What Makes Clash Royale So Addictive?
I started playing Clash Royale this year itself. Earlier I had heard a lot about Clash Of Clans’ success but never really played that game to a level where I got addicted to it but then they launched a new game titled Clash Royale which looked kind of boring to me at first but when I actually started playing it I realised how truly addictive this game was.
A lot of people still confuse between the two games Clash Of Clans and Clash Royale. These two are indeed two different games launched by the same developer, Supercell. I had absolutely no idea that I would end up getting so addicted to Clash Royale.
To give you a short introduction of the game play of this game I would say that it is a simple online player versus player game where you have to strategically place units that will attack on your behalf and the player who destroys their opponents all 3 towers first is the winner. You can also play the 4 player mode wherein you team up with another person and together you two fight against the other two opponents. That’s it. That is basically the entire core game play of the game.
Now what adds in a layer of interesting element in the game is that the game play remains the same, destroy 3 towers and win, but the way you destroy those 3 towers differs. This differentiation is brought with the help of a wide variety of units that you get through cards. You start with Arenas which are basically adjusted as per the ratio of matches you win or lose. As you keep on winning matches you progress through multiple levels of Arenas. But if you lose a lot then your level drops down as well and you are forced to play in a lower arena.
The really interesting thing I found about this game is that this game restricts you to play the game but at the same time does not restrict you to play the game either. How does it manage to do that? Well, simple. In a specific number of hours you can only open few chests. You get these chests only if you win against the opponent. However, you only have slots to store 4 chests and each chest has a time that you need to wait to unlock.
If you run out of inventory space to store a chest you can still play the game but you won’t be able to progress through the game primarily because everything depends on what cards you get from these chests. There are a different variety of chests to unlock such as the wooden chest, silver chest, golden chest and more. The better the chest the longer the waiting time. For some chests you need to wait for almost more than 8 hours at times to just unlock the contents of that chest. This technique is called the “Gacha” system.
Gacha System
Gacha system basically tricks players into an invisible pull that gets created in the mind of the player. Once you click on unlock chest you are bound to come back to the game in order to check what you have unlocked. The game also notifies you when your chest is ready to get unlocked. Don’t like to wait? Well, you can then purchase gems through in-game currency and spend it in the game to skip waiting for long hours.
Because of this gacha system implemented in a brilliant way, the game’s monetisation is extremely strong. It is reported that this game crossed over $1 billion in revenue within it’s first year of launch. That’s mind blowing, isn’t it?
This game is a classic example of how you can trick players into getting addicted to your game. However, this addiction can be quite dangerous as well. People play this game for hours and hours together. Sometimes some people even play multiple matches even when their chest slots are full just to get that quick fix of adrenaline for their mind. People go as far as adjusting their entire day according to the timing of their chests being unlocked. They religiously check and play the game for a couple of minutes before sleeping so they can earn a chest and then keep that chest to get unlocked through the night. The first thing these players do after waking up is to check what they have earned in the chest. I know this because even I was addicted to this game once and did the same.
Developer of this game has spent countless hours of research in perfecting the game’s mechanics based on psychology of humans and preyed on what they desire the most. This has created sort of a vacuum in the game that keeps you pulling back to it again and again and before you realise it, you are already addicted.
I have also talked about why Candy Crush Saga is so addictive in my other post so be sure to check that out. So what are your thoughts on Clash Royale?
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This is Nikhil signing off, na shledanou!
