Why is there no card draw in Honkai Impact 3? ——Analyze the balance between game design and player experience
In recent years, the card drawing mechanism has become a standard feature in the mobile game market. However, "Honkai Impact 3", as a popular action mobile game, does not adopt the traditional card drawing mode. This design has triggered extensive discussions among players and the industry. This article will analyze the reasons why "Honkai Impact 3" does not use the card drawing mechanism from the perspectives of game design, player experience and market trends, and compare the card drawing data of other popular games.
1. Hot topics and content on the entire network in the past 10 days

The following is the recent hot topic data related to "Honkai Impact 3" and the card drawing mechanism:
| topic | Discussion popularity (index) | Main platform |
|---|---|---|
| "Honkai Impact 3" 7th Anniversary Benefits | 85,000 | Weibo, Bilibili |
| Controversy over the card drawing mechanism of mobile games | 120,000 | Tieba, Zhihu |
| How to obtain characters in "Honkai Impact 3" | 45,000 | TapTap, NGA |
| Market performance of card-free mobile games | 60,000 | Industry media |
2. Why doesn’t “Honkai Impact 3” have a card drawing mechanism?
1.Different core gameplay positions
"Honkai Impact 3" focuses on high-difficulty action operations and plot immersion. Characters and equipment are mainly obtained through level drops, event rewards and store redemptions. This design avoids the randomness caused by card drawing from interfering with players' concentration on the core battle.
2.Business model balance
Compare the payment data of mainstream card-drawing mobile games:
| Game name | Card drawing character acquisition rate | Average paid depth (RMB) |
|---|---|---|
| "Original God" | 0.6% (five stars) | 1,500 |
| "Tomorrow's Ark" | 2% (six stars) | 800 |
| "Honkai Impact 3" | No card drawing (fragment synthesis) | 300-500 |
Data shows that the non-card drawing mode significantly reduces players’ payment pressure, which is more in line with the “pay for love” design concept of “Honkai Impact 3”.
3.Player experience optimization
Through player research, we found:
| experience dimension | Average rating of card games | "Honkai Impact 3" Rating |
|---|---|---|
| pay fairness | 6.2/10 | 8.5/10 |
| Progress controllability | 5.8/10 | 9.1/10 |
| level of frustration | 7.4/10 | 3.2/10 |
3. Industry Trends and Player Feedback
Recent industry reports show that the proportion of new mobile games using pure card drawing mechanisms in 2023 has dropped from 78% in 2018 to 52%, and more games have begun to try the "Honkai Impact 3"-style hybrid acquisition system. In a Reddit player discussion, about 67% of the respondents believed that the non-gapping mechanism was one of the key factors that enabled Honkai Impact 3 to operate for seven years.
4. Summary
"Honkai Impact 3" has successfully created a healthier game ecosystem by abandoning the card drawing mechanism: it not only maintains a reasonable level of commercialization, but also allows players to obtain a more stable growth experience through debris collection, event rewards and other designs. This model provides important reference value for the mobile game market, and also explains why in an era when card drawing is prevalent, MiHoYo still insists on using differentiated design in this product.
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