Arknights

The core gameplay is that of a tower defense game, with a number of characters ("operators") acting as towers. Operators have distinct personalities and possess unique combat abilities, whose power depends on their rarity.

Operators are divided into eight classes—Vanguard, Guard, Defender, Sniper, Specialist, Medic, Caster, and Supporter—each with multiple sub-classes. 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 Once in place, an operator's skills can be activated after a time for special effects, or they can be withdrawn for redeployment after a delay.

The game is set in the dystopian, apocalyptic future setting of the planet Terra, where people exhibit kemonomimi features – characteristics of animals or mythological races. Natural disasters leave behind a valuable mineral, Originium, which infects people with a progressive disease, Oripathy, but can also enhance the ability to use "Arts" (magic). Because Oripathy is infectious under certain conditions and invariably fatal, the infected are shunned and persecuted. In response, some of them form the Reunion movement, a militant group waging war on the despotic governments of Terra.

The main story and some event storylines of Arknights revolve around the estrangement of people infected with Originium and the conflicts that ensue between the infected and the non-infected. The conflicts among the countries of Terra, the struggles of various communities and divisions among various races, and the battles between humans and non-human creatures are important components of the worldview and plot of the game.

Pocket Gamer highlighted the game's extensive lore and high production values. Julia Lee of Polygon said that the gacha system is better than in Nintendo and Cygames' Dragalia Lost, and wrote that "Arknights is the only gacha game I recommend to people" because of its art design, lack of purchase pressure and competition, and limited grind, and Sisi Jiang of Kotaku noted that Arknights is rare among gacha games in that its easily obtainable characters are better in some circumstances than the game's rare, high-powered operators.

The game was nominated for Google Play "Users' Choice Game" at the Best of 2020 awards and for "Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Mobile Game" at the 2020 Dragon Awards. It won an award as one of the Best Innovative Games of 2020.