free to play
Release date: 28 September 2020
Developer: miHoYo
Rating: 84% Metacritic
Conclusion
Gacha games can be incredibly engaging and super fun to play if you are a fan of the genre. The money-making aspects of the game are half present due to the games being totally free to play.
Some gacha games allow for a handicap when it comes to buying in-game items, in that you would not be able to perform that well if you do not spend money to unlock powerful characters and items.
However, the best gacha games do not put this on priority and allow players to have an aggregable, fun time while playing their game.
If you have not been introduced to the gacha genre, the best gacha games have been listed above for your reference.