# Gakugame - WaniKani Companion — Kanji Reviews Without Burnout

> Kanji study companion for WaniKani users, focusing on manageable daily reviews and offline access. (iPhone/iPad app by Bold Flight.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/gakugame-wanikani-companion/id6755092872 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Bold Flight](https://appshunter.io/developer/1784639846)
- Category: Education
- Price: Free
- Rating: 4.90/5 from 8 App Store ratings · 5 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 9+
- Requires: iOS 17.6 · 103 MB
- Languages: American English, French (France), German (Germany), Japanese, Chinese (Simplified, China), European Spanish
- Released: 2025-11-11
- Data updated: 2026-08-22
- Monetization: free
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/gakugame-wanikani-companion/id6755092872/reviews.md

## What is Gakugame?

You opened WaniKani. Saw 300+ reviews. Closed WaniKani.
Gakugame is the WaniKani companion for the days you almost give up. Set a daily limit, chip away at your pile, and keep going — slow and steady wins the WaniKani.
DAILY REVIEW LIMITS
Choose how many reviews you can handle today. 10, 25, 50 — whatever works. No guilt, no overwhelm. Tomorrow, do a few more.
MULTIPLE CHOICE MODE
Blanking on a reading? Switch to multiple choice and keep moving. You're still learning. You're still showing up.
FORGIVING INPUT
Typed "old" instead of "older brother"? Close enough. Fuzzy matching so typos don't break your flow.
FIX MISTAKES
Misstapped? Mark it correct and move on. Be honest — 学亀 is watching.
WORKS OFFLINE
All mnemonics, radicals, kanji, and vocab cached on your device. Review on the subway, in the mountains, wherever.
SEARCH ANYTHING
Full WaniKani database search, instant and offline. That kanji on the tip of your tongue? Found it.
DAILY REMINDERS
One gentle nudge per day, timed to when you last studied. No spam, just consistency.
CHALLENGE FRIENDS
Kanji battles in iMessage. Who's been slacking? Find out.
NATIVE & SYNCED
Built in SwiftUI for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro, Apple TV and Apple Watch. Your API key syncs via iCloud — set up once, study anywhere.
Requires a WaniKani account. Free to use with your existing subscription.
Made by a WaniKani user who almost quit three times. The review pile was not a fun time. Now I do a little every day, and I'm still here. That's the goal.

## Key features

- Daily review limits
- Multiple choice mode
- Forgiving input
- Offline access
- Full database search
- Daily reminders
- Challenge friends

## Recent user reviews (5 of 5)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/gakugame-wanikani-companion/id6755092872/reviews.md

### 5/5 — Wanikani actually built for the Mac

*2026-08-11*

I love this app. I've tried a handful of third-party Wanikani clients, and Gakugame is the first one that doesn't feel like a wrapped-up web page. It's fast, it's native, and reviews just fly by. Everything responds instantly to the keyboard. There is very little reaching for the mouse, no lag between typing an answer and moving to the next card. For something I do every day, that snappiness makes a real difference. Highly recommend if you want your reviews to feel less like a chore and more like a well-made tool.

### 5/5 — Solid companion app!

*2026-08-11*

Love the design of the app, everything is really well thought out and sleek. Probably the best app on iPhone for wanikani. 

I knocked off a star because 2 reasons

1. Love reviewing burned items with multiple choice! Seriously a game changer but when reviewing burned items it maxes out at 50 for some reason? And when you do finish the 50 and try to do another 50 it’s the same exact 50 as before. So basically the only burned items you can review are the 50 that it chooses and nothing else. Maybe let me do my full burned or at least change the 50 after I’ve already done those. 

2. Would like to see at least the kanji composition for words that include two or more kanji and kanji with hiragana. And the ability to click those kanji and go to their page to see their meaning and readings. Most have these as clickable links within the descriptions but there are some that don’t. Examples include: 去る(さる), 有毒(ゆどく), 仏教 (ぶっきょう)
Best work around I’ve found is have wanikani web page up. Gokugame easy copy function, swipe the bottom to jump to the website and search it on wanikani.


Great app tho love everything else about it.

UPDATE: wow this app is now perfect for me! Thank you so much for the update! This is top tier stuff! Changed my rating from a 4 to 5 amazing.

Note: some don’t have the composition kanji still example is 場合(ばあい) the icon at the top also become smaller and doesn’t have the usual click to copy to clipboard for some reason.

**Developer response:** Hey thanks for the compliments and feedback! 

I hear you on burned items, it was an oversight that kept repeating the same 50, try the new 1.2 update it makes it much better, still a little tedious to setup large burn piles, but now you can customize and pick what you want to go through. I'll keep improving the experience in future versions.

Also in this update, better links and compositions between items, all those examples should be resolved now, and there's a new "made from" section that shows the radicals that form kanji, and the kanji that form vocab words, and you can jump between them all.

### 4/5 — Best way to review on the go

*2026-08-08*

Really nice app for keeping up with reviews and lessons on the go. Thanks for making it.

Only a few nitpicks: 
it seems it doesn’t handle words with ー well and always tries to put the character at the back. 

I was looking forward to trying out the offline mode on an airplane but it seems even if you download the reviews the app itself is not prepared to function offline so you get stuck launching it. Maybe i did something wrong.

**Developer response:** Hey thanks for that and sorry they're bugs I missed; you're not doing anything wrong, offline mode is broken, will fix on the next release (1.2.1) and investigate the typing - character problems.

### 4/5 — I prefer this to vanilla WaniKani

*2026-07-08*

More customization that suits my needs across multiple platforms. It’s better than base WK by far. There are a few quality of life features I’d like, but I expect they’re working on it as I’ve given feedback in the WK thread.

### 5/5 — The WaniKani iOS App We Needed

*2026-01-16*

This app is exactly the kind of WaniKani app I’ve been hoping for ever since I started using it! It’s got a beautiful and sleek design and is really a perfect way to do your reviews. After intermittently searching “WaniKani iOS app” for years I can finally rest. Fantastic work!

**Developer response:** The turtle is pleased you can be at rest! Thank you very much!

## Frequently asked questions about Gakugame

### Does Gakugame have ads?

No, Gakugame is ad-free. It is free to use with your existing WaniKani subscription.

### How does Gakugame help with WaniKani burnout?

Gakugame allows you to set daily review limits, choose multiple-choice mode when stuck, and offers forgiving input to reduce frustration and overwhelm, making consistent study more achievable.

### Can I use Gakugame offline?

Yes, Gakugame works offline. All mnemonics, radicals, kanji, and vocabulary are cached on your device for study anywhere.

### What devices does Gakugame support?

Gakugame is built in SwiftUI and supports iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro.

### How often is Gakugame updated?

The latest version is 1.1.6, and it was last updated on April 21, 2026. Updates are generally frequent to improve the user experience.

### Does Gakugame require a WaniKani account?

Yes, Gakugame requires a WaniKani account to function. It syncs your progress using your API key via iCloud.

### What is the age rating for Gakugame?

Gakugame has an age rating of 9+, making it suitable for a wide range of learners.

### Can I challenge friends with Gakugame?

Yes, Gakugame includes a feature for kanji battles in iMessage, allowing you to challenge friends and see who is keeping up with their studies.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.2.1 — 2026-08-19

Offline mode is fixed.
Added study notes and improved synonym editing.
Added “Made From” information during study sessions.
Daily goals can now be entered directly with the keyboard as well as increment by 5
Improved hints, retries, skipping, and automatic advancement.
More notification options
Other bug fixes

### 1.2.0 — 2026-08-09

Gakugame 1.2 is a major upgrade to studying and progress tracking:
See a detailed seven-day review forecast, including upcoming SRS progress.
Enjoy clearer quizzes with improved hints, answer feedback, reading guidance, pronunciation audio, automatic advancement, and the option to correct grading mistakes.
Explore WaniKani levels more easily with improved search, sorting, item grids, and subject details.
Personalize multiple-choice behavior, kanji fonts, appearance, privacy, and more through a redesigned Account area.
Get more accurate daily goals, streaks, widgets, complications, and offline study progress.
Enjoy smoother lessons, clearer dashboards, better layouts across Apple devices, and many accessibility, localization, stability, and performance improvements.

### 1.1.8 — 2026-06-23

Fixes for watchOS complications
General stability improvements with large offline review caches

### 1.1.7 — 2026-05-25

Fixes for multiple choice options

### 1.1.6 — 2026-04-21

Many a bugs were squashed, the turtle arose victorious 
You can now edit and delete (as well as add) your synonyms from the app

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## More apps by Bold Flight

- [M Bench](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/m-bench/id1568168370)
- [Bible Manuscript](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bible-manuscript/id6738885123)

All apps by Bold Flight: https://appshunter.io/developer/1784639846

## Related topics

[gakugame](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/gakugame) · [kanjimado for wanikani](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/kanjimado-for-wanikani)

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-22.*