DIGIMON UP

Review by eFreeware

DIGIMON UP is a free monster-raising role-playing game from Bandai Namco Entertainment, built around growing and strengthening your Digimon. It arrived in mid-2026 and has already passed a million installs, with a 4.1 average across more than 67,000 ratings. For anyone who grew up with the franchise, the pitch is simple: raise the creatures again, this time on a phone.

What makes it worth a closer look is the focus. This isn't a card battler wearing a Digimon skin or a straight adaptation of an anime arc, which is the part of the series that has always had the most staying power. The trade-off is that it is free with ads and in-app purchases, and random-item purchases are part of the package, so the raising loop and the spending loop sit in the same app.

I'd treat it as a game for players who like watching a creature develop over weeks rather than one who wants a quick burst of action. The install count suggests plenty of people decided the trade-off was acceptable; the average rating suggests most of them stayed reasonably happy with it.

Raising a Digimon, step by step

The core of the game is growth. You take a Digimon and develop it, and the developer's framing is that you can grow stronger with your Digimon again, which puts the relationship between player and creature at the center rather than a roster of disposable units.

That structure rewards patience. If you like checking in, nudging stats and watching a creature change form, this is the loop you're signing up for.

The risk with any raising game is that the middle stretch turns into maintenance, and the developer's own note that purchasable items can speed up progress hints that the pace is deliberately stretched. Players who dislike that kind of pacing will feel it more than players who enjoy the routine.

Progression and ongoing content

For a raising game, that matters: the value of your collection depends on there being somewhere to take it.

The rating sits at 4.1 from a large enough sample that it isn't noise. That's a healthy score rather than an exceptional one, which fits a game with a devoted core audience and some friction around how it's monetized.

Because the raising loop is the point, I'd expect the strongest players to be the ones who set their own goals: a particular evolution line, a favorite Digimon, a stat target. The game gives you the framework; how much you get out of it depends on how much you enjoy deciding what to raise next.

Ads and random-item purchases

DIGIMON UP is free to download and contains ads. It also offers in-app purchases, including random-item purchases. That combination is common in free role-playing games, and it's the main thing to weigh before committing time to it.

Some items for sale make play easier and move progress along faster. That's a straightforward description of what the spending does: it offers a faster route through the raising process. Whether that feels optional or necessary will depend on how patient you are with the base pace.

One practical detail worth knowing: in-app purchases can be turned off in your device settings. If you're handing the phone to a younger player, that's a useful switch, and the game carries an Everyone content rating.

The player this fits

This is for someone who wants a long-running raising project rather than a story to finish. If you enjoy logging in, making incremental progress and seeing a creature you've invested in become something stronger, the structure here is built around exactly that. The Digimon license adds attachment that a generic monster-raising game wouldn't have.

It also suits players who are comfortable with the free-to-play model. Ads and purchases are part of the deal from the start, and the developer is upfront that paid items can accelerate progress. If that arrangement sours a game for you, no amount of good raising mechanics will fix it.

I'd be more cautious recommending it to someone who wants a tight, finite experience or who dislikes random-item systems on principle. The game is designed to be lived in over time, and its monetization is designed around that same timeline.

A raising game that asks for patience

DIGIMON UP does one thing clearly: it puts Digimon raising back at the center of a mobile RPG. With over a million installs and a 4.1 average from a large rating pool, it has found an audience that accepts ads and random-item purchases in exchange for a long-term raising loop.

My recommendation is for players who already like the raising side of the franchise and want a game to keep returning to. Go in expecting a slow build, a free experience with ads, and optional purchases that speed things along. If that sounds like a fair trade, this is a reasonable place to spend your time.

If you want a self-contained RPG with a clear ending, or you find random-item monetization off-putting, the design here works against you rather than for you. Everyone else can install it at no cost and decide for themselves how far they want to raise their first partner.

What's new in version 1.5.0

・New Content Updates