Gacha game
Also said as Gacha, Hero collector, Character collector
A game whose loop is earning currency through chores and spending it on random draws for characters. The name comes from gachapon, the Japanese capsule-toy machines. It promises the thrill of a rare pull, and a roster to show for it.
It pays for a free game by selling chances, so it is built around rates, pity counters and limited banners. Keeping that honest is hard: the same design can easily become a way to take too much money from those least able to stop.
Say it
“Show the odds on the banner itself: a 0.6% top rate with a hard pity at 90 pulls, shown as a counter. Pity carries over between banners, and we state in the same place what 90 pulls cost in money.”
Where you’ve seen it
Puzzle & Dragons (2012) showed how much money the model could make in Japan. Genshin Impact (2020) lists a 0.6% base rate for its top rarity on its banners and guarantees one within 90 pulls, which is the pity system this toy runs.
Not to be confused with loot box
A loot box is one way to sell a random item, in any type of game. A gacha game is built around that draw: the characters you pull are the game's progress.