Mudae vs. Karuta

Discord game bots are all the rage right now, with Mudae and Karuta ranking as two of the most-played and popular options. On the surface, both of these games seem very similar, letting players collect anime characters. However, there are some notable differences between Mudae and Karuta.

This comparison will look at Mudae vs. Karuta in key areas, highlighting similarities and differences.

The Basics

Mudae is a character collecting Discord game bot. It allows users to roll random anime, manga, and video game characters to claim as their “waifus” or “husbandos.” Users can build up their harem, purchase badges to unlock upgrades, trade with other players, and compete against other players to claim their favorite characters or rank higher on the leaderboards.

Karuta is very similar. It is also a collection game bot for Discord. The aim of the game is to collect cards, and each card has an image of a character from the worlds of anime and video games. Cards have stats and varying conditions, and they can be upgraded. Players can even put teams of cards to “work” in order to obtain resources.

Both games can be said to use the popular gacha model, common for mobile video games, particularly in Japan.

Server-Based vs. Global

There are multiple differences between Mudae and Karuta, but arguably the biggest one is the fact that Mudae is server-based, while Karuta is global.

What that means is that your Karuta card collection is tied to your Discord account. It’ll be with you, no matter which server you play on. So you can play a very long-term game and build up your collection more and more over time.

Meanwhile, the characters you pick up on Mudae will only be in your collection on that specific server. You can then switch over to another server and start a new Mudae game and collect totally different characters.

This has a big impact on the overall gameplay experiences of each game. With Mudae, players can hop from server to server, starting new games and collections any time they like. On the other hand, your Karuta card collection is much more permanent.

Aesthetics

The main aim of both games is to collect pictures of beautiful or interesting anime characters, so appeal is a big part of the experience. Players often enjoy looking back through their collections and admiring the portraits of their favorite anime heroes and manga stars.

However, the two games have quite contrasting approaches to design, with Mudae being more simpler and shallower compared to Karuta.

On Mudae, you just collect pictures of each character. Each picture shows a little still image of the person or creature in question. Over on Karuta, however, there’s much more depth. Characters can have multiple card editions with different images. There are also varying frames, dyes, prints, and other ways to enhance or modify a card.

Gameplay

Even though Mudae and Karuta have the same core mechanic of collecting characters, they have quite different gameplay patterns. On Mudae, players can roll for characters and then have to claim them quickly before anyone else. Each character only appears once per server. So, if you miss out on your favorite, you’ll have to either try to trade for it or try again on another server.

Karuta is quite different. Since it’s a global game across all servers, there are lots of copies of each card, giving everyone a greater chance to collect their favorite characters. There are also more ways to obtain cards in Karuta. You can wait for random passive drops in the chat or request a drop of three random cards and pick whichever one you want to claim. Karuta also supports card upgrades and enhancements.

Cost

Both Mudae and Karuta are free to play. However, they also offer premium options for players who want to get an in-game advantage. On Mudae, you can sign up to the Patreon of the game’s creator, Saya Akdepsksal. Users can pay between $5 and $10 per month for Player Premium or Server Premium benefits. Benefits include more admin commands on the server and extra rolls for players.

Over on Karuta, there is a premium currency called Gems. Players can pay anywhere from $1 to $100 for packs of gems. You can then use gems to buy a range of items from the in-game Gem Shop, including time-limited buffs that speed up your card drop rates. Aside from this, Karuta doesn’t have any premium elements.

Complexity

New players might want to know which game is simpler and easier to start off with. Well, Mudae is generally regarded as the simpler game. It’s still got a lot of depth with the various mini-games, special chat commands, and trading system. However, it’s generally easier to understand, with only one currency – kakera – and a simple character collecting premise.

In sharp contrast, Karuta is quite a complicated game. There are lots of layers to it. For starters, this game has multiple currencies, including Gold, Gems, and Tickets. There are also entire gameplay elements dedicated to “burning” or destroying cards and then upgrading others, as well as multiple card star ratings, conditions, stats, and frame types.

Trading and Economy

Both Mudae and Karuta support the concept of trading cards and resources among players. However, of the two, Karuta’s trade economy is a bigger part of the game than it is with Mudae. This is mainly due to the fact that Karuta is global, so there are many more opportunities to trade with players across different servers and build up a global card collection.

On Mudae, meanwhile, since it’s server-based and collections don’t exist anywhere outside of each server, there’s less focus on the trading aspect. Instead, players can play more independently. They can earn the in-game currency, kakera, in various ways and buy badges to help them get more card drops and a better chance of their favorite characters.

Number of Characters

Mudae and Karuta also differ in terms of the sizes of their character libraries. At the time of writing, Mudae has approximately 95,000 characters from the worlds of anime, manga, and video games. Meanwhile, Karuta has an even bigger database of more than 120,000 character trading cards for players to collect. Both games regularly receive new characters and cards.

FAQs

Which is best between Mudae and Karuta?

There’s not really a clear “best” game of the two, as it all depends on personal preference. Some players will enjoy the simplicity of Mudae and the fact that it’s easy to start new games on each new server. Others may prefer the deeper aesthetics and complex mechanics of Karuta.

Should a beginner player Mudae or Karuta?

Mudae might be a better starting point for those who are totally new to Discord game bots in general. It’s a little easier to understand, and even if you make mistakes on one server, you can switch over and start again on another server.

Choose Your Favorite Game

Clearly, Mudae and Karuta have a lot in common, but they’re far from being identical gacha games. They have many major differences in aesthetics, gameplay experiences, and more. Those who are passionate about card collecting will probably prefer Karuta, but others will adore Mudae. It’s worth trying both games to see which one you enjoy the most.

Have you tried Mudae and Karuta? Which one do you prefer, and why? Let us know in the comments section.