Bungo Stray Dogs: Tales of the Lost brings the hit anime series to mobile for the first time, offering fans a new way to engage with their favorite characters and stories. The game masterfully blends a faithful retelling of the anime’s narrative with a unique and surprisingly strategic combat system, creating an experience that is welcoming to newcomers and deeply rewarding for long-time followers of the Armed Detective Agency.

Gameplay That Fling-Starts the Action

At its core, the game features an “Ability Fling” system, an easy-to-play battle mechanic that feels like a physics-based puzzle game. Instead of traditional turn-based commands, you pull and release to launch marbles around the screen, destroying them to power up your characters’ attacks. Success requires more than just random flinging; you must strategically aim to maximize your damage while avoiding your opponent’s marbles.

This simple mechanic is enhanced by deep strategic layers. You can build your dream team, even pairing characters from the Armed Detective Agency and the Port Mafia who would never work together in the anime. Each character has a unique leader skill and powerful active abilities, complete with cool cut-in animations, that can turn the tide of any fight. The game also encourages a social experience, as players must select a friend’s character to assist in battle, which helps expose them to new abilities and create more balanced teams.

A Rewarding Gacha Experience for Fans

For fans of the series, the game is a treasure trove of content. The main story mode allows you to relive famous scenes from the anime, but with extra information and new character viewpoints. Furthermore, regular events feature completely original, game-exclusive scenarios and side stories, all brought to life with beautiful illustrations, adorable mini-character models, and the original Japanese voice cast.

Player feedback consistently highlights the game’s gacha system as one of its most positive aspects, with many describing it as balanced and forgiving. The game is generous with premium currency and free pull tickets, and the rates for high-rarity characters are considered reasonable. The main challenge isn’t acquiring powerful characters, but getting the specific one you want from the large pool available.

However, new players should be prepared for a difficult start. In the early stages, your stamina (AP) is limited, which can make progression feel slow and challenging. This “wall” eases significantly as you level up, revealing a deep and engaging game that rewards patience and dedication.