The dex games
What to know about all of them: they’re
young — the oldest shipped in late 2025 — and each runs
its AI on a server, so scanning needs internet and costs the
developer real money per scan. That’s why most limit free
scans or charge a small subscription.
dobudex — ours, so judge accordingly
10 free scans, then €2.99/month for 50/month
· iPhone (Android in progress) · launched worldwide
Jul 2026
A scan becomes a card: your animal redrawn as a pixel-art sprite,
its real species and Latin name, six battle stats, a signature
trait (“Urban Scavenger Adaptation”), a true biology
fact — and a rarity earned from how often the whole
community has scanned that species. Not a dice roll.
The good
The card is the point: a shareable artifact none of the
identifiers produce. And every game feature — stats, traits,
rarity, your Dex — is identical on free and paid. The
subscription only buys more scans.
The catch
iPhone-only for now. Scanning needs a connection. IDs are
species-level, not breeds. And the community is brand-new, so
rarity tiers will keep sharpening as it grows.
Get it if the Pokédex fantasy is what
you came for. Full tour:
the real-life Pokédex page
— or see 18 real cards
from ten days of scanning.
Gotcha: Animal Identifier
Free · paid tier · iPhone, requires
iOS 26 · launched Jun 2026, 2 ratings
An indie take, minimal and pretty: your photo becomes a cutout
sticker that fills a silhouette dex of 850+ species across six
rarity tiers. Digital Trends covered it at launch.
The good
Lovely design, and it’s shipping updates weekly.
The catch
The iOS 26 requirement shuts out older iPhones. It’s a
sticker book, not cards with stats — and it’s a
week-one product.
The prettiest minimalist take, if your iPhone
is new enough.
Snappit: Nature Identifier
Free daily snaps · $2.99/mo or $12.99/yr
· iPhone & Android · ~8 ratings worldwide
Built for children of roughly 3–7 exploring with a parent:
a claimed 9,000+ species, cards with rarity tiers, curated local
“adventures”, no ads, no chat. It ranks well in
searches for “real-life Pokédex app” —
probably how you’ve heard of it.
The good
The only one designed for small kids, with a sane privacy
stance.
The catch
Essentially unreviewed (~8 ratings across all countries), and the
app hasn’t been updated since April 2026 while its marketing
site keeps growing.
Worth a try for a preschooler; keep
expectations modest.
The rest of the field
- Animalis ($4.99 once, iPhone) — the most
actual game: turn-based battles, 11 types, teams of six,
evolution. Paying up-front means no scan paywall. 6 ratings.
- AnimalDex (free + credit packs, iOS 18.1+) — cards
plus arena battles; scans cost credits. Actively updated,
near-zero users so far.
- Wildcard Dex (free with ads, iPhone & Android) —
cards, quests, and the genre’s only friend trading. Daily
limits; $2.99/mo lifts them.
- CatchCat (free, Android) — cats only, and proud of
it; the AI checks you photographed a real cat, not a screen. The
most charming thing here. iPhone version promised.
- Wildgram (free, iPhone) — catch animals, climb a
leaderboard. Untouched since April 2026.
- Wildex (free, iPhone) — cards, XP and quests, but
reviews report misidentifications you can’t correct.
Slowing since March 2026.
