Review of Clash Royale (for iPhone)

Clash of Clans is a well-known title in the mobile gaming industry. More money is made from this free game than from most AAA blockbusters—enough to fund expensive Super Bowl advertising. And to the dismay of game journalists like me who would rather try out a wide range of experiences, it's the kind of unstoppable success that attracts legions of copycats. To be honest, I never really enjoyed that game, even though I can see why its blend of light strategy and city construction makes it profitable. I therefore had low hopes for Clash Royale, the follow-up to Clash of Clans from developer Supercell. It seems as though Clash Royale was created specifically to be a popular iPhone game. with all of the anticipated—yet irksome—free-to-play obstacles that come with it. To my surprise, Clash Royale's own take on modern strategy gaming concepts is also quite enjoyable.

The Titans' War

When I state that Clash Royale seems destined to be a success, I mean that it borrows ideas from some of the most popular and lucrative free games available: tower defense games, MOBAs like Dota Card games with collectible elements such as Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft ($0.00 at Amazon) and League of Legends ($0.00 at Epic Games). It also bears the highly identifiable Clash of Clans logo.

The deck-building feature of Clash Royale drives every system in the game. By playing a card, players can summon their units and cast spells, such as magical fireballs, lumbering giants, and ranged archers. Although the cards in your hand appear at random, you assemble your deck before every fight. When creating a deck, there are many factors to take into account. It is ideal to have complementary units. Although powerful units are fantastic, they deplete the magical energy required for card games. Thus, it's also a good idea to include less expensive troops and balance the deck so that you aren't completely helpless while your energy replenishes. You can improve your cards or replace them with better, rarer cards outside of combat. cards. The deck building gives an already entertaining casual strategy framework a wonderful depth layer. It should come as no surprise that there is already a thriving community of Clash Royale players exchanging deck advice. Regretfully, the deck building also gives the game permission to indulge in some of the worst impulses associated with mobile gaming.

Royale With Charges

Compared to other games of a similar nature, Clash Royale's aggressive free-to-play methods are more annoying since the action is so engaging that you feel truly let down when the game actively works to keep you from playing it. Waiting for treasure chests to open is necessary to obtain rewards, which are the things that indicate your success and encourage you to keep playing. You take home chests. The bouts in Royale With Fees last a few minutes. Chests themselves, however, can take a long time to open—anywhere from a few seconds to many hours—especially if there's a chance that something valuable—that is, something you couldn't just buy in the store—is within. Moreover, only one chest opens at a time.

The longer you play the game and level up, the more these problems worsen and you'll be able to access new fight arenas with randomly generated new cards. Your deck starts to feel more like a taunt than a challenge when you see the gray list of rare cards missing. The game also restricts how frequently colleagues in a clan can give cards to one another, unless they simply pay up, as if that wasn't enough waiting. The greatest deals give you roughly 100 gems for a dollar, but since some chests require several dozen gems to open right away, it's simple to end up spending more than you intended.

Well, at least it's clear where all that cash is going. In terms of mobile game production values, Clash Royale is on par with the comparably profitable Angry Birds 2 ($0.00 at Apple.com). Bright and full of bright personality and comedy, the cartoony 3D medieval fantasy art style is reminiscent of a DreamWorks film. My forgiveness for the continuous waiting when playing the game on an iPhone 5s (available at Amazon) was much enhanced by that presentation in addition to the quality of the main gameplay.

The Center of the Cards

Even if it annoys me, Clash Royale would be foolish to give up on the revenue streams that helped its predecessor become so successful. Therefore, I suppose we should be grateful that, in contrast to Clash of Clans, Clash Royale's gameplay has developed into something truly amazing. Give Clash Royale a try if you enjoy strategy games, card games, or everything in between, and have some patience.