Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links
Common Sense says
- iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android
- Free
- Card Games
Parents say
Kids say
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A lot or a little?
The parents' guide to what's in this app.
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links is an action-based card game that uses strategic methods. Players compete to win matches against live opponents or in a single-player campaign to win matches, based on the cards they hold in their decks. The cards that have higher attack points win. This means there's some pressure either to buy higher-level cards or play for long stretches to earn more advanced cards, so parents might want to be on guard for in-app purchases. There's no inappropriate content and, despite this being a battle-centric game, there's no violence shown on-screen. Worried about what the publisher does with your data? Be sure to read its privacy policy.
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User Reviews
- Parents say
- Kids say
Card Packs are like Loot Boxes, and they nerf/limit cards (p2w to keep meta)
Perfect.
What's it about?
In YU-GI-OH! DUEL LINKS, players compete against each other and the game's artificial intelligence to win card duels. Players take turns and draw cards, using them strategically. Each card has attack and defense points, but ultimately the card with the highest attack points wins. Each player begins with a set number of "life points." The difference between the attack points is taken off the loser's life points. The game is played in two phases: the summoning phase (where you position your monsters, which attack) and the battle phase, where they fight. The first to hit zero points loses the game.
Is it any good?
Card games are becoming fairly common in app stores, but having a well-known property behind yours never hurts. Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links has everything you'd expect from a duel-based card game but doesn't have a lot of real surprises. The artificial intelligence is weak, and the player-vs.-player is a bit hard to find initially. It's certainly fun -- and will be especially fun for fans of the franchise -- but there's nothing especially new here. The game relies a bit too heavily on its franchise roots and doesn't look to broaden the category.
The voice acting in the game gets a bit tiresome. And you'll have to go through a number of poor AI opponents before you can take on human ones. This can be frustrating since, while it's meant as a tutorial, the game-generated opponents are too weak to really teach you much. It's fun for a while, but you have to slog through a fair bit of boring play before you face anything (or anyone) especially interesting.
Talk to your kids about ...
Families can talk about planning ahead and being prepared for threats yet to come. Can you use the strategy from this game in real life?
Talk about wise spending habits. Do you really need to spend cash to get better cards, or can you actually wait for them over prolonged play?
App details
- Devices: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android
- Price: Free
- Pricing structure: Free
- Release date: March 18, 2017
- Category: Card Games
- Size: 186.00 MB
- Publisher: Konami Digital Entertainment
- Version: 1.4.1
- Minimum software requirements: Requires iOS 8.0 or later; Requires Android 4.4 and up
- Last updated: March 28, 2017
Our editors recommend
For kids who love strategy
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.