Gotcha
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The real-life animal collecting game

Photograph an animal.Now it's yours.

Gotcha cuts the animal out of your photo and tells you exactly what it is. Then it moves into a zoo you build, and people pay to come see it.

Download on theApp StoreGet it onGoogle Play

Free on iPhone and Android.

collectors
100K+
animals caught
1M+
species to find
2,225
average rating
4.7

If you can photograph it, you can collect it.

Point your phone at it and shoot. No typing, no field guide, no need to already know what you're looking at. A blurry photo of a pigeon on a wall works fine.

  1. Shoot it

    Any animal, bird, or bug. Through a window, half in shadow, still counts.

  2. Find out what it is

    Species, scientific name, and how rare it is. Kody says so when he isn't sure.

    A turtle cut out of its photo, on its species card

  3. Keep it forever

    Your photo becomes its sticker, filed under its number with the spot you found it.

    The index filling up with real catches

It works on whatever is in front of you.

Street cats, a hen under a shed, a macaque on a terrace, a Komodo dragon behind a railing. Every clip here is a real catch, filmed on a real phone.

  • Komodo dragonEpic

  • CatCommon

  • ChickenCommon

  • Long-tailed macaqueCommon

  • CatCommon

  • RoosterCommon

Most of the index is still silhouettes.

Mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, insects, and everything else, graded from common to legendary. The top of that scale is genuinely hard. Catching a legendary is a story you tell somebody.

2,225species to collect

  1. #001Not caught yet
  2. #005Not caught yet
  3. #013Not caught yet
  4. #016CatCat
  5. #017DogDog
  6. #020Not caught yet
  7. #021Not caught yet
  8. #033Not caught yet
  9. #043Not caught yet
  10. #047Not caught yet
  11. #056Not caught yet
  12. #063Not caught yet
  13. #076Not caught yet
  14. #084Not caught yet
  15. #087CowCow
  16. #095Not caught yet
  17. #096Not caught yet
  18. #106Not caught yet
  19. #110Not caught yet
  20. #115Not caught yet
  21. #120Not caught yet
  22. #143Not caught yet
  23. #153DuckDuck
  24. #171ChickenChicken
  25. #173PigeonPigeon
  26. #174Not caught yet
  27. #187Not caught yet
  28. #195Not caught yet
  29. #198Not caught yet
  30. #269Not caught yet
  31. #279Not caught yet
  32. #288Monitor lizardMonitor lizard
  33. #290Not caught yet
  34. #301Not caught yet
  35. #306Not caught yet
  36. #315Not caught yet
  37. #318Not caught yet
  38. #322Not caught yet
  39. #494Not caught yet
  40. #578Not caught yet
  • Common643
  • Uncommon658
  • Rare570
  • Epic252
  • Legendary102

Then you move them to your own zoo park!

New in Gotcha 2.0. Every animal you catch gets a habitat, a path leading to it, and a line of visitors paying to see it. Everything on display is your own photography.

Explore the park

Build the habitat that fits what you caught.

Grassland, jungle, savanna, wetland, desert, ice. Move your animals in and they live there, at the size they really were, in an enclosure you paid for.

  • A grassland habitat in a Gotcha zoo
    GrasslandThe one you start with. Long grass, a drinking pool, and a log for whoever wants to climb it.
  • A jungle habitat in a Gotcha zoo
    JungleThick leaves and deep shade, for everything you found in the undergrowth.
  • A savanna habitat in a Gotcha zoo
    SavannaDry orange dirt, one acacia tree, and a watering hole they all share.
  • A wetland habitat in a Gotcha zoo
    WetlandMostly water. Reeds, lily pads, and just enough shore to stand on.
  • A desert habitat in a Gotcha zoo
    DesertSand, cactus, bare rock, and exactly one strip of shade.
  • An ice habitat in a Gotcha zoo
    IceFrozen water and snowed-over rock, with a shelter for anyone who wants out of the wind.

A zoo nobody visits is just a field.

Visitors are the score. More animals on display, more variety, better landmarks, a clean park, animals that have been fed. Push those up and the gate lets more people in, and your zoo gets promoted. Eight ranks, and you start at the bottom.

What your visitors notice about the zoo
  1. 1Roadside StopA gate, a path, and a parking lot.
  2. 2Village GreenWord has gotten around the neighborhood.
  3. 3Country ParkPeople make an afternoon of it.
  4. 4Nature ReserveWorth the drive from the next town over.
  5. 5Wildlife ParkTour buses start showing up.
  6. 6Safari ParkA day trip people plan weeks ahead.
  7. 7National ParkThe one everybody in the country can name.
  8. 8World WonderPeople get on a plane for this one.

Meet Kody

He runs the zoo and keeps the records. He names what you just caught, tells you what happened while you were gone, and owns up when an ID was a guess.

KodyThat's a Green Lizard. Number 401, and your first reptile.

Welcome back. Your registers are full and somebody got into the trash again.

Honestly? Could be a crow, could be a raven. Get closer and try again.

Gotcha+

Free gets you collecting. Gotcha+ is the whole thing.

Freefree, forever
  • Catch and identify animals
  • The park, and everything you build in it
  • Your collection backed up and restored
  • You run out of catches every day
  • No field notes, and no catch map
  • Half of every Zoo Pass stays locked
Gotcha+free trial included
  • Catch all day. No limit, ever.
  • Pro-grade identification on every photo
  • Full field notes and your catch map
  • Save any sticker or photo to your camera roll
  • Both tracks of every Zoo Pass
  • Exclusive app icons, nameplates, and a verified badge
Download on theApp StoreGet it onGoogle Play

Gotcha at a glance

What it is
A real-life animal collecting game
Price
Free. Gotcha+ is optional and starts with a free trial.
Rating
4.7 out of 5 on the App Store and Google Play, from 2,000+ ratings
Phones
iPhone with iOS 18 or later, and Android
Species
2,225 real species in 659 kinds of animal
Rarity
Common, uncommon, rare, epic and legendary
Languages
44
Launched
June 19, 2026
Made by
Jurre de Ruiter, an independent developer

Questions people ask

What is Gotcha?

Gotcha is a free real-life animal collecting game for iPhone and Android. You photograph a real animal, bird or insect, Gotcha identifies the species, and it joins your collection. There are 2,225 species to find, graded from common to legendary, and every animal you catch moves into a zoo you build and run.

Is there an app where you catch real animals?

Yes, that is exactly what Gotcha does. Catching an animal means taking its photo. Gotcha cuts the animal out of the picture, names the species, and files it in your index as a sticker made from your own shot. A walk to the shops, a park or your back garden turns into a hunt for the next one.

Is Gotcha free?

Yes. Gotcha is free to download and free to play. Catching, identifying, building your zoo and backing up your collection cost nothing. The free version has a daily catch limit. Gotcha+ is an optional subscription with a free trial that removes the limit and adds field notes, a catch map and the premium Zoo Pass track.

Does Gotcha work on Android?

Yes. Gotcha is on the App Store for iPhone (iOS 18 or later) and on Google Play for Android, in 44 languages. Your account backs up every catch, so your collection comes with you to a new phone.

How many animals can you collect in Gotcha?

The Gotcha index holds 2,225 real species: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects, spiders and more. They are graded into 643 common, 658 uncommon, 570 rare, 252 epic and 102 legendary species. Legendaries are hard to find in real life too.

How is Gotcha different from Seek or iNaturalist?

Seek and iNaturalist are nature identification tools, great for learning plants and animals and sharing sightings with scientists. Gotcha is a game about animals. Every animal you identify becomes a collectible with a rarity and a sticker cut from your own photo, then moves into a zoo you build, with visitors, eight leagues to climb and friends to visit.

How does Gotcha identify animals?

Gotcha cuts the animal out of your photo on your phone, then an AI model identifies the species from the picture and matches it to Gotcha's catalog of 2,225 species, with its scientific name and its rarity. When a photo is not clear enough to be sure, Gotcha says so, and you can report a wrong identification from the catch.

How much does Gotcha+ cost?

Gotcha is free to download and play, and Gotcha+ is optional. It starts with a free trial, and the price for your country is shown in the app before you pay. Gotcha+ unlocks unlimited catching, pro-grade identification, field notes, a catch map and both tracks of every Zoo Pass.

What happens to the animals you catch in Gotcha?

Every animal you catch in Gotcha moves into a zoo you build. You give it a habitat (grassland, jungle, savanna, wetland, desert or ice), lay paths, add landmarks and keep your animals fed, and visitors pay to come and see them. Your zoo climbs eight leagues, from Roadside Stop to World Wonder, and it keeps running while the app is closed.

Is Gotcha good for kids?

Gotcha is rated 4+ on the App Store. There is no fighting in it: you photograph real animals, learn what they are called and look after them in a zoo, which makes it an easy reason to go outside together. An account is needed to back up the collection.

Can Gotcha identify plants or mushrooms?

No. Gotcha collects animals only: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects and spiders. Plants and fungi are not part of its catalog of 2,225 species, so a dedicated plant identifier is the better tool for those.

Go outside and catch something.

There's a species within a hundred feet of you right now, and you don't own it yet.

Download on theApp StoreGet it onGoogle Play