This is meant as a simple overview of the game. It’s missing some information since I’m not all that familiar with it. I also don’t plan on figuring things out myself since I’m not interested in keeping with it. However, if you can fill in some of the missing info, feel free to comment on this post~!
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Another Puzzle & Dragons clone popped up recently on iOS called Road to Dragons, developed and published by Acquire, the company that recently put out Orgarhythm for the PlayStation Vita and Wizardry: Labyrinth of Lost Souls for the PS3. The game is currently only available on the Japanese App Store (https://itunes.apple.com/jp/app/rodo-to-u-doragon/id562157624?mt=8).
The puzzle mechanic in the game’s a little different than Puzzle & Dragons’ and seems to require a bit more strategy. Well, it does to me since I completely blew past the screen that taught me how to conserve Soul when I move so every time I play, I always run out. XD Sadly, I can’t seem to find any tutorial/manual section under Option so I think the only way to see it again is to reinstall the game and start as a new user. 
Anyway, Road to Dragons pretty much starts off the same way as P&D where you choose a character that has a specific elemental affinity. The game then assigns two more additional units to help you along. And like P&D, most units have some sort of Skill as well as a Leader Skill which can only be activated if they are in the Leader position in the party formation.
The first dungeon is a tutorial dungeon where the silly looking dragon mascot will walk you through the basics. I didn’t get any screencaps of any of this since I wasn’t planning on writing a tutorial of sorts considering I’m still a little confused about the game myself. Famitsu wrote up a short guides to it at http://app.famitsu.com/20121107_106889/ and http://app.famitsu.com/20121108_107352/ but I’ve yet to go through them. I know the second link doesn’t really help so I think the first one is where the movement and gameplay information is at.
Each stage requires a certain amount of Stamina which will recover over time. You can also opt to instantly replenish it with the premium currency known as Rainbow Crystal (虹色水晶). There’s a number underneath Stamina which shows how many squares are needed to get to the Goal or something? I haven’t bothered to look up the kanji.
Oh yeah, the screencap above is of an Event Dungeon which are essentially limited time dungeons which are only available for a certain amount of days or hours. When selecting a stage to play, you can also choose a random stranger and have them accompany you. After you journey with them, you can choose to send off a friend request.
All this is taken from Puzzle & Dragons. :3
Maybe it’s just me but I’d rather help out people that are around the same level as me.It seems like the point in each stage is to get to Goal as quickly as you can without losing Soul by dictating where to move on the grid. This is done by selecting one of the predetermined paths shown at the bottom of the gameplay area. Each movement will cost you 1 Soul point … unless you know how to move without losing any.
The grid itself has monsters, chests, and elemental squares littered throughout and landing on a square with a creature throws you into a battle where you trace out a route for your attacks. The game will tell you how much Soul you will consume based on the path you drew out; attacks aren’t executed until you lift your finger from the screen so you can preview the outcome. What’s cool is that you can also preview the amount of damage you will deal to your enemy. (Landing on squares with treasure chests will simply get you whatever’s inside them.)
Having Soul in battle is important since you can combine different attacks and trace out a long chain of them too. Notice the health bar under the monster and the Preview indicator. It’s showing that my selected path will kill it off in one shot. 😀
After you reach the goal line, you will face a boss monster and fight it in the same manner as you do with regular enemies.
Should you run out of Soul before reaching the end of the stage, a Grim Reaper-type monster will appear and attack you. I died in the confrontation so I have no idea what happens if you manage to defeat it. XD Having no Soul left also severely limits you in the paths you can select since it restricts you to choosing only those of the same type.
Overall, the package looks A LOT like Puzzle & Dragons since just about every menu and their functions are the same. I admit that some of these are staples in the freemium RPG world such as fusing units to create stronger ones and having gacha elements where you can pick out random units and such but the layouts and what you perform in them are really carbon copies! Heck, Acquire even thanks GungHo in their Thank You list. One thing I noticed that was different was that you can expand your Friends List with Rainbow Crystals.
koukoupuffs 
sooo accidentally found this post while lf R2D info, i realize its 3+ yr old now or something so hopefully(?) you know by now that SOFTBANK owns both Gungho and Acquire studios… in other words, SoftBank can choose to make them work together or share staff.
also there’s the whole thing where they often collab the same license franchises but i imagine that wasnt a thing when you wrote this.
btw, thank you for the article, still a bit helpful for me since my kanji isnt 100% it was clarifying.