Arknights

Strategy

7.5~~/10~~

Our score

★ 4.4 Google Play·5M+ installs

Reviewed by Editorial Team, ScoredApps editorial · updated 2026-09-07

Screenshots

Base terminal menu beside a dark-haired operator, with the story line I accuse you, Sonya

Stage map of a snowy city beside a white-haired operator, captioned They drew them back together

Squad preparation screen with a silver-haired operator and a line about nobles and common sense

Workshop crafting screen beside a red-haired operator in a burst of golden light

Recruitment results row of operator cards beside a pink-haired operator passing judgment

About Arknights

A tower defence game with a gacha attached: place operators on a grid, block lanes with melee units, cover them with ranged ones, and solve each map as a puzzle rather than a reflex test. The writing and art are unusually serious for the format. Apple lists loot boxes at 13+, and the install is 3.4 GB.

Game information

DeveloperYOSTAR (HONG KONG) LIMITED

Version36.7.22

Size1.9 GB (Android) · 3.4 GB (iOS)

Price / In-appFree

Contains adsNo

In-app purchasesYes

Content rating13+

Requires (Android)Android 7.0+

Requires (iOS)iOS 13.0+

Offline modeNone — stages and roster both run on the server

Interface languagesEN

Store rating (Google Play)4.4 from 206,941 ratings

Installs5M+

Updated by developer2026-08-13

Data checked2026-09-07

Specs come from the official store listings and were last checked on 2026-09-07. Developers change pricing and requirements — check the store page before installing.

Arknights Review: Tower Defence With a Real Puzzle

Placement Is the Whole Game

Operators cost deployment points and occupy tiles: melee units block a set number of enemies and hold a lane, ranged units cover from behind, medics heal, casters cut through armour. Once placed, a unit stays until you retreat it, so a map is solved by choosing an order and a geometry rather than by reacting. Levels can be replayed until the sequence works, and the difficulty comes from enemy composition rather than from stat inflation — which is why the community treats hard stages as puzzles with published solutions.

The Presentation Takes Itself Seriously

The setting is a plague-ridden industrial world with factional politics, and the writing carries it: long scripted chapters, named characters with arcs, and art direction closer to a graphic novel than to the bright fantasy of its competitors. Events add self-contained stories with their own maps and mechanics. It is the only game in this catalogue where the strategy layer and the narrative are pitched at the same audience rather than one carrying the other. A base-building layer sits behind the campaign, where operators are assigned to factories and dormitories to generate materials while you are away.

Originium, a Monthly Card and a $25.99 Pack

The App Store lists originium from $0.99 to $99.99, a monthly card at $4.99, a weekly growth pack at $9.99 and a monthly headhunting pack at $25.99. Apple rates the game 13+ and names loot boxes; the install is 3.4 GB. Google Play shows 4.4 stars from 207,000 reviews on 5 million installs — a smaller audience than the open-world gachas here, and a more consistent one, with the App Store average at 4.7 from 10,000 ratings. Seven years of updates sit behind those numbers, which for a mobile game is its own kind of endorsement.

Pros

Maps are solved by placement rather than reflexes
Difficulty comes from composition, not stat inflation
Serious writing and art direction throughout
No advertising anywhere in the game
Rated 4.7 on the App Store across 10,000 ratings

Cons

A 3.4 GB install for a two-dimensional game
Apple lists loot boxes among the contents
The monthly headhunting pack costs $25.99
Hard stages assume you will look up solutions

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Verdict

The most intelligent gacha in this catalogue: real tactical puzzles, difficulty built from enemy composition rather than numbers, and writing that expects an adult audience. The economy is the genre's standard — recruitment by chance, a $25.99 monthly pack — but the game underneath rewards thinking rather than spending. The strongest recommendation here for anyone who likes strategy.

Gameplay8.5Genuine tactical puzzles where a solved map stays solved.

Controls8.0Drag operators onto tiles and set a facing; nothing depends on speed.

Replay value8.0Years of events, roguelike modes and a base-building layer between them.

Graphics & sound8.0Distinctive illustration and a strong soundtrack; the maps themselves are plain.

Monetisation5.0Loot boxes, a $25.99 monthly pack and currency reaching $99.99.

7.5out of 10 · weighted average of the five scores above

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Frequently asked questions

Can it be played offline?

No. Stages, the operator roster and the base all live on the server. Progress is saved to the account rather than the device, which matters because the game runs long campaigns that survive changing phones.

What does it sell?

Originium from $0.99 to $99.99, a monthly card at $4.99, a weekly pack at $9.99 and a monthly headhunting pack at $25.99. Currency buys recruitment attempts, which Apple lists as loot boxes. Stages themselves are never paid content.

How much space does it need?

3.4 GB and iOS 13 or later, which is heavy for a two-dimensional strategy game and explained by the voiced story, illustrations and years of accumulated events rather than by the maps.

Is there multiplayer?

No co-op. Friends lend operators for stages and the base system has a small social layer, but every map is solved alone. That fits the design — a shared puzzle would undermine the point of finding the sequence yourself.

How long is a stage?

Two to four minutes once you know the solution, considerably longer while working one out. Sanity, the stamina currency, caps how many reward-bearing stages a day, so the routine is short sessions with the occasional long puzzle.