Do dagger-wielding goblins or walking furnaces sound familiar to you? If not, then you’ve probably haven’t heard of “Clash Royale”- a magical, chaotic video game that has taken the world by storm.
“Clash Royale”, or simply known as “Clash”, has seen a staggering resurgence in popularity over the last year. Released worldwide in 2016 by Finnish developer Supercell, “Clash” has since accumulated more than a mind-boggling sixty million concurrent players.
“Clash’s” core gameplay encourages players to do three things: collect cards, resources, and win matches. The game revolves around one-on-one battles in an “Arena” where the player’s goal is to destroy their opponent’s towers before the other. Each player starts with three towers, named “Crowns”, and destroying the largest “King Tower” immediately wins you the match in a “Three-Crown” victory. Wins award you Trophies, and trophies allow you to advance through ranked Arenas and face higher-skilled opponents.
In a match, players build up a deck of eight individual Cards. Cards that are placed in the Arena can summon fire-breathing dragons, armored knights, and lightning strikes to aid you in battle. A strategic attack on a “Crown” with troops, or a “push”, can be supported through “Spells”, powerful effects ranging from explosive rockets to enormous snowballs, and “Buildings”, motionless structures that can repel troops. Over the years, Decks have been nicknamed for specific purposes: players who enjoy Beatdown Decks rely on slow but overwhelming pushes, while Cycle Deck players endlessly deploy cheaper units to rotate to a specific Card.
In battle, Cards rotate through a specific pattern as they are placed on the arena. This allows players to “Cycle” through their eight-card Deck to their more powerful Cards for deployment. In June 2023, Supercell revolutionized Card Cycling forever through their addition of “Card Evolutions” or “Evos” to the game. Evolved Cards gain devastating abilities when “Cycled” through a Deck enough times. For example, the recently-added “Evo Baby Dragon” spits fireballs at enemies and unleashes violent gusts of wind with its wings, slowing down enemies and increasing the speed of nearby friendlies.
Players scramble to find the next best dominant decks, strategies, and “Evos” as monthly seasons are added. With over 120 Cards in Clash, there’s endless opportunity for players to experiment with their favorite strategies.
“I play an Evo Royal Recruits/Goblin Cage [Deck],” said junior Vincenzo Schliep, a Clash player for over four years. “It’s easy to use and [super] aggressive, and it’s the only deck I can win with.” Evo Royal Recruits can apply offensive pressure in both lanes of the Arena, while the Goblin Cage Building defends against heavier pushes.
“I usually run a Lumberloon Deck,” said sophomore Joshua “JJ” Maas, who has been an active player since July. In a “Lumberloon” deck, a quick, axe-wielding Lumberjack and the heavy damage of a flying hot-air balloon are combined to utterly obliterate an opponent’s towers.
Now, it goes without saying that Clash has its fair share of terrible experiences for players. For each Card that has been well-received by the Clash Royale community, there are other Cards that have gained notoriety and hatred for their overwhelming power. From the spear-wielding Royal Recruits (yes, plural, there’s SIX of them to deal with) to the heavily armored Mega Knight, hated Cards are widely used in competitive play, and for good reason. Players call this kind of gameplay “toxic” or “no-skill” because ridiculously powerful Cards are no fun to go against. However, many simply do it to advance through “Arenas” as quickly as possible. Also, there’s nothing more fun than watching your opponent build up a seemingly unstoppable push only to get crushed by a huge man in black armor falling from the sky.
”Losing to a level fifteen Mega Knight player makes [you] want to throw [your] phone across the room,” said freshman Matthew Busa.
Additionally, Clash’s addicting gameplay has raised teachers’ awareness of possible issues in class for students.
“It’s the newest craze,” said history teacher Joseph Witek. “I’ve caught people playing it frequently, [and] I just have to be a little more vigilant about it.” While Clash is undoubtedly fun, constant gaming can consume hours upon hours of time—and disrupt work in the classroom.
Despite its flaws, however, there’s no doubt that Clash Royale’s run in the gaming industry has been phenomenal. With updates constantly dropping every month and new Cards being introduced, Clash’s future looks extremely bright as players continue to battle in Arenas everywhere!