Imagine pulling out a card, not of a rare Charizard, but an article about Brad Pitt, which you send to battle against a random Romanian village or a law of physics.
Pokémon cards have some competition with the new game Wikipedia Gacha. The concept is addictive, simple, and uses classic “gacha” mechanics (a system of random reward acquisition). As The Gamer explains, players get 10 free packs daily, each containing five random cards, which means five real Wikipedia articles.
If you run out of packs, the system replenishes them every ten minutes. And as a cherry on top, after opening ten packs, you're guaranteed a rare “secret rare” card.
This project is probably the largest collectible card game in history. It features an incredible 6,746,498 different cards divided into seven rarity categories (from common to legendary). The rarity a card receives depends on the quality and ranking of the actual article on wikirank.net.
Battles in the game are based on comparing attack and defense:
| Battle Type: | Calculated From: | Represents: | Limit: |
| Attack | Number of Wikipedia article views × rarity multiplier | Attack represents the fame of the Wikipedia article | 15,000 points |
| Defense | Article text length × rarity | Defense represents the detail of the Wikipedia article | 15,000 points |
This system creates absolutely absurd and funny game situations. You’ll often find yourself in a bizarre match where your card of a small railway station in Mississippi fights to the death against a card of the 2022 American football season.
Success that Crashed the Servers
The game is free, includes daily missions, and has 40 unlockable achievements. Its only current problem is being too popular. Player interest is so overwhelming that servers can’t keep up, making opening packs often technically impossible. Once things settle down, though, Wikipedia Gacha has massive potential to become the next big internet obsession.
