Ever since its release, Clash Royale has been my gold standard when it comes to CCG/Tower defense titles. Due to its incredible success, numerous copycat strategy games released in hopes of attaining even a sliver of the spotlight cast upon Clash Royale. Most of these releases left me uninspired at best, but with Hero Academy 2, there’s been no such disappointment. Though elements of the game’s strategy will be reminiscent of Clash Royale, Hero Academy 2 stands firmly on its own to feet as a deep strategy offering that gets harder (and better) as you play. I’ve been working the challenges and duels for the last couple of days and can honestly say, if you enjoy strategy-based battling games, you need to be playing this one.
Hero Academy 2 Gameplay
If you’ve spent any amount of time playing Clash Royale, figuring out the basic structure of this game is simple. Gameplay takes place with Crystals that serve as your towers on each side of a grid. The object of the game is to destroy all of your enemy’s towers before he or she destroys yours. To defend, you lay down card-based units on your board using your mana pool. Each turn, players receive five mana with any unused mana rolling over into the next turn. A major difference between Hero Academy 2 and Clash Royale is that it is turned-based instead of real-time action. Think Hearthstone meets Clash Royale and you’ll have it about right.
As in most CCGs, you have a variety of spells, equipment, structures and troop cards you can deploy. Over time you’ll earn or purchase a variety of cards to make gameplay increasingly more complex. While the initial Hero Academy 2 tutorial may lead you to believe winning matches will be a cinch, once the hand-holding stops, you’ll realize just how much you have left to learn. Fortunately the developers have created several gameplay modes, some of which are aimed at improving specific skills.
Hero Academy 2 features both solo and PvP battles. PvP duels let you battle against online players in real-time, but solo players have three game modes to choose from: Campaigns, Challenges and Practice.
Like most CCGs, Hero Academy 2 has a number of different deck types you can acquire/build. Playing the Campaign mode is a great way to earn basic starter decks like Dark Elves, Wardens and more. In campaign mode you’ll battle against an AI opponent that uses a specific kind of deck. After winning three battles, you’ll acquire the starter deck used by your opponent. Completing all Campaign battles will earn you starter decks for each of the seven deck types in the game.
Challenge mode is quite a bit different in that it’s literally meant to challenge your skills while teaching you techniques that can be useful in PvP battles. Challenge mode is essentially a group of puzzle-like fights where you’ll need to use a specific skill, such as ranged attacks, in order to beat them. Each challenge you complete earns you rewards like inks, gems and coins, all forms of premium currency in the game.
Finally, Practice mode is exactly what it sounds like: a chance to battle an AI on a easy, medium or hard setting with no rank penalty for losses.
While Hero Academy 2 is free-to-play and there is a premium currency model in the game, it feels balanced enough to allow for hours of fun gameplay before you ever need to make a purchase. Hero Academy 2 is available now for free on both the Apple App and Google Play store. If you love strategy games, be sure to check it out.
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