There’s a long-running joke that despite being called Riot Games, the League of Legends developer only ever had one game, but that ends today as Riot has announced a truckload of new games at its 10th anniversary event.
Riot announced a Diablo-like action RPG, mobile versions of TFT and League of Legends, a fighting game, and a tactical shooter, but it was Legends of Runeterra, the company’s upcoming card game, that caught our eye.
While it’s only set for launch next year, we had a chance to try it out briefly.
Like most card games, LoR is turn-based, but with each turn split into attack and defense rounds. The goal of the game is similar to League of Legends, and tasks you with destroying the enemy player’s Nexus (which has 20 health).
You get a set amount of mana to spend each turn (with some cards letting you generate extra), but you have to think ahead on when to spend your mana. Spend it too early in your attack round, and you’ll not have any to use when your opponent attacks during the turn. Unspent mana can also be saved and used in the next round, but there’s a limit to how much you can save too.
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I played one full match against an AI opponent and came away impressed with the mechanics of the game. Champions are strong and feature unique abilities, like being able to regen to full health at the end of the turn. They can also level up once certain requirements are met.
I had plenty of fun in my match, which took about 10 minutes to play. Riot says the game will be free to play, but you can spend money if you want. Completing quests in-game will give you new cards, and you’ll have plenty to unlock, too.
Riot says the world is split into multiple regions: Demacia, Novixa, Ionia, Piltover and Zaun, Freljord and the Shadow Isles, and you can play any region you want any time.
There’s also no paying for randomized card packs, instead, you’ll be able to buy specific cards with in-game currency. There will also be free options to unlock cosmetic gear for your board.
Once a week, players will be able to unlock chests from the Vault, which levels up with you, and increases the amount of cards you get from the chests inside. There are also wildcards, which can be turned into any card you want.
Legends of Runeterra is set to launch next year on both PC and mobile, and will feature a ranked mode and possibly other game modes such as limited or draft-based modes.
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