How Gacha Life works

Gacha Life is a free roleplaying game where players create and customise their own characters. For each character that a player creates, there are a range of customisable options. These include outfits and accessories as well as appearance of each character.

Players use the characters they create to make scenes which can be built into a short story. There are a range of in-app games available for users to play as well as in-app purchases.

There are many other games within the Gacha franchise and Gacha Life. Gacha subsets have a huge following on social media platforms, such as YouTube and TikTok. It is on these third-party platforms where players can upload the stories they create within the Gacha Life game. One Gacha Life subset available on other platforms is Gacha Heat, which features the characters from Gacha Life in highly inappropriate and sexualised videos.

Minimum age requirements

Gacha Life has been given an age rating of 9+ on the Apple App Store and PEGI 3 in the Google Play Store. However, the Gacha Life privacy policy states that the game is not meant for children under the age of 13.

Features

Anime

This refers to a style of Japanese film and television animation.

Gacha

A Japanese word that refers to small toys that can be purchased from vending machines.

Gacha games

Within the platform, there are mini-games users can play where they can win free ‘gems’ as an award. Gems can be used to purchase ‘Stamina’ or to buy virtual gifts to give to other ‘NPCs’ in the game.

Gacha Heat

Sexually explicit content made by users of Gacha Life who upload their videos to other platforms like TikTok or YouTube. The content is often violent, heavily sexualised and inappropriate for younger viewers.

Gems

The main in-game currency. Gems can be acquired through playing the game, or by purchasing them with real money.

Idling

This refers to sitting still in order to increase stamina.

Life mode

Here, players can explore different areas and scenes within the game with their characters and meet new ‘NPCs’ and chat with them.

NPC

Stands for non-player characters. These are computer-operated characters rather than user-operated. Players on Gacha Life can interact and chat with these characters.

Skit Makers

Players can combine up to 100 different scenes to create sketches or stories with up to 2 characters.

Stamina

Characters can run out of stamina after certain activities. To replace it, players can get their characters to sit still or they can buy more stamina with gems.

Studio mode

This is where players can create their own scenes within the game and add text to their characters. Players can include up to 8 characters in their scene.

What Gacha Life offers

Creativity

Gacha Life allows users to:

design characters
create locations
make their own short stories

This gives them a way to turn their imagination into actual stories others can read. It can also motivate them to create more stories in future.

Managing risks

Inappropriate content

Gacha Life has a large following on other platforms such as YouTube and TikTok, where players upload the stories they have created in the game. The content on third-party platforms is extensive and varied. It is not hard to find content created by players involving violent and sexualised stories using Gacha Life characters. This type of content may be upsetting for your child.

You can take actions to reduce the risk of exposure to inappropriate content.

Encourage them to stay within the app

Asking your child to avoid searching for Gacha on YouTube and TikTok will prevent them from being exposed to inappropriate content, such as Gacha Heat. Encouraging them not to click on ads will also stop them from being taken out of the app and to other games intended for older users.

Talk about inappropriate content

Tell your child that they can come to you for support if they see any Gacha Life content that is upsetting or confusing. Reinforce that these anime-style characters do not reflect reality.

Consider supervision tools

Monitoring apps can help you stay aware of what content your child is trying to access on their device. They will alert you if your child is watching inappropriate Gacha Life videos. This will allow you to react and prevent further exposure.

Overspending

Users have the ability to purchase ‘gems’ using real money. Young people might struggle to recognise these digital purchases as having a real cost, leading them to overspend. There are also adverts on the game, which could encourage young people to purchase products that they would otherwise not be exposed to.

These steps can help reduce the chances of overspending.

Set spending restrictions

In the settings of your child’s device, you can set spending restrictions so that any purchases require your permission.

Talk about spending

Teach your child to recognise that money spent on the game is still real money. Comparing the cost of gems to things they could buy outside of the game for the same price can help them understand the value of their in-game spending.

Settings to protect your child

These settings can help keep your child safe while playing Gacha Life.

Disable purchasing

Disable in-app purchases (on iOS)

With Screen Time enabled, go to ‘Settings’.
Open ‘Screen Time’ and select ‘Content & Privacy Restrictions’.
Turn on the toggle next to ‘Content & Privacy Restrictions’.
Select ‘iTunes & App Store Purchases’.
Select In-app Purchases and select ‘Don't Allow’.

Disable in-app purchases (on Android)

Go to ‘Google Play Store’ app.
Select the profile icon.
Select ‘Payments and subscriptions’.
Select ‘Purchase verification’.
Select ‘Verification frequency’.
Set it to ‘Always’ and select ‘OK’.

Gacha Life

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