Summary
Gacha games become quite the turn-off for some players due to having to “spend” to get ahead of the competition, with elements such as characters and upgrades locked behind a rolling mechanic. With gacha games likeGenshin ImpactandFate/Grand Orderoffering a pity system or a threshold that “guarantees” a rare character, it’s easy to be dissuaded or even be encouraged by the idea of spending to get that character or item on the banner.
However, players who want to give gacha a shot don’t necessarily have to spend money to have fun. While some free gacha titles can get rather tiresome for some gamers, certain gacha games still make the experience worthwhile for F2P players.
Updated on May 28, 2025, by Rhenn Taguiam:With hit gacha titles like Genshin Impact and Arknights staying as strong as ever, fans of gacha games might be wondering just what else are other free titles out there that are worth the investment — especially when it comes to character collection. Thankfully, there are indeed some games that are quite generous when it comes to giving players not just units but also decent stories. While certainly not juggernauts like HoYoverse titles, these games have the potential to make a mark in their respective niches. Some of these titles include quite the risque shooter, a prison-themed game set at the end of the world, a match-3 take on the Dragon Ball franchise, and a contender to Genshin Impact in terms of more improved concepts.
Android, iOS
Developer
Akatsuki
At first glance,Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battlecan be quite a difficult gacha title to get by — it’s technically just Match-3 withDragon Balllaid over it, right? Not necessarily — behindDokkan Battle’s mechanics that seemed to be taken straight fromCandy Crushis a surprisingly complex game. Set during a time disruption that tookDragon Ballcharactersand scrambled them in the present, fans who could ignore its wacky story will soon appreciateDokkan Battlefor its rather deep team-building and board-game mechanics. The core gameplay loop is as follows: players form a group of six who can buff each other with bonuses based on different factors have to “pop” orbs of certain colors to power up attacks — and even time Super ATKs for maximum damage.
The gacha element is present in the game’s world-building, where a character’s Leader, Link, and Passive Skills all matter in the teams that players eventually build. And, while the game is criticized for its abysmal Legendary Rarity pull rates and old (non-meta-friendly) characters in new banners, the game is often generous during most events and even gives players a quick way of farming currency to summon units — if they’re willing to grind for them.
SHIFT UP
The gameplay ofGoddess Of Victory: Nikkecould be best described as a point-and-shoot sniper game — only this takes place in third-person view, because it’s extremelyessentialthat players see their female operative’s thighs and lower extremities jiggle to the recoil. Set in a post-apocalyptic world where robots called Raptures can only be stopped by obedient soldiers called the Nikkes, players need to recruit Nikkes of different weapons, elements, and skillsets to fight waves of enemies and rather large bosses.
The rest of the gameplay is simple: assemble a team of four Nikkes, tap the target on the screen to shoot, use assigned abilities for effects, and switch to a different Nikke whenever necessary. Gacha-wise,Nikkeis quite generous to new players, while its hard 200 pity gives players a clear target when gunning for specific characters. Its alternate Mold system lets players collect tickets to roll for SSR units directly, making it much easier to get desired characters.
Kuro Games
While open world gacha titles find it difficult to avoid theGenshin Impactcomparison,Wuthering Wavessets itself apart by being more combat-focused than its more popular counterpart. WhileWuthering Wavesdoes let players dish out awesome skills in combat, much likeGenshin, the former now introduces intro and outro skills — essentially triggering some special effect whenever they enter and exit the battlefield. This can result in drastically new combinations for players, as synergies based on elements don’t just matter but also the order these characters enter the battlefield.
The game occurs in the distant future, where players called Rovers help the world heal from the calamitous Calament by recruiting Resonators. The game’s attempt to fuse old and new technologies reflects not just in its world but also its characters, boasting unique aesthetics with a pity system consisting of numbers not too far fromGenshin’s. Unfortunately, this does meanWuthering Wavesfalls into the same trap of gacha titles likeGenshin, where resource management is intensive, and its stronger units remain tied to gacha.
iOS, Android
AISNO Games, Ziyi Group
AlthoughArknightspopularized the tower defense gacha subgenre, some sayPath to Nowhereis a strong contender for a title that has equally decent mechanics. Set in the megalopolis DisCity in a post-apocalyptic world,Path to Nowherewill have players take the role of the chief of the Minos Bureau of Crisis Control as they recruit Sinners to aid them. Sticking to its prison theme,Path to Nowhereallures with its Korean-style art while keeping its lexicon consistent with Arrests (banners), Compliance (friendship levels), as well as Surveillance and Interrogations to improve relationships with Sinners.
WhilePath to Nowherehas strong gacha mechanics, it’s rather friendly to players — with 80-pull guarantees for S-ranks with separate banners that encourage strategic pulling. Gacha currency can also be earned with enough grinding, which supplements the game’s strong narrative component.
miHoYo
Fans of HoYoVerse titles who want to skip the fantastical premise ofGenshin Impactand the world-traveling sci-fi setting ofHonkai Star Railmight appreciateZenless Zone Zerofor a wild change of pace. Set in a world where pocket dimensions called Hollows have begun transporting monsters that devastated humankind, only the Agents of New Eridu and their stakes on the Hollows serve as the world’s last defense from total annihilation. This is where players come in, as their characters (either Wise or Belle from a brother-sister hacker duo) become embroiled in conflicts involving Factions across the world.
Aesthetics-wise,Zenless Zone Zerostuns with its retro vibe, with everything from architecture to character fashion all designed to provide some sense of nostalgia. Combat is just as flashy as it is forgiving, asZenless Zone Zeroheavily focuses on stringing combos in whichever way players find efficient - with character-switching emphasized to help trigger special effects. Its cast of characters is optimized to go wild in combat, all of which are pulled from Signal Search Banners. Similar toGenshin Impact, the limited-time Exclusive Channel yields an A-Rank and S-Rank Agent after 10 and 90 pulls, respectively, while their best weapons are pulled from the W-Engine Channel with a 10/80 ratio. There’s a Star-Studded Cast Banner (Permanent Banner) where there’s a guaranteed S-Rank Agent after the first 50 pulls and after 90 pulls thereafter, while a once-per-account 300-pull S-Rank guarantee also exists for players to enjoy.
MICA Team
Set in a world rendered largely uninhabitable due to the dangerous Collapse Fluid while androids known as T-Dolls fight humanity’s wars on their behalf,Girls Frontlineis both ways a traditional unit collection gacha with some army-focused combat spliced in. The story largely focuses on the player-controlled Griffin & Kryuger PMC tasked to stop the rampage of the rebelling AI of the Sangvis Ferri from eliminating humanity, with players tasked to recruit T-Dolls - mostly named after firearms - to accomplish this. The gameplay is turn-based with moments of automated combat, where players move across the map to fulfill missions while their units are sent to a combat zone to auto-fight enemies they meet. Players can activate upgradeable skills attached to their T-Dolls while they engage opponents, adding an element of real-time tactics to fights.
WhileGirls Frontlineoperates like other gacha systems where most T-Dolls are pulled from special currency, the accessibility of said currencies makes the game more bearable compared to other counterparts. The game boasts four resources that are technically farmable across different parts of the game. They may also be passively farmed, allowing players to enjoy gameplay while being able to proc pulls for banners they’re gunning for. This largely free-to-play approach has madeGirls Frontlinerather appealing to fans - especially when other modern gacha titles do offer free pulls but often after tedious grinding or with the caveat of not necessarily providing an appealing character.
BNE LLC
Despite its quirky visuals and UI,Naruto X Boruto Ninja Voltageis a surprisingly engagingNarutogame that is the closest fans could get to a casual team-up simulator. The title will have players build teams of four ninja, allcomposed ofNarutoheroes and villains- complete with variants that possess different elements and Jutsu Cards. Missions take place in isometric environments, where teams run around and defeat other characters either by manual control or through auto-battles. The game even has a town simulator mini-game, where the main menu is a version of Konoha that players steadily upgrade. Characters they unlock will also populate the village, paving the way for quirky easter eggs such as the Akatsuki leisurely strolling Konoha without a care in the world.
WhereNinja Voltagecan strike a gacha gamer’s fancy would be its innate generosity, especially when a lot of a newcomer’s free rolls would likely unlock a majority of the characters in the game. The grind comes in the form of Jutsu Cards, which can only be used by certain character variants. This forms a key part of both the customization and the overall meta inNinja Voltage, where leveled Jutsu Cards are mixed and matched across character setups to maximize buffs and combos.
Tencent Games
Alchemy Starsboasts quite an in-depth gameplay loop despite having a straightforward story, wherein players collect and unlock Aurorian warriors across different elements, classes, and factions to save Astra from invaders known as Eclipsites. InAlchemy Starsgameplay, players create teams of five characters that they take to an isometric grid-based battlefield, with tiles consisting of different colors. Whereas usual tactical RPGs will simply have characters move and attack based on several available tiles,Alchemy Starscharacters can only attack based on how many tiles of the same color they select - with some skills only being triggered based on specific tile requirements.
This in-depth strategic take is both a hit-and-miss for the game, as while replays of levels occur in the same battlefield but with different tile formations, the game also lacks the ability to auto-finish completed levels. Gacha-wise, the game is generous in its pulling resources, especially if players participate in events throughout banners. Quests can also help players unlock some of the game’s stronger characters, while the default 2% chance of winning the highest-rating 6-Star characters makes the game more generous compared to other popular titles.
KLab
Similar to other titles based on popular anime franchises,Bleach: Brave Soulsis a retelling of theBleachstory from the perspective of an isometric hack-and-slash team-building RPG. Highlights of the gacha title that could appeal to fans would be the game’s adaptation of not just the main story but even supplementary media like light novels, givingBleachfans and newcomers a more comprehensive take on Ichigo Kurosaki’s story than what the anime and manga could provide. Combat-wise,Brave Soulsis quite engaging for a standard-fare gacha title. Players create teams of three out of popularBleachcharacters, of which variants may exist across different types withdifferent skills.
A key part ofBrave Souls’replayability has to do with its assortment of modes, including a monthly Senkaimon tower mode that has progressively difficult stages. Unlike other gacha games,Brave Soulsis surprisingly F2P friendly: character progression rewards alone give players many character tickets, while weekly rewards and daily log-ins usually provide a premium currency that could help newcomers unlock a multitude of high-ranking characters that will propel them throughout both the story and early-game PVP.
Super Creative Inc.
The grand scope of the story ofEpic Sevenbegins with a simple premise: the player is the Heir of the Covenant, created by Goddess of Creation Diche to fight the Archdemon who’s already destroyed the world six times. While theanime-style visuals ofEpic Sevenadd a level of playfulness to its grandiose story, they also pave the way for enjoyable visual designs. Characters possess standard-fare gacha RPG mechanics, where they possess unique roles, abilities, and elements that possess type advantages.
Its F2P elements are similar to other gacha titles, where players who aim to play entirely for free have to save up pulling currencies through daily log-ins and special events. However,Epic Seven’sF2P is only gated from a PVP standpoint, as players who wish to focus on casual play can obtain most of the characters they need for story progression through F2P means. Unfortunately, while some players can luck out on obtaining powerful units by saving up on banners, leveling them up is amongEpic Seven’s criticisms as “true meta” builds can be locked behind tedious gear grinding.
