It’s 2024 and Gacha games are becoming better than ever, with seamless crossplay support, amazing graphics, relatable characters, and fun gameplay loops. There is a huge variety of Gacha games on the market, some incredible, while others are a complete trap to suck you of your life savings. If you are new to the Gacha genre, or simply looking for the best new Gacha game to spend your time in, then here is a complete list of the best Gacha games in 2024. This list is based on multiple factors, like storytelling, lore and character quality, world design, gameplay, and gacha mechanics, to keep you safe from falling into the wrong gacha trap.
Note:
This list is based on my personal opinion so a few games in the genre might be missing. But, don’t let that stop you from trying those games out yourself as you might enjoy them!
15. Tower of Fantasy
- Release Date: December 16, 2021
- Developer(s): Hotta Studio
- Platform: PC, Android, iOS
Tower of Fantasy is an MMO Open World game that has stunning world design, beautiful characters, and highly responsive and impactful action-combat; still it barely made this list and sits in the 15th place because of its terrible gacha mechanics. The game is very pay-to-win and increasingly grindy as you progress through the game. However, the core game itself is surprisingly good, something I never expected after going over its pay-to-win mechanics, which often feels like pay to progress.
This game is fully voice acted with gorgeous anime-style cut-scenes and an incredibly in-depth character creator. The world design is beautiful, on par with Genshin Impact, and exploration is an absolute treat. However, the game is held completely back due to its terrible gacha mechanics, making it almost impossible to enjoy all the game’s mechanics without spending an exorbitant sum, which is bad even for a Gacha game.
14. Limbus Company
- Release Date: February 26, 2023
- Developer(s): Project Moon
- Platform: PC, Android, iOS
Limbus Company is a mix of turn-based and real-time combat systems, infused in a gacha game, with surprisingly good lore, main story, and decent combat mechanics, all set in a beautifully crafted dark-themed world. The game has a very unique combat system that is both real-time and turn-based. Players can set action roles of characters prior to a “Clash”, which is the Realtime Brawl phase, where units of both sides act simultaneously. It is a bit hard to get into, but very rewarding once you understand the system.
The main story of Limbus Company has a grim setting, which is beautifully showcased in the game’s visual design. The developer of Limbus Company, ProjectMoon, has developed two other games prior to this and all three games share the same universe making the Lore quite in-depth and rewarding. The gacha system is also very simple and free-to-play friendly, almost as if they wanted to create a gacha game, but didn’t know how. So, they created a single player game with gacha mechanics. The leveling system is very simple, not following the same route as other gacha games that require 100 different items to level up one character. Overall, a very solid gacha game that you should definitely check out.
13. Blue Archive
- Release Date: February 04, 2021
- Developer(s): NEXON GAMES
- Platform: Android, iOS
Blue Archive is the complete opposite of Limbus Company in terms of the setting, having a fun cast of characters and filled with funny story sequences. The game is about cute girls fighting monsters with guns, what is there to dislike for a gacha gamer? The game features a real-time strategy system where the player can control three characters, cute girls, as they shoot down enemies in a linear path. Fortunately, the combat system does have some depth and a satisfying game loop, even though it sounds pretty basic.
The storyline of Blue Archive is also good, filled with jokes and funny sequences. The Gacha System is also quite free-to-play friendly, with the Hard Pity allowing players to choose the character they want. The only downside of Blue Archive is that it is only available on Mobile Devices and currently lacks a PC client. Although there has been news that the developers are working to bring the game on PC, until then, it will be placed in the 13th place.
12. Solo Leveling: Arise
- Release Date: May 08, 2024
- Developer(s): Netmarble
- Platform: PC, Android, iOS
Anime-turned games don’t generally have a good track record, especially when it comes to Gacha Games. Fortunately, Solo Leveling: Arise is one of the few Anime gacha games that is fun to play. This game is based on the popular manwha (webtoon) Solo Leveling, which also had an anime adaptation recently.
The game’s story is completely faithful to the original material, following the story of Sung Jinwoo chapter by chapter. Solo Leveling: Arise has stunning graphics and beautiful action combat, with voice-acted Manwha Panels used as cut-scenes. My colleague has already done an in-depth review on Solo Leveling: Arise, so make sure to read it to learn more about the game. Touching on the gacha mechanics, the game can be a bit grindy and doesn’t have the most friendly gacha systems, but the gameplay does make up for it.
11. Path to Nowhere
- Release Date: October 27, 2022
- Developer(s): Aisno Games
- Platform: Android, iOS
Path to Nowhere is a hidden gem in the Gacha Gaming space which has released fairly recently, in October 2022. This game is a perfect combination of Limbus Company’s grim setting and Ark Knight’s fun Tower Defense gameplay loop. The game design and characters are very stylized which I personally love about the game. Path to Nowhere is basically a Tower Defense gacha game, with a fairly complex combat system that is easy to learn.
The main story and lore are also very well done and are quite dark, which might not be to everyone’s liking. The English voice acting is also spot-on and perfectly fits the stylized art style of the game. The gacha system is quite average, not too punishing or rewarding, and it is very much possible to be a F2P player in this game. Another important thing to note is that this game is only available on mobile devices, which is a bummer for PC players.
10. Brown Dust 2
- Release Date: June 22, 2023
- Developer(s): Neowiz Games
- Platform: PC, Android, iOS
Brown Dust 2 is a game straight out of an old-style JRPG, featuring stunning world design, and very sexually explicit characters. This game is the only 17+ rated gacha game on this list and it truly deserves it because the fan service is out of the chart. But ignoring the fan service, the game has a gorgeous world design, like old-style JRPGs. Octopath Traveler fans will instantly get what I am talking about after having one look at the game’s world.
The main storytelling is decent, the exploration is quite good, and the game features well-executed voice-acting alongside stunning visuals. Brown Dust 2 has a turn based combat system, where characters attack in specific grids, making their placements very important. The combat is fairly in-depth and fun to play. The gacha system is also fairly less exploitative, featuring a good reward system and a higher chance of dropping SSR characters.
9. Arknights
- Release Date: January 16, 2020
- Developer(s): Hypergryph, Studio Montagne
- Platform: Android, iOS
Arknights is widely claimed as the best Tower Defense gacha game on the market and it has a very dedicated player base to date. The game also has a good main story and lore, although a bit bloated. Almost everyone agrees that the story would be told much better if the game only removed the excess story events that only complicate the overall well-crafted storyline.
The combat loop is in the traditional Tower Defense style, where you set up your characters and let them defend against enemies as you use their skills. The combat can be quite challenging as you progress through the game, but not in a pay-to-progress way. It’s simple to learn while having the correct amount of complexities that make it rewarding to master. Other than that, the characters in the game are well-designed, and the voice acting is really well done. Also, the game is quite free-to-play friendly, having a lenient gacha system, which is one of the best points about the game.
8. Punishing: Gray Raven
- Release Date: July 16, 2021
- Developer(s): Kuro Games
- Platform: PC, Android, iOS
Punishing: Gray Raven features one of the best combat systems in gacha gaming, and it acted as the base for the recently released game Wuthering Waves from the same developer. The game features a highly impactful and responsive combat system that is incredibly fun and satisfying to play. I cannot express enough how fun the combat system is in Punishing: Gray Raven, while also being fairly simple to understand, but hard to master.
Sadly, the main storyline of the game is nothing to brag about and doesn’t hold up to many of the lower-ranked games on this list. Still, you cannot ask for better animation cut scenes and combat than offered by Punishing: Gray Raven. The gacha system is also fairly standard, and players can complete most content in the game while being F2P.
7. Zenless Zone Zero
- Release Date: July 04, 2024
- Developer(s): Hoyoverse
- Platform: PC, Android, iOS, PS5
Zenless Zone Zero is the latest addition to the gacha gaming space and another Hoyoverse game. It features a stellar combat system, gorgeous animations, and probably the best-designed characters currently in the gacha gaming space. The game is an action RPG and has different combat levels instead of an open-world. The hollow exploration is the weakest part of Zenless Zone Zero, as players have to go through a series of TVs while solving puzzles and when they do fight, they are generally very brief in the early game.
However, the characters are really well-designed and I love the sibling banter between the two main protagonists. So far, the story has a lighthearted tone in the early chapters, but I can see it become much more intense with more version updates. The story is something Hoyoverse never lets down on and Zenless Zone Zero has the best initial story execution out of all the Hoyoverse games. You can read my review of Zenless Zone Zero to learn further about the game.
6. Reverse: 1999
- Release Date: October 26, 2023
- Developer(s): Bluepoch
- Platform: PC, Android, iOS
Reverse: 1999 is another newly released turn-based card-based Strategy Gacha game, it is an absolute treat to play through. This hidden gem has gorgeous animations, well-crafted storylines and lore, top-tier character design, and extremely well-done voice overs.
The combat is fairly simple to learn but has a good depth to it. It’s a card game where the cards you pick dictate the actions your character takes in combat. Although the cards do have a tad bit of RNG, that’s how card games are in general. Overall, the game is definitely worth playing because of its design and storytelling, which I found one of the best in the genre.
5. Honkai Impact 3rd
- Release Date: October 14, 2016
- Developer(s): Hoyoverse
- Platform: PC, Android, iOS
Honkai Impact 3rd has stood the test of time and started it all for Hoyoverse, currently the most successful gacha gaming company. This game features everything you expect in a Hoyoverse game, a gorgeous world design, gorgeous and relatable characters, amazing storytelling, and a highly impactful action combat system.
Honkai Impact 3rd is still one of the best gacha games on the market, and new players can still it easy to get into. Also, the game is fairly free-to-play friendly, like most Hoyoverse games, and you won’t regret your time spent on this old gem.
4. Guardian Tales
- Release Date: May 08, 2024
- Developer(s): Netmarble
- Platform: PC, Android, iOS, PS4, PS5
Guardian Tales is a completely different style of Gacha game than everything on this list. The game feels like an old classic RPG and hits the nostalgia of long-term Zelda fans. Guardian Tales is a classic action-adventure game that looks and feels very similar to old-style RPG games. The world is designed beautifully and the main story is top-tier.
Although the game lacks the anime-style cut-scenes we are used to from the other games on this list, it still has a beautiful pixelated design and adorable visuals. The game doesn’t act as something it isn’t, and the unique art style alone makes it worth playing. The gacha system is also very free-to-play friendly and the events are packed with rewards. Overall, I consider Guardian Tales as one of the best gacha games to play in 2024.
3. Wuthering Waves
- Release Date: May 22, 2024
- Developer(s): Kuro Games
- Platform: PC, Android, iOS
Wuthering Waves took the gacha gaming space by storm, introducing incredibly well-designed combat systems that both look and feel amazing in a gacha game. The developers of Wuthering Waves — Kuro Games, also created Punishing Gray: Raven and it can be felt in the Wuthering Waves combat system. The open world of Wuthering Waves is gorgeous and exploration is an absolute treat, especially the ability to run up the walls, making climbing tall places satisfying. The characters are also well-designed and the developers actually consider and implements the feedback from the community.
However, Wuthering Waves also had a horrible launch, filled with performance issues, and it still hasn’t been completely fixed after more than a month of the release. The main story also needs a fair bit of work, same with the voice acting, but considering they are still in the early versions of the release, I only see the game getting better in the future. You can read my complete review of Wuthering Waves to learn more about the game. Other than that, the Gacha system is very free-to-play friendly, and the game rewards new players with two 5-star characters of their choice from the standard banner.
2. Genshin Impact
- Release Date: September 28, 2020
- Developer(s): Hoyoverse
- Platform: PC, Android, iOS, PS4, PS5
Genshin Impact is hands down the most successful gacha game of all time and it is the game that truly popularized the genre. For many Gacha game fans, Genshin Impact would be sitting at the top spot, but it only misses out against another Hoyoverse masterpiece for my list. Genshin Impact has the best-looking open world out of all gacha games, and the exploration alone is worth playing the game. Pair that with top-quality character designs, outstanding storytelling, and a well-crafted and unique combat system, there is absolutely no reason to not play it.
Genshin Impact is truly one of the best gacha games of all time and it still has its best years ahead. The upcoming version will introduce the Natlan region, which will add a ton of new content to the game. If you haven’t tried Genshin Impact yet, then this is the best time to get into it. The gacha system can be quite stringent, but the game is still free-to-play friendly.
1. Honkai: Star Rail
- Release Date: April 26, 2023
- Developer(s): Hoyoverse
- Platform: PC, Android, iOS, PS5
Honkai: Star Rail has become my favorite gacha game of all time, and easily takes the top spot of this best gacha game list. This game is a Turn Based Gacha RPG, with stunning visuals, gorgeous and relatable characters, and one of the best storytelling in the genre. Honkai: Star Rail also features some of the best end-game systems in gacha gaming, and they are constantly adding more every few versions. The game features some of the loveliest and most well-designed cast of characters, including a very likable, and goofy, protagonist.
The best part about the game’s storytelling is that it doesn’t stick to the main protagonist’s point of view, and allows players to play the story from other characters’ point of view. The recent Penacony story arc made this game my favorite gacha game in 2024, and I can only hope that they continue at the same level with future versions. The turn-based combat system is fairly simple, with a team of 4 characters, each having their unique abilities.
However, mastering the combat system is highly rewarding, especially in the end-game content. The gacha system is also quite lenient, with the game giving tons of rewards that allow F2P players to thrive without any issues.
