Anark.io is a bit of a surprise for me. I typically don't invest much into niche .io games as it's usually very apparent that they're less multiplayer games and more like glorified bot matches with over simplistic gameplay and mandatory always-online-DRM. Anark stands out, however, by mixing in PVE elements alongside the usual PVP stuff and even shakes things up with progression.
Anark.io is a twin-stick shooter with the core gimmick being money. You get money by killing jobbers, breaking boxes, and killing opponents of course. This is all not without risk, however, as dying without depositing money in the bank will ensure that you lose whatever you're carrying forever. As if the stakes weren't high enough, only a limited amount of money can be put into the bank before it closes and reopens in another location. To aid you, you will slowly unlock a variety of weapons and power ups, which is where this game's progression comes in.
The progression revolves around a lootbox system which might be P2W. The good news is that it's very easy to consistently get enough gold to open 3 loot boxes per match (or two)... the bad news, however, is that unlocking or upgrading everything else is either reliant on RNG or being bought with premium currency only obtainable piecemeal from lootboxes or paying. Weapon unlocking is not that bad due to having a good variety that drop and are equally balanced. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for power-ups which can be leveled up as well as being unlocked, giving an unfair invisible advantage to players with better power ups.
Thankfully, Anark.io is playable offline, so it's possible to circumvent some of the games more unfair aspects. Regardless, there is definitely something fun here, as long as you don't go into this expecting a chaotic multiplayer fun fest, but rather temper your expectations for a solid twin-stick shooter with a grind.