Drancia vs Kotodama Diary
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Drancia
Embark on an arcade-style action RPG adventure with a charming cast and retro pixel art. Chain combos to earn coins, level up your skills, and battle diverse monsters. Unravel the game's mysteries with a killer chiptune soundtrack.
- Arcade-style action RPG
- Retro pixel art graphics
- Combo chaining for coins
- Skill tree progression
- Diverse characters
- Unique boss battles
- Vintage chiptune soundtrack
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This action RPG features an amusing cast of characters and has an arcade-like feel! Chain combos to rack up coins and level up through the skill tree! Defeat hordes of monsters and unravel the mystery of Drancia! ・Retro-style, cute pixel art graphics! ・Smooth controls and loads of extras to enjoy! ・Unique bosses in every stage! ・Over fifty different types of characters to play as! ・A killer soundtrack of over 20 vintage, Famicom-style chiptunes! *Drancia was originally released in 2008 by Skipmore as a web-based game entitled Drancia Survival. Now it’s been powered-up for smartphones!
Kotodama Diary
Nurture unique virtual pets whose evolution is determined by the words you choose. Decorate their rooms, dress them in accessories, and discover over 100 bizarre species. A relaxing game for those who enjoy collecting and quirky characters.
- Word-based pet evolution
- Collect over 100 species
- Room decoration
- Accessory customization
- Gacha system for items
- Relaxing gameplay
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"Are you looking for a cute pet? Too bad! Kotadama Diary's characters evolve depending on the words which you feed them, and could even grow up into something... unexpected. Weird characters, happy characters, sad characters, lovely characters, rude characters, and even, yes, simply cute characters—There's something for everyone! Can you feed them the right words to make them evolve into a new species? Try your best while you decorate your room with your favorite furniture. And you don't even need to clean up! Kotodama Diary is a simple, entertaining game that lets you have fun with bizarre characters that evolve depending on your choices! There are more than 100 different species of these weird characters, known as the ""kotodummies"". And, maybe, you'll find that the words you chose tell you something about yourself... ●○ How to play ○● - Touch or swipe on the hearts to collect them - When you have enough hearts, words will appear - Choose one of the words - Depending on which word you chose, the kotodummy will evolve - Use gems or tickets to draw fortunes and get accessories - The kotodummies will wear the accessories you give them, and, if they like them, they'll give you useful items in return - The kotodummies will collect coins which you can use to buy furniture - Furniture helps you progress through the game faster Decorate your room, play with your favorite kotodummies, and create your very own Kotodama Diary! ●○●You'll like this game if●○● - You like slow-paced, relaxing games - You want to pass some time for free - You want more than just cutesy characters - You want to speak with your pets - You want some absurd screenshots to share - You like pixel art - You like rolling those sweet gachas - You love putting accessories on things/people/animals - You enjoy the occasional weird character - You could do with some giggles - You like bringin up virtual characters - You want to decorate your room - You like collecting things - You want some very unique ""pets"""
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Drancia at none against Kotodama Diary's shown. Drancia also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). Kotodama Diary's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 6 months) and ratings volume (3.1K vs 117). On price, review sentiment, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Drancia sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and Kotodama Diary sells 46 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Kotodama Diary holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Kotodama Diary has 3.1K ratings behind it against 117, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 87% and 88% positive.
Drancia ships an update every 6 months, Kotodama Diary weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Drancia | Kotodama Diary |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (117 ratings) | 4.9 (3.1K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 87.1% of reviews | 88.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 117 | 3.1K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 24 MB | 626 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Masakazu Yonehara | Polaris-x |
Customer experience
Drancia
Kotodama Diary
User reviews
Drancia
From 117 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Addicting gameplay
- 👍 Fun hack and slash
- 👍 Great art and music
- 👍 Retro pixel art style
- 👍 Free to play
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes
- 🐛 Game resets when closed
- 🐛 Non-widescreen support
- 🐛 Difficulty spikes
- 🐛 Controls too far left/right
Kotodama Diary
From 3.1K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 💕 Cute and adorable characters
- 👍 Relaxing and engaging gameplay
- 🤩 Unique and creative concept
- 🙌 Positive and kind community
- 🎨 Customizable rooms and accessories
Room to improve
- 🤖 Frequent and intrusive ads
- 🐢 Slow progression and heart regeneration
- 🤔 Limited interaction with Kotodummies
- 💰 In-app purchases feel necessary
Bugs and requests
Drancia
Reported bugs
7 issues- Crashes after dying
- Crashes when buying sold out items
- Game crashes in bad spots
- Game exits unexpectedly
- Game resets when phone is closed
Show 2 moreShow fewer
- Black screen after ads
- Can't get out of skills menu
Requested features
20 requests- Boss rush mode
- Adjustable controls
- Co-op mode
- Difficulty settings
- Continue system with gems
Show 15 moreShow fewer
- More story line
- Full screen on iPhone X
- More stuff to add
- Make classes hit differently
- Create own hero
- Male/female gender option
- Ninja/Kunoichi character class
- Fancy control pad/buttons
- Intro/opening sequence
- Release on 3DS eShop
- Mini games
- Upward attack
- Remove ads for a fee
- Save progress during/at end of stage
- Swap apps without restarting
Kotodama Diary
Reported bugs
3 issues- Game crashes or freezes
- Ads not loading or getting stuck
- Restoration of in-app purchases not working
Requested features
5 requests- Ability to chat or interact with Kotodummies
- More furniture and room customization options
- Easier way to obtain new Kotodummies
- Ability to save and restore progress across devices
- Mini-games or additional activities
In-app purchases
Drancia
- Treat us to coffee$0.99
- Treat us to a beer$0.99
- Treat us to dinner$2.99
Kotodama Diary
- Gem Cluster$0.99
- Mega Value Box$1.99
- Summer Fashion Discount Pack$1.99
Show 43 moreShow fewer
- Event Ltd Mega Pack$1.99
- Bronze Chinese New Year Pack$1.99
- Dreamland Drowsy Set$1.99
- Hole in the Wall Pack - Tall$1.99
- Natural Black Pack$1.99
- Powerful Power-Stone Pack$1.99
- Valentine Patissiere Pack$1.99
- Red Camelia Kotoshrine Pack$1.99
- Ice Village Fishing Pack$1.99
- Dress-up Pack$1.99
- Twilit Alley dress-up Pack$1.99
- Cupcake Pack$1.99
- Natural Garden Fashion Pack$1.99
- Gem Baggie$2.99
- VALUE 30-day Daily Gem Pack$3.99
- Pure White Pack$5.99
- Deco Sticker Pack$5.99
- Gal's Sunday Outfit Pack$5.99
- Summer Festival Pack$5.99
- Cyber Tech Pack$5.99
- Noommy's Investigation Pack$5.99
- Bakery Preparation Pack$5.99
- KotodamanniversaryPack$5.99
- Pupcasso's Breezy Atelier$5.99
- Overworked Programmer Pack$5.99
- Kotodama School Years Pack$5.99
- Loapher's BIG COMFY pack$5.99
- Snowy Camelia Kotoshrine Pack$5.99
- Gem Bag$5.99
- Dougho Box$5.99
- Ad-free Box$5.99
- Event Limited Mega Pack$5.99
- Twilit Alley good-looking Pack$5.99
- Friends of the Third Kind Pack$6.99
- Luxurious Vampire Manor Pack$6.99
- Kototreasure Balloon Pack$6.99
- 【33%OFF!】Gem Big Bag$9.99
- Gem Big Bag$14.99
- Partylads Box$14.99
- Valentine Sweet Heart Pack$17.99
- Gem Chest$29.99
- Crystal Dougho Pack$34.99
- Gem Mountain$59.99
Questions
Is Drancia free?
Is Kotodama Diary free?
Which has better reviews, Drancia or Kotodama Diary?
Do Drancia or Kotodama Diary have ads?
Which is updated more often, Drancia or Kotodama Diary?
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