Gacha games- the good, the bad and the ugly side
In this article, we would like to break down the positive and negative sides of the so-called Gacha games. If you haven’t heard of the gacha concept earlier, then we hope we can help you learn more about it, alongside its impacts and some of the most popular gacha games out there.
What is gacha?
You don’t have to be a weaboo to know what gacha is about but it’s definitely a model that’s build up and heavily relies on weaboos. (A Weaboo is a non-Japanese fanatic of Japanese culture; especially the anime-manga subculture and they are often into everything anime related, especially games).
Just like so many other games before, gacha is a Japanese model that stems from physical gacha machines ( like toy slot machines) which offer all sorts of collectable figures, toys, cards in relation with a specific anime, game or anything that can be deemed collectable. Today, gacha is extremely popular to be played on mobile phones where players can decide when and where they spend money. The extra twist in gacha is that while you can win something with a purchase, you often don’t know what you are getting or you are persuaded to buy something not that important just so that you can get closer to obtaining a rarity.
What gacha relies on?
Gacha is the pachinko of the gambling world. This means, it’s currently moving in the grey zone, as in not being clearly defined as a method of gambling, but it’s undeniable that the persuasive tactics used in gacha games for players to spend more and more money on collectibles on their way to get a so-called „Target” or extra rate collectible works undeniably just like in every casino. Gacha games rely on a small number of each fanatic who cannot resist the temptation to spend money.
The good
The good thing about gacha is that it can be freely played for a long period of time without players having to spend money in order to play.
The bad
Several persuasive tactics are applied in the game specifically targeting the collectors to persuade them to purchase a package, a card offering them the chance to find a rarity in a pack, which is unsure. Someone can end up spending a lot of money and win only low-quality cards in the end.
The ugly
Gacha can be heavily destructive and addictive for a specific sort of personality. These are called „whales” in the gaming world and can spend thousands of dollars in quest of a rare item or collectable.
Popular gacha games: the Alchemist Code, Fantasy War Tactics R, Puzzle and Dragons