Topic: The Gacha Gaming Thread

Excuse me while I raise the flame shields & batten down the hatches for raising this topic on a core gaming site...

Ahem. While I NEVER spend any money on them, I do like tooling around with the occasional gacha game on my phone during my lunch hour at work (& other such downtime where I don't have my Switch or laptop on hand). Here's what I'm currently messing around with.

Senran Kagura: New Link

Yes, that Senran Kagura has a mobile game (the title screen art is changed once or twice a month to highlight the featured new units). This is my "main" gacha at the moment.

As a turn based affair, it's the easiest one to just turn your mind off with and do some grinding to pass the time. I also like the fact that the action is presented by full scale 3D character models instead of 2D art or chibi models (although you do get a detailed 2D art card for each version of a character you have). While ultimately toned down from what the series offers on console, I'll admit it allows for much more fan service than I'd expect from a mobile game (there's no clothing destruction, however some of the available outfits are little more than string bikinis & it still features very noticeable "physics").

The current home screen, which oddly enough reflects a current collaboration with the Ring horror franchise (it has a ton of collabs, though most are from franchises with similar appeal. I started playing in November, and it's had Gantz, To Love Ru, Ikkitousen, Queen's Blade, & Dead or Alive collabs between then & now). It usually features the girls in your current team lounging around.

Action Taimanin

Because apparently the girls of Senran aren't the only lovely ninjas around (luckily the Android version is apparently identical to Steam in terms of content, however it's heavily censored on iOS platforms, which includes both added clothing & even reduced bust sizes for certain characters).

It has more of an action setup which is a bit more cumbersome when it comes to playing on phone, however there is still some fun that shines through. Honestly the character design is stylish enough I think it could transition fairly well into a proper character action game (it is available on Steam in addition to Android/iOS, so I assume you could play with a controller that way).

The home screen, which displays your current character (characters? I only have one at the moment). Interestingly, new playable characters aren't up to gacha, as you have to save up the "premium" in game currency to buy characters outright (although they require a lot of said currency). Instead, gacha is relegated to obtaining new weapons & stat/effect enhancing "support" characters.

Mario Kart Tour

Need I explain?

This is probably the one most of you are already familiar with, being a much simplified take on a proper Mario Kart experience. I'll admit I had jumped off it for awhile, but I've recently came back so I can refamiliarize myself with it's available tracks that way I can guess/look forward to what might be added to MK8D's "Booster Course" pack in the future (think I'm looking forward to "Waluigi Pinball").

It has a real understated home screen with not much going on in terms of neat little touches.

So, what gacha's are you playing?

Never spent a cent on a gotcha, but ngl, I sure do enjoy playing them for a bit.

Apologies for not knowing much about them, what counts as a "gacha" game? I only played a few mobile games, favorites being the now discontinued Trolls Pop, Sonic Dash, and a few classic Sonic games (paid for these to play them offline without ads, to save on data). I don't think those are gacha going by the games shown (Mario Kart, and one looks like an RPG).

@Sunsy, generally refers to mobile games (though they can be on any platform), where the main (only) way to obtain new and/or better characters or weapons is by spending some sort of in game currency in order to obtain new characters/weapons at random (since it's random, you can't pick & choose which character you're going to get, and since each event may only be around for a couple weeks before rotating out, you may miss your chance to get a specific character unless they get out back into rotation). Of course, it is considered a bit underhanded, since some people will buy lots of the in game currency with real money that way they can keep rolling the gacha until they get the character they want.

Even though there's no real world money involved, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 has a gacha element, since new Blades are acquired at random when you summon them.

It's named after "Gachapon" machines, which are those capsule toy machines where you can put in a little bit of money and get a random little toy.

@RR529 Thanks, I think I have played a few like that. Trolls Pop did have "gifts" as rewards, but I remember never spending anything to get them, just earning them from playing levels or sending a character on a balloon trip and they return hours later with a gift of random items like power ups or troll stickers to unlock new characters. I guess this game kind of counts, even though it was a puzzle bobble clone.

I usually play Asphalt 9, the in-game currency earned can be used for card packs which unlocks new cars, and stars them up. Most of the currency is earned by just doing the daily tasks or events in game. I use to play a now discontinued game called Dawn of the Breakers, which reminded me of a beat 'em up. To get heroes to play as, you had to win them out of capsules at random too. Played them on Switch.

Occasionally, I like playing Minion Rush on my phone. The amusing part, I'm not big on the Minion characters, but I actually enjoy playing this game. The game features costumes where Minions get special powerups and these are obtained by buying prize pods with in-game currency.

Gotcha (no pun intended), similar to those toy machines I sometimes see in supermarkets.

I was hopelessly addicted to Pokémon Shuffle on 3DS, having played it for nearly 900 hours!

It was incredibly liberating when I finally decided that enough was enough and I walked away from it.

Never ever again.

It was so consuming to the point of being embarrassing.

I even justified buying jewels if there was a bonus, particularly if there was a permanent incentive attached to the purchase (I can’t remember what though).

It was an addictive but miserable experience. I now avoid any F2P games like the plague.

I started playing Genshin Impact almost 2 months ago now… it’s gacha. I’ll forever be free to play, probably (I may reconsider if a character I really want gets a rerun). That’s the only gacha game I’ve ever played (except Mario Kart Tour, but I don’t even remember it being gacha) and I don’t like it for it’s gacha elements, just for it’s BotW-style gameplay. Although the gacha does create interesting conversations among my friends who also started playing in February.

Hmm, for some reason that SK isn't available for my Android, @RR529 ....Played a little Action Taimanin on Steam, though! I played a bit of Fire Emblem Heroes when that came out, along with the obvious Final Fantasy gacha games but even with those, I never spent anything & gave up after awhile

Still playing a bit of Dragalia Lost even though it's on its last legs of life. But besides that the only one I'm actively playing is Genshin Impact. It feels like each new area they add gets better and better. I've been having a great time exploring The Chasm.

@Silly_G, yeah, I definitely get that the setup can definitely be exploitative. Luckily none have gripped me like that.

@BruceCM, huh. Not available as in it's not compatible with your device, or that you can't find it? I think I had to access the Japanese Play Store to DL it (set up an alternate Gmail with a VPN), though since then I've been able to play & update it with my regular account no issue.

Ah, thought it was odd I hadn't heard of it before, @RR529 .... Found an unofficial download that's supposed to be in English to try, thanks

I'd always had a casual interest in gacha games, although I try my best not to spend anything on them, and just stay in the "free" part of freemium 🤣

also, I was wondering if gacha world, and everything made by lunime would be considered "gacha"? 😁
https://play.google.com/store/apps/dev?id=4702794943380501526...

gacha life has over 50 million downloads, and I have a hunch that it's mostly kids who download this though 😅

Guess it’s time for me to resurrect this thread.
blue archive definitely.
It’s just so dang good
The story is great and well written, the characters are endearing and likable, it’s easy to get premium currency (the official reddit has done the math and it takes 2 months to get enough to reach pity and as a FTPlayer i almost have enough premium currency to go for 5 pity rolls) honestly if you like gacha games and your tired of excessively dark and depressing stories give this game a try.