Introduction

Arknights Chinese: 明日方舟; pinyin: Míngrì Fāngzhōu; lit. Ark of Tomorrow is a free-to-play tactical RPG defense mobile game developed by Chinese developer Hypergryph. It was released in China on 1 May 2019, in other countries on 16 January 2020 and in Taiwan on 29 June 2020. Arknights is available on Android and iOS platforms and features gacha game mechanics.

Gameplay

The core gameplay is that of a tower defense game, with a number of characters known as operators as towers. Melee operators can be placed on ground tiles and ranged operators on elevated tiles. Melee operators physically block enemies from advancing, and ranged operators deal ranged damage, heal or otherwise support melee operators. Players must place operators on the correct tiles to prevent the enemy from infiltrating the player's base. Once in place, an operator's skills can be activated after a time for special effects, or they can be withdrawn for redeployment after a delay. Because there is often a limited number of viable solutions, especially at high difficulties, Arknights has also been described as a puzzle game. The gameplay does not require quick reaction times the game is pauseable, and time slows down while commands are issued, but rather on-the-spot tactical analysis and foresight. As the player progresses through the game, they unlock more stages, operators and resources, and are also introduced to new types of enemies and gameplay mechanics. Levels that have been cleared with a three-star rating can be auto-completed without player input, as the game records the player's actions and replicates them.