Mobile Mavens

What do the Indie Mavens think of Clash Royale? Have they even played it yet?

Will it be another feather in Supercell's cap?

What do the Indie Mavens think of Clash Royale? Have they even played it yet?

It's no secret that Clash Royale, the new MOBA-lite from Supercell, has divided opinion amongst the writers at PG.biz.

While one of us thinks that the game will launch mobile eSports, another doesn't expect the game to reach such lofty heights.

But, of course, we are but opinionated journalists, with just two opinions. What does the rest of the gaming world think?

To find out, we turned to our Indie Mavens to see what they thought of the game, asking them the question:

  • Have you been playing Clash Royale? Will it be another huge success for Supercell?

 

Dan Menard CEO Double Stallion

I haven't played Clash Royale yet, and probably won't until GDC because of a mad rush to finish a demo! It's been advertised like crazy on YouTube though, so I may check it out.

Nathan Fouts Founder Mommy's Best Games

Not played it yet - working on a GDC build, so I'm slammed. That's my lame excuse :(

Leanne Bayley Developer We Heart Dragons

Looking at the numbers coming in we can answer this question and, yes, it is indeed a huge success for Supercell. And I can see why.

It's polished to a mirror shine.
Leanne Bayley

It's polished to a mirror shine, its compulsion loop is super tight, and its simplicity at the onset means anyone can start playing this game and be quite good at it.

It feeds on 'oh I want one of those!' the first time you see an epic unit you don't have, and the loop is so tight it begs for 'just one more go'.

And it's when those pesky treasure chests slots are full that the allure of the 'open now' button becomes too much to resist.

I think this game has some fantastic layers to it, and I've already had some discussions on best opening moves and how to counter different troops. This game has rock, paper, scissors in spades.

All said though, it's not for me.

It is the kind of game that I would really enjoy (being a big fan of tower defence and card games), but I want to be able to spend time playing it, not 12 minutes followed by a 12 hour wait for card upgrades and the chance to earn new troops.

I've already played against people whose troops are 2 or 3 levels higher than mine, and I'm just not prepared to pay for the upgrades I need to stay at arena 3 (only arena 3!).

But as noted above, at top in the grossing charts, clearly I'm in the minority.

Then again, I had this issue with Clash of Clans. I wanted to play it, not wait for it.

Pavel Ahafonau Co-founder Happymagenta

Clash Royale is genius in its simplicity, as I would say, a very pure and almost bare gameplay. It opens the game to a somewhat mass audience that would probably skip the original Clash of Clans.

It also allows a much more streamlined gameplay that is easier to tune and optimize. It's no wonder for me that it has got to top grossing fast.

However, of course, it's not just the game, rather the ability and experience of Supercell on how to properly acquire users.

Ben Murch Co-Founder Perchang

I've been playing Clash Royale over the weekend and I have to admit, I'm a little confused.

Let's get the obvious out of the way. It's slick and pretty, and ticks all those presentation boxes on the Apple submission form. It's also already a hit, having taken the top place on the grossing chart.

The core game is astonishingly simple and pretty tiresome.
Ben Murch

However, I keep thinking "Is this it?".

The core game is astonishingly simple and pretty tiresome. Having only reached Arena 2, I have no idea if the layouts will change. I'm assuming not though.

The meta game is similarly sparse. Open chest, add levels to cards, rinse and repeat. Am I missing something? I can't see enough variables to tweak my play style into something unique for me.

Where's the creativity? The whole game feels like an extra mode for Clash of Clans, not a new standalone contender, which makes me think it won't have the legs that Clash of Clans has.

I'm really glad that Supercell are trying something new, but this misses the mark for me.

Editor

Ric is the Editor of PocketGamer.biz, having started out as a Staff Writer on the site back in 2015. He received an honourable mention in both the MCV and Develop 30 Under 30 lists in 2016 and refuses to let anyone forget about it.