simplified Chinese: 明日方舟; pinyin: Míngrì Fāngzhōu

Arknights

Arknights (Chinese: 明日方舟; pinyin: Míngrì Fāngzhōu, which directly translates to ‘Ark of Tomorrow’) is an online free-to-play mobile game created by Hypergryph.
It was released in China in 2018 and came to global servers in 2020. This is accessed by both iOS and Android software (although there are people who also emulate it onto their computers). It is a strategy-based ‘tower defense’ game. While the game’s main playstyle is tower defense, a variety of features are incorporated into the game that make it stand out from the rest. This includes the ‘gacha’ and management features.

The game is rich with story. It starts off with the protagonist (called the ‘Doctor’), who has woken up with no recollection of the surrounding world. However, there are no defining features of the Doctor which may imply that they may be fully human compared to many of their animal-like counterparts. The game’s story revolves around the divide between the people and the Infected, who had become inflicted with Originium. This gave birth to of two main organizations: “Rhodes Island” and the “Reunion”. These two organizations are against each other through their own methods of liberating the Infected. One side, Rhodes Island is attempting to find a cure while the other side uses the suffering of the Infected to start violent rebellions.

The main units of the game are referred to as ‘Operators’. Like many free-to-play mobile games, These Operators are obtained through headhunting, which can be done through gambling or using the scouting feature. This is due to the wide array of playable characters to promote team building and synergies. Unlike most games, Arknights is the least predatory regarding the rates of acquiring a rare Operator. The rates are low but balance out from the easy acquisition of the game’s currency and resetting the guaranteed drop every cycle. Operators are differentiated by class and rarity. The class they are assigned to determines the fighting style or “battle tactic” used.

This management feature includes having a “Homebase” for every Operator enlisted to stay in. It gives the player a chance to interact with as well as assign tasks to characters. Some of these tasks are gathering intel, fusing refinement materials, manufacturing currency, and creating promotional materials to increase the level of Operators. This also increases the friendship of Operators and gives different perks that will give an upper hand during the game.

With a game that has garnered popularity worldwide, the developers were able to transcend the series from being solely a mobile game. Two new games are being developed, “Ark: Release” and “Arknights: Endfield” which will appear as computer games. There are also official spinoffs or physical goods for Arknights like an animated series, song albums, and art books. They have even collaborated with locations in China to set up pop-up cafes that promote Arknights.https://www.siliconera.com/the-doctor-is-in-as-arknights-is-available-worldwide/

https://www.arknights.global/

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