Clash Royale facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Clash Royale |
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| Developer(s) | Supercell |
| Publisher(s) | Supercell |
| Platform(s) | iOS, Android |
| Release date(s) |
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| Genre(s) | Real-time strategy |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
Clash Royale is an exciting real-time strategy video game created by Supercell. It mixes fun parts of collectible card games, tower defense games, and multiplayer online battle arena games. The game became available worldwide on March 2, 2016.
Clash Royale quickly became very popular, earning over $1 billion in less than a year. In three years, it made $2.5 billion! It's also the first game that came from the world of Clash of Clans.
Contents
Clash Royale: How to Play
How Battles Work
In Clash Royale, you play against one or two other players (1v1 or 2v2). Your main goal is to destroy more of your opponent's towers than they destroy of yours. Each tower you knock down gives you a "crown." If you destroy the opponent's main "King's Tower," you win instantly with three crowns!
Most matches last three minutes. If both sides have the same number of crowns when time runs out, the game goes into a two-minute overtime. During overtime, the first player to destroy any opposing tower wins right away. If no towers are destroyed in overtime, a tiebreaker happens. The tower with the lowest health is destroyed. If both players have a tower with the same lowest health, it's a draw. Sometimes, if both King's Towers are destroyed at the exact same moment, it's also a draw.
Your Player Level and Arenas
Players in Clash Royale used to be ranked by trophies won or lost in battles. Now, there's a new system called Path of Legends. You can level up your account and your King Tower by earning Experience points. You get these points by donating cards to your clanmates and upgrading your own cards. Your King Tower can reach level 15, and your player level can go up to level 70. These levels help match you with other players in competitive games.
There are many different battle arenas in the game, like Goblin Stadium, Barbarian Bowl, and Legendary Arena. Each arena is for players within a certain trophy range, up to 10,000 trophies. Beyond that, special seasonal arenas lead to a ranked mode at 15,000 trophies.
In March 2017, "Leagues" were added for players with over 5,000 trophies. These leagues ranged from Challenger I to Ultimate Champion. In October 2022, the game changed to have a longer trophy road with more arenas. It also added a separate competitive mode called Path of Legends, which works similarly to the old League system.
The game sometimes adds special limited-time modes. For example, in June 2024, there was a mode with a Goblin Queen instead of the King Tower. In November 2024, a ranked 2v2 mode allowed players to team up. Both of these special modes have since been removed. In March 2025, a "Retro Royale" event let players play the game as it was in 2017, with fewer cards and features. This event also ended on March 26, 2025.
Cards: Your Battle Deck
In Clash Royale, your troops, buildings, and spells are all shown as cards. Many of these cards, like the Giant and Cannon, come from Supercell's other game, Clash of Clans. Both games share a similar cartoon art style.
Before each battle, you build a deck of eight cards. You use these cards to attack and defend against your opponent. At the start of a battle, you get four random cards from your deck. Each card costs a certain amount of "elixir" to play. You start with five elixir points, and one point refills every 2.8 seconds until you reach ten elixir. When you play a card, a new one is automatically drawn. The elixir refills twice as fast in the last minute of a regular game and three times as fast in the last minute of overtime.
Card Rarities and Upgrades
When Clash Royale first launched, it had 42 cards in three rarity levels: Common, Rare, and Epic. More rarities were added later: Legendary cards in February 2016 and Champion cards in October 2021. You can only have one Champion card in your deck. Each Champion has a special ability that you can use by spending extra elixir. For example, the Golden Knight's Dash ability costs 1 extra elixir. As of September 2025, there are 121 different cards in the game across these five rarity levels.
All cards can be upgraded to a maximum of level 15. Common cards start at level 1, Rare cards at level 3, Epic cards at level 6, Legendary cards at level 9, and Champion cards at level 11. In most tournaments, all cards and crown towers are set to level 11 to make the game fair.
Special Card Features
In December 2018, "Star Points" were added. These points let you unlock cool golden looks for your cards. This feature was updated in October 2021 to be available from Level 7. You get Star Points as you gain experience. You can use them to give your cards a shiny, updated appearance, often in gold. Most cards have up to three Star Levels, which unlock as you level up the card.
In March 2022, "Card Masteries" were introduced. These give you rewards for reaching specific goals with your cards in battles. For example, you might get rewards for how much damage a card does or how many enemy troops it destroys. Badges show off your progress. You can also earn other badges for achievements like winning many games in different modes.
The June 2023 update brought "Card Evolutions" and "Elite Levels." Card Evolutions give some cards a new, powerful ability that activates after you play the card a certain number of times. After it's used, the cycle resets. Elite Levels added level 15 to cards. To upgrade a card from level 14 to 15, you need 50,000 "Elite Wild Cards." You collect these by getting extra copies of cards that are already at level 14.
In December 2023, "Tower Troops" were announced. These change the defenders of your two smaller towers. Before, these towers were guarded by a princess archer. This became the Tower Princess, the first Tower Troop. New Tower Troops have been released since January 2024. Currently, there are four unique Tower Troops available.
Joining a Clan
You can join or create a clan with other players. Being in a clan lets you have friendly battles and take part in clan wars. It also allows you to ask for cards you need and donate cards to your clanmates once you reach experience level 3. When you reach level 8, you can trade cards using "trade tokens." There are different types of trade tokens for Common, Rare, Epic, and Legendary cards. You can get trade tokens by earning trophies, completing challenges, and buying them in the game shop. They let you trade a certain number of cards with other players.
Clan Wars: Team Battles
"Clan Wars" were first added on April 25, 2018. These wars had two parts: "Collection Day" and "War Day." On Collection Day, players battled in different game modes to earn cards for their clan. If enough players participated, the clan moved to War Day. Here, your clan was matched with four other clans. Players built battle decks using only the cards collected. Clans were ranked based on how many crowns they won. At the end of War Day, everyone who played got rewards like Gold. Clans gained or lost trophies based on their rank, helping them move through different Clan Leagues. Higher leagues meant better rewards. Clan Seasons lasted two weeks, and at the end, players received a chest based on their clan's highest rank.
On August 31, 2020, "Clan Wars II" replaced the original system. Each week has three "Training Days" (Monday to Wednesday) and four "Battle Days" (Thursday to Sunday). During Training Days, you add troops to your Clan Boat. This boat shows your clan's progress in the war. You use 32 cards from your collection to make four unique battle decks, making sure no cards overlap. You can test these decks during Training Days. On Battle Days, you can attack enemy boats and earn medals for wins. Clans still earn trophies based on how far their boat travels in the "River Race." After the week, the cycle resets. Every fifth week, clans stop at the Colosseum for a final round of battles before starting a new cycle against different rival clans.
Game Launch and Popularity
Clash Royale first launched in a few countries like Canada, Australia, and Finland for iOS devices on January 4, 2016. It then came out for Android devices in those same countries on February 16, 2016. The game was released worldwide for both platforms on March 2, 2016. More recently, on October 22, 2023, the game also became available for PC players globally through Google Play Games.
When it first came out, Clash Royale quickly became the most downloaded and highest-earning app on the U.S. iOS App Store.
Clash Royale Championships: Competing at the Top
The "Clash Royale League" was a major official team esports competition created by Supercell. It had five different leagues for regions like North America, Europe, and Asia. The first season started on August 20, 2018. After many games, the best teams went to the World Finals, which were held in Tokyo, Japan, in 2018. The first World Champions were Nova Esports.
Later, the format changed from team competitions to individual player competitions. The 2021 World Finals were held online. From 2022 to 2024, the World Finals took place in Helsinki, Finland, where Supercell's main office is located. In 2024, Supercell hosted "Superfest," a big event that included the Clash Royale World Finals along with other game championships.
| Edition | Date | Venue | Champion(s) | Runner(s)-up | Prize pool money |
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| 1 | December 1, 2018 |  Makuhari Messe Hall 6, Tokyo, Japan |
 Nova Esports |
 Vivo Keyd |
$1,000,000 |
| 2 | December 7, 2019 |  The Shrine Expo Hall, Los Angeles, California |
 Team Liquid |
W.EDGM |
$400,000 |
| 3 | December 5-6, 2020 | Baoshan Sports Center, Shanghai, China |
 Team Queso |
 SK Gaming |
$380,000 |
| 4 | December 3-5, 2021 | Online | Mugi |
 Mohammed Light |
$1,020,000 |
| 5 | September 23-25, 2022 |  Helsinki Exhibition and Convention Center, Helsinki, Finland |
Mohammed Light |
Morten |
$900,000 |
| 6 | November 24-26, 2023 | Helsinki Exhibition and Convention Center, Helsinki, Finland |
Mugi |
Pedro |
$900,000 |
| 7 | November 11-13, 2024 | Helsinki Exhibition and Convention Center, Helsinki, Finland |
Mohammed Light |
 Ryley |
$500,000 |
The "Clash Royale Crown Championship" was another big esports event in 2017. It brought together top players from all over the world. The first championship had over 28 million participants, making it the largest Clash Royale event ever! The first world champion was Sergio Ramos. This championship was later replaced by the Clash Royale League in 2018.
| Edition | Date | Venue | Champion | Runner-up | Prize money |
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| 1 | December 3, 2017 |  Copper Box Arena, London, England |
 Sergioramos |
MusicMaster |
$400,000 |
Clash Royale was also featured as an esport demonstration event at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia. Eight countries competed after qualifying, with Indonesia automatically participating as the host country.
| Year | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 |  Indonesia
Ridel Yesaya Sumarandak (Benzer Ridel) |
 China
Huang Chenghui (Lciop) |
 Vietnam
Huỳnh Đức Huy (Legend) |
Awards for Clash Royale
Clash Royale has won several awards for being a great game:
- It won "Best Game" at the Google Play Awards in May 2016.
- It received the "AMD eSports Audience Award" at the British Academy Games Awards in April 2017.
- It was named "Best Upcoming Game" and "Best Multiplayer Game" at the International Mobile Gaming Awards.
- It also won "The Small Screen Game of the Year 2016" and "The Finnish Game of the Year 2016" at the Finnish Game Awards.
- In January 2020, it won "Best Mobile eSport" at the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards.
See also
- Clash of Clans
- Real-time strategy
- Supercell
