1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (21 votes, average: 2.86 / 5)
Loading...

Clash Royale

Clash Royale is an online CCG on mobile devices with cartoony graphics, MOBA/Castle Defense style gameplay, quick 1-4 minute matches, strategic real-time PVP battles, lots of cards to collect featuring Clash of Clans characters, and a competitive PVP Arena system.

Publisher: Supercell
Playerbase: High
Type: Mobile CCG/MOBA
Release Date: March 2, 2016
Pros: +Easy to pick up and play. +Many cards to collect. +Strategic, real-time battles. +No Stamina system.
Cons: -Lengthy “Chest Opening” system. -Pay-to-win aspects. -May feel too simple.

google-play-button app-store-button

Overview

Clash Royale Overview

Clash Royale is a 2D online battle game developed by Supercell, the creators of the hugely popular Clash of Clans and Boom Beach. Experience a brand new game featuring Clash of Clans characters and real-time PVP. Battle other players online in fast-paced MOBA/Castle Defense-style battles that require timing, strategy, and luck. Collect over 100 troop, spell, and building cards with different specialties and purposes, and assemble the perfect deck. Climb the leaderboards and unlock new Arenas and cards. Join a clan to socialize and share cards with your fellow clanmates. Watch and learn from the pros on TV Royale where players can watch the top players battle it out. Pick up and play Clash Royale today for endless amounts of fun!

Clash Royale Features:

  • Real-Time Battles – Battle players around the world in quick 1-4 minute matches for fast-paced and intense PVP.
  • Cartoony Graphics – Relieve the cute and charming visuals from Clash of Clans in a completely new format.
  • Simple & Strategic Combat – Defeat your opponents in Castle Defense-style combat featuring two lanes, a regenerating Elixir bar, and many cards to summon.
  • Many Cards to Collect – Collect over 100 cards featuring characters from Clash of Clans, and assemble the ultimate deck of Troops, Spells, and Buildings.
  • Upgrade Your Cards – Win chests from battle and open them up to unlock and level up your cards, which can then be upgraded for more power.

Clash Royale Screenshots

no images were found

Clash Royale Featured Video

Clash Royale: Enter the Arena

Full Review

Clash Royale Review

By, Herman Y.

Clash Royale is a free-to-play, CCG/MOBA-style battle game developed and published by Supercell, the creators of the hugely popular Clash of Clans and Boom Beach mobile games. With over 5 million downloads in less than a week, Clash Royale is shaping up to become even more popular than Supercell’s most popular game, Clash of Clans. Clash Royale is a unique mix of CCG (collectable card game), MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena), and Castle Defense, and features real-time PVP battles and characters from Clash of Clans. With quick 1-4 minute online battles and simple yet strategic gameplay, Clash Royale is the perfect game to pick up and play at any time for both casual and hardcore gamers alike.

Step into the Arena
Clash Royale is a purely online PVP game that is incredibly easy to pick up and play. The game features 8 Arenas, which are similar to ranks or leagues in other games, and each Arena has specific cards that can be unlocked from Arena chests. Players can obtain chests from winning, as well as trophies (rank points), and can advance to the next Arena (which features new cards to unlock) after they reach the trophy requirements (i.e. Arena I: 0+ trophies, Arena II: 400+ trophies, etc.). Losing a match will decrease the player’s trophy count, and players can actually fall back into a previous Arena if they lose enough trophies. Luckily, the game has an automated match-making system that matches players of similar rankings to keep each match balanced, and the system works very well. Players can simply press the “Battle” button on the main screen to begin a match, and due to the high popularity of the game, players will almost instantly connect with another player within seconds. Each match is also very short making Clash Royale incredibly addictive, such that players can quickly queue game after game and won’t want to stop playing.

Dominating the Battlefield
Clash Royale at its core is a mix of CCG, MOBA, and Castle Defense. Players can have up to 8 cards in their deck and up to 4 cards in their hand at once. On the battlefield, there are two lanes with two Arena Towers and a King’s Tower on each side, both of which will automatically attack nearby enemies. The goal of each match is to either have more Crowns (gained from destroying a tower) than your opponent at the end of the time limit, or to destroy the opponent’s King’s Tower which automatically gives 3 Crowns total. Each player has an Elixir bar that constantly refills, and each card requires a certain amount of Elixir to summon. Players can summon cards onto the battlefield by dragging the cards onto the field, and then watch as the events unfold. Troop cards automatically move and attack on their own, spell cards attack/affect the area selected, and building cards are placed at the specified locations. After summoning a card, another one will automatically be added into the hand. The gameplay is quite frantic and fast-paced as both sides continuously summon cards in order to wreck the opponent’s base or to defend their own base. Each match has a 3 minute limit but if it is tied (both sides have the same number of Crowns) after 3 minutes, then there is a 1 minute Sudden Death where the first to obtain another Crown wins. The gameplay is very simple and easy to learn, yet surprisingly in-depth.

Despite the deceivingly simple appearance, Clash Royale is actually a very strategic game. Firstly, with the huge selection of cards to unlock, players have the freedom to assemble different combinations of cards to excel in various circumstances. Next, there are various tactics to employ on the battlefield. Should players ignore the enemy to push a lane? Should they take out both towers or go straight for the King’s Tower in one lane? A lot of the strategy comes down to choosing the right time to attack and defend, and which lane to focus on. In addition, players need to decide which card to play and how they can make the most use of their Elixir. Most of the time, players will try to group at least 3 troops together to push a lane although this can leave the players open for an attack in the other lane. Most cards can also have multiple purposes such as either using a Giant to attack the enemy towers or to use it to tank and distract the enemy invaders. A strong defense is sometimes the best offense, and certain cards may have to be sacrificed in the process. Players have to think fast because each match goes by very quickly, and although many games end up being very similar, there is definitely a lot of strategy involved each time.

Building Your Army
There are many cards to collect in Clash Royale which feature notable characters from the popular city-building strategy game, Clash of Clans. Clash Royale has three different card types: Troops, Spells, and Buildings. Troops include a wide range of characters which different attack power, health points, specialties, and more. Some notable troop cards include Giants, who are large beasts with a high amount of health points and attack power but can only attack towers, Witches, who are powerful spell casters that can summon skeletons, and Goblins, who are generally weak but high in numbers. Spells are long-ranged artillery that can be dragged onto anywhere on the battlefield to deal AOE damage or other special abilities. Spells include Fireball, Arrows, and Rocket that deal heavy damage on their target, Goblin Barrel, which spawns goblins at the landed location, Rage, which increases troop movement speed and attack power, and much more. The wide assortment of cards that can be unlocked and collected from the various Arenas adds a lot of strategy and variety to the gameplay.

The Controversial Chest System
Chests are an important aspect of the game and also a controversial one. Winning a match will award players will a chest, which includes Silver, Gold, Giant, Magical, and Super Magical chests. Each chest contains random cards which include troops, spells, and buildings from the specific Arena. When players obtain a card for the first time, they unlock that card to use in their deck. When players obtain a card they already have, it gives the duplicate card experience to level it up. In Clash Royale, cards are leveled up and upgraded purely by obtaining duplicates from chests. However, there is something controversial about chests. Chests take a long time to open; Silver chests take 3 hours to open, Gold chests take 8 hours to open, etc., and only one chest can be opened at a time. Players also only have four chest slots, meaning they can only hold up to 4 at once, and every single victory gives a chest. Therefore, although players can continue to play after they acquired 4 chests, they won’t be able to obtain any more until they open a chest, which as mentioned, takes hours to open.

At first glance, the chests appear to be some sort of “Stamina” system, but it really isn’t. The game actually has no Stamina so players can continue to play as much as they want even if their chest slots are full; they just can’t acquire any more chests. The bigger problem is that chests can be opened instantly with Gems (premium currency). Therefore, players who are willing to spend money will be able to open more chests, obtain more cards, and level up their cards faster than free players (since card leveling is purely based on opening chests). This is why the chest system seems to annoy most players of the game. Players can continue to play all they want with no limiting Stamina system but they cannot open chests, obtain more chests, or level up their cards unless they spend money or wait for the chests to open.

Cash Shop/In-App Purchases (IAP)
In addition to using Gems to open chests, there are a variety of other things that can be purchased in the Shop. Players can purchase Giant, Magical, and Super Magical chests which includes cards from their current Arena, and these chests contain huge amounts of cards that open instantly. Hence, spending money gives an undeniable advantage in quick card leveling, which can potentially be 100x faster than a free-to-play player. With Gems, players can also purchase Gold, which is used to upgrade cards once they have enough experience. Gold can also be a limiting feature for free-to-play members who don’t have enough gold to upgrade their cards, so purchasing gold provides further advantages. Overall, the game can feel very pay-to-win due to how much more quickly paying players can upgrade their cards. However, because free players can eventually upgrade their cards with time, and can unlock all the same cards as paying players, the game is not completely pay-to-win. Still, players seeking to become competitive with dreams of reaching the top 100 of the leaderboards will likely have to spend some money.

Final Verdict – Great
Clash Royale is yet another smash hit by Supercell that features fast-paced and strategic PVP battles, lots of cards to collect and upgrade, and a casual yet competitive nature that will appeal to a wide range of people. Although it has some pay-to-win aspects, the game is still incredibly entertaining and is the perfect game to pick up and play at any time for quick bursts of fun.

Screenshots

Clash Royale Screenshots

Videos

Clash Royale Videos

Clash Royale: Enter the Arena

System Requirements

Clash Royale System Requirements

Minimum Requirements:

Android 4.0.3 and up / iOS 7.0 or later.

Music

Clash Royale Music & Soundtrack

Additional Information

Clash Royale Additional Information

Developer: Supercell
Publisher: Supercell
Platforms: Android, iOS
Release Date: March 2, 2016

Clash Royale was developed and published by Supercell, the Finish creators of the hugely popular Clash of Clans and Boom Beach mobile games. Clash Royale had a 2 month beta period starting in January 2016 and released worldwide on March 2, 2016. Within one week of its release, Clash Royale reached #1 in the U.S. App Store top downloaded and top grossing charts, with a similar trend on the Google Play store. Supercell is currently valued at $5.5 billion with millions of dollars earned each day from their immensely popular games. Supercell is also the publisher of the farming simulator, Hay Day.