Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links

App review by Chris Morris, Common Sense Media
Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links Poster Image

Common Sense says

age 9+

Basic but well-made card-dueling game deals an average hand.

iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android Free Card Games
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Parents say

age 10+

Based on 3 reviews

Kids say

age 7+

Based on 5 reviews

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  • Yu-gi-oh Duel Links Screen #1
  • Yu-gi-oh Duel Links Screen #2
  • Yu-gi-oh Duel Links Screen #3

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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.

Community Reviews

cucatok
cucatok Adult
December 30, 2021
age 12+

It was an enjoyable game, but now its not.

This game is clearly a pay to win. But now Komoney not even trying to hide their greediness. How are in their right mind introducing all these new summoning mechanics and overkill cards on 4000 LP game. I guess their logic is people will keep milking them money. Now, whenever you get a turn one in duel, you most probably will lose because you going to get OTK'ed on turn 2. Unless you have a right card at the right time. The RNG is the worst out there. Brick hands is everywhere, Usually the game will ends below 5 turns. Imagine that. You invest a lot of time and money on one deck, then they release another packs, automatically your deck become obsolete. Then you get OTK'ed on turn 2 because you dont have the latest cards after spending on obsolete decks 2 months before. Really think before you investing any money on these gatcha games. I have to give them credits during early release of this game, I enjoyed the early era on Duel Links and thank you for that. But now the game is just a showdown of which people who have spend their most money in.

This title has:

Too much consumerism
Feinsanity
Feinsanity Adult
June 25, 2021
age 9+

It's a great game that's more about strategy

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel links is a fun game but not so much as a pay 2 win. In the game you can play as your favorite character in any of the Yu-Gi-Oh series and battle your friends and other players online. The game is easy to play if you take the time to learn it as you play there's even tutorials in the game to teach you some interesting techniques. The shop is mostly a place where you can buy cards packs which you can purchased by either using real money or by using gems that are easy to obtain by doing the tutorial challenges, daily logins, weekly challenges, completing quests, even wining in online duels. But really cards are easy to obtain.

This title has:

Easy to play/use
See all 3 parent reviews

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

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