When it comes to gacha games, players don’t always necessarily look for the strongest units but rather characters with appealing designs or even compelling stories. This is what makes sultry characters of Nikke, riveting storylines of Fate/Grand Order Servants, and even spectacularly-designed Genshin Impact cast members so appealing for players. In turn, some gacha players may be turned off at the idea of games offering a limited cast of characters, especially since this leaves a lot of room for repeated acquisitions and designs growing stale rather quickly.
Thankfully, there are a handful of gacha games with stunningly-large rosters, perhaps more than enough to satisfy the cravings of a gacha fan looking for a lot of designs to sift through and characters to dream of acquiring. However, just which gacha games have the largest cast members?
10 Puzzle & Dragons (2,000+ Characters)
Platforms: Android, iOS
There haven’t been any shortage of puzzle games in mobile platforms, especially when both bored Gen-Z-ers and older users need something casual to entertain themselves. However, Puzzle & Dragons takes advantage of this rather “boring” genre to make a more engaging experience. In this RPG, players take control of a dragon who has to defeat various monsters using a strategic team they themselves assembled. Mechanically, this takes place across a match-three puzzle game.
However, the spin in the mechanics tie into its gatcha element. Players assign any one of the game’s more than 2,000+ characters into a team, with color matches indicating which units attack. The presence of units aren’t just for show, however, as they have unique abilities tied into them as well. Among the creatures in Puzzle & Dragons include monsters inspired by mythology and folklore, game-exclusive units, and even those from Puzzle & Dragons collabs such as the Kamen Rider franchise or even Gon Freecss from Hunter X Hunter.
9 Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle (2,000+ Characters)
Platforms: Android, iOS
Compared to the more action-packed Dragon Ball Legends, gameplay of Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle is rather more strategic. Players create teams of three (3) that they pit against enemy units, with battles played via bubble-popping puzzle games. Depending on how characters are arranged, certain bubbles enable units to use certain skills. And depending on how Dokkan Battle units are raised, they can access unique buffs and skills that further add interesting gameplay elements to make combat more enjoyable.
However, perhaps more impressive about the Dokkan Battle experience is its roster of more than 2,000 characters. While a lot of them include unobtainable units such as bosses, the mechanical elements that mesh collectible units and these unobtainable characters together add to the strategic appeal of the game. Not to mention, the game has almost every Dragon Ball character out there, with Dokkan Battle adding the same characters but of different rarities and types, and therefore other abilities.
8 One Piece Treasure Cruise (1,000+ Characters)
Platforms: Android, iOS
With the entire One Piece saga going over 1,000 chapters and counting, it’s not easy to catch up with the tales of Monkey D. Luffy and the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates. However, thanks to One Piece Treasre Crise, players finally have a shot. In this part-strategy, part-rhythm game experience, players assemble a team of five (5) characters out of a selection of more than 1,000 characters and engage in battles where victory is determined by attacks stringed together by rhythmic tapping.
When done correctly, these strikes can lead to special team-based combos that can deal more damage to opponents. Moreover, the game’s more streamlined and condensed version of retelling the One Piece story is a great way of introducing fans to the series without having to require them to deep dive into both the anime and the manga.
7 Fire Emblem Heroes (900+ Characters)
Platforms: Android, iOS
Fans of the Fire Emblem franchise almost always find themselves greeted with just how immersive and riveting each entry’s stories could get, with the mobile entry Fire Emblem Heroes following the same pattern. Set in a world at war between the nations Embla and Askr, the summoner or the player is called to aid the Kingdom of Askr and its Order of Heroes in the conflict. While nations at war aren’t unique in both Fire Emblem and other fantasy franchises, what sets Fire Emblem Heroes apart from other gacha games are two (2) things: its character roster and gameplay.
Primarily boosting the appeal of the game is its roster of more than 900 unique characters, all of which coming in the form of characters exclusive to Heroes or those from previous games as well as collaborations. Secondly, the game is a micro version of a Fire Emblem title, complete with simplified tactical mechanics that remain equally-compelling in terms of strategic options. Fire Emblem Heroes being somewhat of a “Fire Emblem Lite” is a match made in heaven for both franchise fans and those looking for a more straightforward strategy game.
6 Granblue Fantasy (600+ Characters)
Platforms: Android, iOS, Browser
Players who look at Granblue Fantasy and feel as though they’re playing a Final Fantasy game wouldn’t be surprised to learn how the game also features composer Nobuo Uematsu and art director Hideo Minaba, both of which collaborated in some earlier Final Fantasy entries. However, this is where similarities to the acclaimed franchise ends, as Granblue Fantasy offers its own take on a riveting fantasy story. Its tale begins when the player, also known as the Captain, comes to the aid of a mysterious girl named Lyria and an Imperial Officer named Katalina as an Erste Empire airship comes after them. When the Captain suffers a fatal wound, Lyria merges her soul with him and Katalina, inexplicably tying their fates together.
Aside from this interesting premise, the game also features a large cast of over 600 characters across Granblue titles. Moreover, the game also has a rather deep progression system, making it an interesting game to dive into for players who want a bit of complexity in character building without the pressure of PVP meta. For instance, characters not only have different rarities but also follow elemental systems that have their own strengths and weaknesses. Moreover, some characters are able to receive upgrades and star boosts depending on their progression, allowing players with more mundane rosters to contend with tougher battles without having to spend moey.
5 Azur Lane (600+ Characters)
Platforms: Android, iOS
It’s not every day that players get to encounter gacha games with new mechanics, and perhaps Azur Lane is the only title that hits the spot for players on the lookout for weird characters. While most Azur Lane characters look like the typical anime waifu, fans who observe them deeply enough will realize that each of the game’s 600+ characters are all based on ships. That’s because, at its core, Azur Lane is a mixture of strategy games and the bullet hell genre, with players building fleets of six (6) ships, where “ships” in this case are waifu hybrids that fit traditional battleship classifications with a dose of cuteness and immense firepower.
The game itself is a mixture of gunplay and strategic firing, where players can control their frontline characters and the direction where they are shooting, with the backline being able to deploy aircraft and artillery against tougher opponents. This added element of strategic firing combined with chibi waifu-ships attacking opponents make Azur Lane extremely interesting. Not to mention, its story where ships decide the fate of their originating countries in various historical events can make for a riveting yet funny alternate history.
4 Summoners War: Sky Arena (400+ Characters)
Platform: Android, iOS
Players who’ve had their fair share of mobile gaming would likely have heard of Summoners War: Sky Arena. Considering how the likes of other anime-themed gachas are already in the market, Summoners War having a strong following can be a surprise to newcomers - except perhaps for the fact that it offers quite a straightforward take on the genre.
Aside from its rather stereotypical fantasy story involving a war revolving around crystals, the enjoyable part of Summoners War has to do with its mechanics. The turn-based style of the game is reminiscent with almost any other fantasy title, but this time the existence of only a few major commands can make battles much faster and more enjoyable. Not to mention, having over 400 characters with a generous gacha system can make Summoners War a great starting option for newcomers who aren’t used to more merciless gacha mechanics.
3 Fate/Grand Order (370+ Characters)
Platforms: Android, iOS
Considered one of the most popular (and merciless) gacha games of all time, Fate/Grand Order is a self-contained take on the popular Fate franchise. Set in a time where the clandestine Chaldea Organization has tasked the players to travel in various Holy Grail Wars to ensure the world isn’t destroyed, players get the special ability to create contracts with multiple Servants to accomplish their mission. Considering its mobile format and existence of more than 370 characters, Fate/Grand Order may feel like a generic game. However, F/GO is far from generic across all its elements.
For instance, the game offers hours’ worth of visual novel gameplay across its multiple story arcs, far exceeding the franchise’s original Fate/stay night in both story and scope. Not only that, but while the gacha has a more merciless 330 pity per banner, the gameplay is deep enough that players can build effective teams with whichever Servants they have. Moreover, Servants not only have unique appearances but also skills and stories, with almost all Servants in the game having dedicated side stories and involvements in the plot that make them all the more meaningful to acquire.
2 Dragon Ball Legends (400+ Characters)
Platforms: Android, iOS
Fans of the Dragon Ball series who want to reexperience Goku’s adventures and battles will appreciate Dragon Ball Legends for its approach to action gameplay. Compared to bubble-bursting Dokkan Battle, Dragon Ball Legends and its roster of more than 400 characters takes the tag-team concept and makes it a playable mobile game. At its core, the game is an alternate history of sorts to the Dragon Ball story, where amnesiac Shallot finds himself in another timeline and has in turn begun intervening with Goku’s journey.
Its simplified approach to gameplay transforms Dragon Ball Legends into a fast-paced fighting game that introduces newcomers to the intensity of Dragon Ball fights between its characters in a breathable way due to auto-battle options while at the same time making fans feel like they’re also “living” Goku’s battles. Not only that, the gacha is fairly friendly to all players, with currency easy to acquire due to the farmable nature of missions (there are quite literally hundreds of chapters), alongside a deep character progression system that can easily encourage players to have favorites.
1 Arknights (270+ Characters)
Platforms: Android, iOS
In the dystopian world of Arknights, players take the role of an amnesiac Doctor who is the commander of Operators employed by self-defense pharma company Rhodes Island with a mission of finding a cure for Oripathy that is slowly turning humans to anthropomorphic animal hybrids that can cast Arts or magic. Its main gameplay loop is that of a tower defense game, where players position characters across a battle map and have them eliminate foes before they infiltrate the base.
However, where Arknights finds its appeal to players is within its gacha system. Boasting a roster of around 270+ characters, Arknights features Operators with unique animal-based designs while boasting an edgy tactical aesthetic - a nice breath of fresh air compared to other gacha titles. Not to mention, the lack of material-specific upgrades and extra components make character progression extremely straightforward in Arknights, with fair-enough gameplay that even lower-tier characters can accomplish levels with ease.