What are the shortcomings in the main mobile blockbuster of this year, – Mikhail Katkoff, head of FunPlus studio, analyzed. We offer a brief retelling of his work.
Are you tired of the grind
In the early stages of the game, progress was very noticeable. After a couple of months of the game, the situation changes radically for the user.
The fact is that the improvement of the deck comes out in the first place. To do this, you need a sea of duplicates and tens of thousands of gold for development.
The grind required for both the first and the second is complicated by the following:
- Firstly, the level of the arena affects the rewards, and therefore the speed of progress. The better the arena, the better the reward. But after a series of defeats, it’s easy to fly out of the arena. And, as a result, get a decrease in the rate of progress.
- Secondly, in the game, the mechanics of progress are twofold. First, the user collects resources (here – maps) so that there is enough for an upgrade. After that, the player is rolled out a price tag (very high) for the upgrade.
Due to the fact that the rate of recruitment of gold and cards can decrease, and each improvement has two prices (first we save / buy cards, then we save / buy gold) – there is nothing surprising in the fact that the player can feel that there is no development.
You are being punished for using new cards
The game does not encourage the use (and experimentation) of new cards in the deck. Moreover, it penalizes for this at the later stages of the game, since the player often either has not pumped a new card to the desired level, or has not yet learned how to use it.
Let the player get access to new cards in each arena, but if he experiments with them, he will be thrown back to the previous arena (at best).
There are no tools in the game that allow you to experiment painlessly. There is an opportunity to experiment within the clan, but there are not always people online for this.
Plus, the interest in experiments itself is falling, since the ability to work with the assembled deck comes out in the first place. Skill needs to be worked out, and this is time.
Therefore, Clash Royale forces you to constantly use the same deck.
Contractions cause stress
Every fight in the game has a high stake, because your rank depends on its outcome.
For an esports game, this is not the right decision. In Hearthstone, for example, there are two modes – casual and ranked. As part of the first, the player can gain experience without fear of falling in the rating or class. As part of the second, the player earns ranks reflecting his skill.
It is the absence of a casual mode that is the main problem of Clash Royale, because without such an environment in which the player could test new decks, he is heavily fined for experiments and poor skill.
You lose half the fights
Winning the game depends on the type of deck that the opponent has.
Lucky with the type of opponent – won, unlucky – lost (that’s why in the game match-making, which tries to choose players with the most similar decks – approx. editorial offices).
Due to the limited size of the deck, the player cannot drastically change his strategy during the game itself. If your opponent has a counter on your deck, then a Clash Royale session can be compared to a game of rock-paper-scissors, when you are scissors and the opponent is a rock.
Plus, there is no correct deck in the game. The limited size of the deck and a relatively small number of cards have created a situation where strong players with not the most pumped cards are defeated by average players with a deck pumped to the maximum.
Every day in the game the same thing awaits you
Hearthstone has new tasks every day that make you play for different heroes, Leagues of Legends has a new set of champions every week that encourage you to try something new, experiment with the team composition, even Puzzle & Dragons has daily challenges and a unique loot.
All this is not in Clash Royale. Every day, a player opens a chest, receives known cards, merges them into a clan, rushes into the fight, gives a slap or receives himself, and then puts a new chest on the opening. And so every three/eight hours.
Instead of a conclusion
Over the past month, according to SurveyMonkey, Clash Royale has lost 20% of MAU. Up to the 10 million mark .
Sources: Deconstructor of Fun, PocketGamer