Offered by the same creator of Clash of Clans, Clash Royale is a real-time multiplayer mobile game with card collection and strategy elements. The goal of the game is to collect cards that represent the troops from Clash of Clans and to use those cards (‘troops’) to battle with real-time online players and win the Royale battles. The gameplay involves card collection, deck preparation and real-time battles. Meanwhile, players are also offered with various side events. The major in-game currency is gold that can be earned from winning battles, opening free daily chests and participating in global tournaments. Players can spend gold on troop upgrades. In order to do so, players first need to collect certain number of cards for the same type of troop. Then they can use gold to buy the upgraded troop cards with larger troop size and more damaging power. Before players join the real-time multiplayer battles, they need to prepare their decks containing various troop cards. It should be noted that each type of troop takes certain Elixir cost. In other words, the regeneration of each type of troops takes certain amount of waiting time. Therefore, it is important to strategically set up the card composition of the deck, making sure the cards are diversified. Generally speaking, the larger or more powerful the troop is, the longer the Elixir will be. Troops can be divided into three types with Elixir cost ranging from 1-5. In Clash Royale, there are more than 100 cards and possible upgrades available for players to use and unlock. Those cards can be defensive, offensive or casting spells on the enemies. Players make game progress through winning battles which enables them to unlock new cards, upgrade troops and move to new arenas. Being a Royale battle styled game, Clash Royale is very social and interactive. Players are encouraged to participate in global tournament and compete against many other players from all over the world. What is more, players can also join in or establish their own clan where they can collaborate with other clan members by sharing and exchanging troop cards and compete in clan wars, which brings even bigger rewards than single player victories. Besides, in seasonal events, players can unlock time-limited tower skins, emotes and other special items. The latest release is also featured with badge collection that allows players to display their game achievements to others. 

Game Review

Clash Royale incorporates real-time battle combat, card collection and strategic decision-making, which adds the playability and richness of the contents. The number of cards is quite large and players can strategically set up their own battle decks. This feature expands the playability in that players can try out various combination of troops and see which ones work out better. Such attempts are also made possible in the ‘training battle’ mode where players can test out their strategies. The diverse choice on cards on the one hand enhances the contents of game play, on the other hand, it may also bring complicities. This is because this game frequently updates new cards with new features and players may find it quite difficult to keep up with the information change.  While some people think it adds challenges in a positive sense, others believe such mechanism potentially makes the game unreasonably difficult for players in higher level to win unless they spend real money to purchase special items. Another problem comes from the technical bug that constantly causes time lagging in real-time battles where the timing of actions is very sensitive for winning or losing.