What is a gacha game? How hundreds of games stay free to play

We're explaining what exactly a "gacha game" is, and the risks you need to be aware of.

Infinity Nikki / Infold/GLHF

Gacha games are everywhere now. They’ve been filling Google Play and the App Store for years, and now you can play plenty of them on PC or even console. The gacha game “genre” is stronger than ever, and it’s leading people to ask one, simple question: what is a gacha game?

Unlike other game “genres” which are typically defined by the type of world you explore, how you interact with that world, and from what perspective (like “open-world first-person shooter”), gacha games are primarily defined by the way the game makes money.

“Gacha” is a Japanese onomatopoeia taken from “gachapon,” which refers to the capsule machines that dispense small, random toys in exchange for a coin or two. You’ve probably bought a toy from one of these machines as a youngster, or have at least seen a few of them in a shopping center or a toy store. These machines exchange a small amount of money for a random prize, and that’s how gacha games make money too.

All of Genshin Impact's cool characters are locked behind gacha. / HoYoverse

Instead of giving you a physical toy, gacha games make money by giving you digital rewards. In games like Genshin Impact these rewards are playable characters and essential gear to equip them with, in Infinity Nikki it’s fashionable clothing and makeup, and games like Apex Legends and Overwatch have featured “loot boxes” that reward you with highly sought-after cosmetic items. The recent and incredibly popular Pokémon TCG Pocket’s booster packs are also another form of gacha.

The connecting theme between all of these games is that the random items they sell – sometimes called loot boxes, at other times referred to as pulls – are incredibly popular, and a big reason for that is that gacha mechanics can trigger addictive personalities. Getting a random reward shares a lot of DNA with the modern gambling industry, and extreme spenders – known as “whales” – can spend thousands of dollars on attempting to obtain a single in-game item.

The rarest Pokémon TCG Pocket cards will tempt you into buying booster packs. / The Pokémon Company

Some games do occasionally feature gacha-like mechanics, but will not offer a method to pay real money to use it. An example is Xenoblade Chronicles 2, where you can receive randomized Blades to fight alongside, but you can only interact with this mechanic by using in-game currency that cannot be paid for. As a game mechanic it’s questionable if gacha in a form like this is actually “fun,” but it is at least less morally objectionable.

Despite sharing a monetization system, gacha games rarely share a genre. Dozens of mobile gacha games, like Granblue Fantasy and Fire Emblem: Heroes, will have you pull for new characters to use in simplistic RPG battles, while the aforementioned Genshin Impact and Infinity Nikki are different kinds of open-world games. Gacha games often share that same monetization system, but the gameplay is rarely the same from game to game, unlike other game genres.

Zenless Zone Zero is another successful gacha game. / HoYoverse

The main thing you should know before playing a gacha game is that it is overtly designed to have you invest your money in it. Early portions of gacha games will often offer the player in-game currencies that have a large perceived value entirely for free, but slowly cut off this resource over time, tempting you into spending to keep up the same level of progress. Gacha games can be very fun and rewarding, but like gambling in a casino, you have to remain aware of how much money you’re spending and spend wisely.

If you should take one lesson away from this article, it’s this: spending money on gacha pulls or loot boxes shares a lot of DNA with gambling, with none of the monetary reward. Gacha games can lull you into a sense of security while draining your bank account. If you choose to play one, make sure to stay aware of how the game pushes you towards spending money, and if you choose to spend, set a manageable, personal limit. Gambling can ruin lives, and no game is worth that outcome.