Gacha Life Mobile

A Gacha game that strips out all of the extras.

What's in a Game?

Mobile games come in all shapes and sizes. Some of the most popular mobile games today aren't even what one would've called 'games' just a few years ago. Gacha Life Mobile falls into that category, combining something that feels an awful lot like an art tool with some basic mini-games to give players a way to embrace their own creativity. Whether it does so successfully, however,

Creating Scenes

At its heart, Gacha Life mobile is about creativity. It's not so much a game as a tool that allows you to create your own short scenes using pre-rendered tools. It's not exactly a new concept, of course, as plenty of games have done similar things in the past. Where Gacha Life separates from the pack is in the form of its Gacha mechanics.

The real concept of this game can probably be summed up in a question: What if you had to spend a lot of money making some fairly simplistic animations?

This game feels exceptionally mercenary, even for a mobile title. Players are given enough options to feel like they've got choices, but everything centers around, making players feel like they've got to spend.

Commercial Art

Given that Gacha Life is all about making scenes, one would hope that it would put some time into looking good. While its graphics aren't exactly going to hurt your eyes, you'll also wonder why a game that looks like this ends up costing so much. It has a certain anime aesthetic that certainly appeals to some, but it's largely the kind of thing that you'd expect to see on a phone game from half a decade ago.

The audio's no better, by the way. The real work goes into the pictures, which you're going to be urged to buy. What sounds that exist in the game are serviceable at best and a little annoying at their worst. This isn't a game that has had a lot of love put into its audio-scape.

Spend to Win

Do you like to make cartoons with pre-drawn characters? Do you think it's fun to arrange things on a background to make your own little scene? If so, you'll love Gacha Life. If you expect anything more, though, you're going to be disappointed. This is a game that's all about making the modern equivalent to old web-toons, with more money attached.

There are, of course, mini-games, but they're all about trying to get you invested into the real money ecosystem.

The mini-games range between boring and annoying, and they're only there to remind you that premium currencies exist. You could completely ignore them if you are willing to spend cash, which is largely what the developers are hoping for with this game.

Caveat-Wants your money

Gach Life wants your money. It might provide you with a little entertainment along the way, but it never stops reminding you that the most important thing you can do is to buy premium currency. That's fine if you love creating scenes, but players must go into the process with their eyes wide open.

TL/DR

Gacha Life Mobile is a life sim/scene-maker with heavy monetization elements.