Brawl Stars is a freemium mobile real-time strategy video game developed and published by Supercell.On June 14, 2017, Supercell announced the game via livestream video on Youtube. It received an iOS soft launch in the Canadian App Store the following day, June 15, 2017. It is yet to be released on Android devices or in other countries.
Gameplay
Gameplay of Smash and Grab mode in Brawl Stars. The three brawlers in this screenshot are Nita (bottom), El Primo (top left), and Poco (top right).In Brawl Stars, players are ranked by their level and total trophies. Players collect brawlers and select one to use each game. Brawlers, unlike like Clash Royale cards, come in six rarity types: Common, Rare, Super Rare, Epic, Mythic and Legendary. There are currently nineteen brawlers in the game, and only two of which are legendaries. Players get brawlers from Brawl Boxes which can be acquired for 100 coins. You can also buy special boxes for gems. Players can join bands to play alongside other players. Brawl Stars can be played in seven game modes: Bounty, Brawl Ball, Smash and Grab, Heist, Showdown, Robo Rumble and Boss Battle.[2]
Supers
In Brawl Stars, attacking a person on the opposing team will build up that person's super meter. The super meter can be distinguished as a blue button with a skull on it and a yellow ribbon that loops around it. The yellow ribbon grows larger the more you attack. Once the yellow ribbon is maxed out, the super meter and the skull will begin to glow, indicating that the player can use it. Note that attacking after having a complete super will no longer build the super up any farther. The super attack is, like the name suggests, an extra powerful attack that can be used to decimate the opposing team when used correctly. However, sometimes a super is not always about killing. There are supers, like with Poco and Pam, which heal other players. Supers are what distinguished each character correctly, and makes it worth it to diversify who you play with.
Currency
There are currently three currencies in Brawl Stars: Coins, Gems, and Upgrade Tokens. Coins are used to buy Brawl Boxes which contain brawlers, upgrades or upgrade tokens. Coins are received by entering new events, winning battles, leveling up brawlers and ranking up. Gems are used to buy Brawl Boxes, coin boosters, and skins for decorating brawlers and can only be obtained by purchasing them from the in-game shop with real money. Upgrade tokens are collected from Brawl Boxes and is used to upgrade brawlers. It takes 2780 elixir to max out a brawler, and 750-800 dollars real money (as of September 2017) to max out the game on the first day of playing.[3]
Game modes
Bounty
Bounty is a 3 vs 3 team deathmatch game mode where players try to kill players on the other team. The more kills a player has, the higher their bounty is, but if a player with a large bounty is killed, that player's bounty is given to the player that killed them. Each team of three players is either red or blue, and each team spawns on their own side of the map.
Smash and Grab
Smash and Grab is a 3 vs 3 game mode in which players try to collect crystals. The crystals spawn from a mine in the middle of the map once every 5-6 seconds. Each player's crystal count is displayed on top of their name. If a player with crystals is killed, they drop their crystals onto the ground, and the crystals can be collected by other players on either team. The objective is for a team to collect 10 crystals, and if a team does so, a 16-second timer is activated. If the team keeps their 10 crystals for 16 seconds, they win the game.
Heist
Heist is also played with two teams of three. One team has a safe containing crystals to defend, and one team has to break open said safe in 2 minutes and 30 seconds using various attacks and strategies.
Brawl Ball
Brawl Ball is a soccer-like game mode, where each team tries to score 2 goals. The first team to score 2 goals wins. If the score is tied after the first 2 minutes and 30 seconds of play, the walls break down and a one minute, sudden-death overtime period begins.
Showdown
Showdown is the only game mode not played 3 vs 3. It is a deathmatch played with 10 players. During the game, the map fills with poison gas, reducing the size of the battlefield. The last player standing wins the game.[4][5]
Characters
Brawl Stars, like many Supercell games, has a diverse cast of characters. One notable feature is that they all have some sort of Western United States spin to them. Characters include:
- Shelly is the poster character for Brawl Stars and is provided during the tutorial. She has a medium to low range weapon, though it has significant spread, meaning that players without good aim can still use her; which is why she is likely a tutorial character. Her Super is the same as her regular attack, except it deals significantly more damage, is orange in color instead of blue, and has knockback. It can also break blocks, making it good for opening up areas.
- Jessie is a cowgirl character in Brawl Stars and it one of the early characters a player will get from a loot box. She is long range character, though she has little to no spread in her attack. She only fires one bullet, though if it hits a player, it will angle itself to hit another player, so she is good when the opposing team is grouped close together. Her super is quite unique in that it is a turret with its own separate health, similar to Torbjorn in Overwatch. The turret acts like a normal turret and will keep on firing at a player so long as they are in range and are not in grass. The turret will not stop firing until its health is reduced to 0.
- Colt is a fragile common character in Brawl Stars, who has the attack power of Shelly but the range of Jessie. He is extremely weak, having only 600 health (with no upgrades) but makes up for it in his 6 bullet rapid fire succession. He is one of the better starting characters, although later in the game there are better heroes. His super is a buffed version of his regular attack, which is larger and can destroy blocks such as rocks and walls.
- Nita is another common character who looks like small innocent child, but is deceptively the opposite. She may be small but she packs quite a punch. According to her character description, she is the youngest of her Native American tribal shamans. Her attack is a shockwave tremor, which is short range but deals a lot of damage. She is most notable for her Super, summoning a massive familiar bear, which has a lot of health and will endlessly pursue the other team. When the bear attacks, it builds her super.
- El Primo is a Mexican fighter based off the lucha libre fighting in Mexico. He was struck by a meteor in his early days, giving him superhuman strength and power. El Primo is an extremely short range character, as he uses his fists as a primary form of attack. El Primo is a tank, meaning that he can take a lot of hits, and this is likely due to the fact that he has a very slow movement speed and next to no range, so he has to take a lot of hits before he is within attacking range of another person. His super is a giant dropkick where he jumps high into the air and crashes into his foes, which can deal a lot of damage to fragile characters. Although the super was intended for clearing up clusters of players, players have found ulterior uses for it. For example, a popular use for this attack is to quickly maneuver away from opponents, as since El Primo's walking speed is so slow, it's quite hard to get away if one overextends. El Primo is immune to all attacks when the air, although in the brief period where he is stunned from landing, he is quite susceptible to a lot of attacks. It can also be used to destroy obstructing blocks.
- Poco is a super-rare character in Brawl Stars. His main attack is a strum from his guitar that deals a shock wave of music that spreads out, making him a great AOE attacker. The shock wave does not pass through walls. His health is above average. Perhaps the most notable feature of Poco is his super, which releases a large shock wave of music, healing Poco and his teammates that pass through the wave. The super does not deal any damage and cannot heal enemy players.
- Piper is an epic character in Brawl Stars. Her main attack is a white bullet which travels fast and deal very heavy damage. To account for this, though, it takes a lot of time for her to reload. Her health is not too much more than that of Colt. Her super launches her into the air, dropping bombs at her feet that deal significant damage. Her time in the air is lengthened, like Crow, making her an easy target if not positioned well after she lands.