Clash of Clans is one of the most famous free-to-play online games on the market. In some respects it is similar to Lords Mobile, but at the same time it has a number of features. The game was released in 2012 and is still gaining momentum, mainly because of the constant influx of new players and content. While the game mechanics haven’t changed much over the years, the underlying publishing strategy still showcases the best aspects of mobile gaming.
Once the game is installed on your mobile device, you can observe a virtually empty field and a few basic buildings to start with. A basic town hall, army barracks and resource facilities are present. The core demographic is a little younger than Lords Mobile. Initially there will be a constant accompaniment to help you get used to the gameplay.
The game revolves around PvP battles, specifically clan versus clan attacks. All of the basic gameplay mechanics support them. Users are forced to gather resources and build their defences and armies for upcoming matches. The first battles will be AI-only, and are fairly easy to get through. You only need to build a decent army to crush the enemy.
You need resources to build better buildings. It also takes time to get the best units into your army. Essentially, everything takes time, resources (and money) to complete and upgrade. As one of the hallmarks of the mobile game genre, Clash of Clans has this aspect to a large extent.
Of course, while AI battles can be a great introduction to the basics, PvP is where the real fun begins. The player’s castle is his operational base and must be defended against other users. The game starts with single player combat, where the hero either raids the castles of others or is raided himself. Successes in attacking or defending bring trophies, which increase your ranking on the leaderboard, and also bring precious resources to speed up your progress in the early stages.
There is no control over your army or base in the raid itself. Once troops have landed on a piece of land, they will attack the nearest enemy or their priority target, such as buildings that can be looted. The same goes for defensive structures.
Most of them have an attack scheme and prioritisation, and the game’s AI will take care of everything else. Although the player is not directly involved in raids, he can still look to see where his army has failed and what needs to be improved. Other players can only attack his base when he is not actively playing.
At the start of each session, the player will receive information about previous raids and how they have affected his trophies and resources. He also has the opportunity to see replays of all the raids that have occurred during that time. You need to use them to see where defences have failed and which buildings need upgrading to withstand attacks in the long run.
Overall, the raiding aspect of the game is where the fun is. It’s a continuous process of learning new offensive and defensive tactics and arms races to see who can build the best base. Since the game has been around for a while, most players have upgraded their castles pretty well, but there is always an influx of new players to hunt down.