“Legends of Runeterra” in test games

“League of Legends”, one of the most successful games in the world, is developed by Riot Games. The free-to-play e-sports long-running hit has all sorts of options for players who want to spend real money. The palette ranges from skins for the characters to loot boxes to “trackers” that record successes in the game. This is potentially quite expensive, but is always optional and has no impact on gameplay. Despite all creativity, “League of Legends” can be described as a very fair free-to-play game.

Please don’t spend too much money

“Legends of Runeterra” has now been released, a digital trading card game in the “League of Legends” universe. Riot Games remains true to its principles here as well – and removes something that has always “belonged” to this type of game. In “Legends of Runeterra” you don’t buy booster packs that contain random cards. Instead, you can easily buy the cards you want – be it with coins (can be acquired with real money), splinters (won from double cards, among other things) or so-called wild cards. These are available for the Champion, Epic, Rare and Ordinary card levels. It is therefore much easier to create matching decks without having to open numerous card packs beforehand.

There are several restrictions to prevent particularly wealthy (or willing) players from buying the strongest cards in bulk in no time. Because not only can you only buy a limited number of wildcards in the in-game shop every day, the amount of real money that you can sink into the game each week is capped. So far, everything has worked very well.

Attackers and defenders

So much information on monetization before a word about gameplay is lost? Yes, because above all with its monetization “Legends of Runeterra” stands out from other trading card games like “Hearthstone”, “The Elder Scrolls Legends” or even “Magic the Gathering Arena”. And the rest of the game is pretty good too.

At first glance, the game looks a lot like the competition. A pretty playing field, nicely animated cards, two players who act alternately. But there is a peculiarity: It is played in rounds, in which the opponents alternate between the attacker and the defender role. Each turn has several moves until both players have used up their mana (there is an additional manastone per turn) or finish their turn without action.

This opens up interesting tactical options. Attack right away and risk that the opponent casts a surprising spell that decimates their own fighters or rather wait until they have used up their mana? The decision also depends heavily on your own deck, because “Legends of Runeterra” supports many different game styles.

Round trip

Basically, the playing cards are divided into the regions Demacia, Freljord, Ionia, Noxus, Piltover & Zhaun, shadow islands and bilge water, the different places in the fantasy world Runeterra. While noble knights can be found in Demacia, there are pirates and sea monsters in bilge water. Decks can either be composed from the maps of a region or from the combination of two locations. This way, interesting synergies can be used. Because the game offers a lot of mechanics that complement each other more or less well.

For example, a deck with the champions “Maokai and Nautilus” known from “League of Legends” is possible, which mainly focuses on killing your cards or removing them from your hand. As a result, the champion cards level up and become significantly more powerful than standard fighters. Not all champions from “League of Legends” have made their way into the game yet, but Riot Games will certainly make sure of that in the coming years.

All players who have little fun building decks and trying things out can easily import decks that have already been created by professionals or friends. Because every compilation can be converted into a letter sequence in the game, which is easily adopted in the game client on the PC or smartphone.

Rewards

The progression is also synchronized on all devices via the Riot Games account. This is important because in “Legends of Runeterra” you get experience points for pretty much everything. For victories and losses against real players, the AI ​​or friends. And for so-called “expeditions”, in which you build a deck from given cards and compete against other players. All of these points unlock loot boxes that cannot be bought for real money. Because every region in the game has an experience bar that can be used to unlock boxes full of wildcards, champions, shards or other bonuses at fixed stations. The active region can be changed at any time.

But regardless of whether you are gaining experience in Freljord or Demacia, all points flow equally into a weekly treasure chest. It opens every Tuesday and can be upgraded up to level 13. The higher the level, the better the rewards.

Conclusion

“Legends of Runeterra” has the potential to shake up the trading card game market. Not only is the game fairly fair to players despite the free-to-play model and does not necessarily require real money purchases, it is a lot of fun. The developers promise regular updates and the transformation of “League of Legends” over the past few years suggests a great future for the card game.