Legends Of Runeterra
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''Legends of Runeterra'' (''LoR'') is a 2020
digital collectible card game A digital collectible card game (DCCG) or online collectible card game (OCCG) is a computer or video game that emulates collectible card games (CCG) and is typically played online or occasionally as a standalone video game. Many DCCGs are types of ...
developed and published by
Riot Games Riot Games, Inc. is an American video game developer, publisher, and esports tournament organizer based in Los Angeles. It was founded in September 2006 by Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill to develop ''League of Legends'' and went on to develop ...
. Inspired by the physical collectible card game '' Magic: The Gathering'', the developers sought to create a game within the same genre that significantly lowered the barrier to entry. Since its release in April 2020, the game has been
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, and is monetised through purchasable cosmetics. The game is available for
Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
and mobile operating systems
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and Android. Like other collectible card games, players play one versus one to reduce their opponent's health to zero. Cards come in a variety of types and belong to one of ten regions—groups of cards with a similar gameplay identity. One significant feature is the game's combat pacing; unlike in other collectible card games, each player alternates between attacking and defending every turn. Many characters from ''
League of Legends ''League of Legends'' (''LoL'', commonly referred to as ''League'', is a multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by ''Defense of the Ancients'', a Mod (video games), custom map for ''Warcraf ...
'', a
multiplayer online battle arena Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) is a Video game genre, subgenre of strategy video games in which two teams of Gamer, players compete on a structured battlefield, each controlling a single Player character, character with distinctive abilit ...
by Riot Games, feature in the game. The fictional universe of Runeterra, released by the developer through short stories,
comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...
s, and an animated series, provides flavor and theming for the game's cards. ''Legends of Runeterra'' has been well received by critics, who point to its generous progression systems, accessible gameplay, and high-quality visuals, and has won several industry awards.


Gameplay

''Legends of Runeterra'' is a
digital collectible card game A digital collectible card game (DCCG) or online collectible card game (OCCG) is a computer or video game that emulates collectible card games (CCG) and is typically played online or occasionally as a standalone video game. Many DCCGs are types of ...
played one versus one. At the beginning, both players' Nexus has 20
health points Health is a video game or tabletop game quality that determines the maximum amount of damage or fatigue something takes before leaving the main game. In role-playing games, this typically takes the form of hit points (HP), a numerical attribute ...
; the first to fall to zero loses. Players begin each match with a
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of four cards, which they may trade away for another random card from their deck. Each round, both players draw one card. Cards are played by spending mana; players begin with zero mana, and gain one additional mana crystal per round up to a maximum of ten. A maximum of three unspent mana is stored automatically at the end of a round as spell mana; this can be used in future rounds to cast spells but cannot summon unit cards. One of the game's distinguishing features is its combat pacing. Each round, the "attack token", a symbol which indicates which player may attack and who will defend, alternates from player to player. This is reflected visually on each players' half of the board, with a sword icon representing attack or a shield for defense. Some cards enable players to attack when they do not have the attack token.


Cards

Each card in the game belongs to a region; in standard play, one deck can use cards from up to two regions. Regions have a distinct style of play and identity. Unlike other trading card games, there are no neutral cards that can be used in every deck. The regions originated in the wider ''
League of Legends ''League of Legends'' (''LoL'', commonly referred to as ''League'', is a multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by ''Defense of the Ancients'', a Mod (video games), custom map for ''Warcraf ...
'' expanded universe. Upon the game's initial release, there were three types of card: champions, followers, and spells. Champion cards are the playable characters from ''League of Legends.'' These cards are unique within the game because they can level up. Levelling a champion transforms the card—and all copies of it in the player's deck—into a more powerful version of the card. Unit cards, which includes champions and non-champions (followers), have a number representing their attack and health statistic; attack is how much damage a unit deals to either the Nexus or its blocker, while health reflects the maximum damage a card can take before being removed from play. Spell cards have a "speed", denoting when they can be played and in what way the opponent is able to respond, if at all. At launch, there were three speeds: slow, fast, and burst. Slow-speed spells cannot be played during active combat, pass priority over to the opponent, and can be responded to with fast or burst spells; fast spells can be played during combat and do not pass priority; and burst speed spells resolve their effect instantly with no opportunity for opponent response. A fourth speed, Focus, resolves immediately and does not pass over turn priority, but can only be used outside of combat. Unit cards do not have a speed, but end a player's turn within a round. Another card type was added in the Monuments of Power expansion—landmarks. Landmarks are played with regular unit mana and consume a position on the player's board; they cannot block or attack. Some landmarks have a "countdown" mechanic, wherein they cause a set effect after a certain number of rounds.


Development and release

Riot Games employees have considered making a card game since early in the company's history. The company has a significant number of fans of the collectible card game genre. ''Legends of Runeterra'''s balancing director, Steve Rubin, pointed to Jeff Jew, the game's executive producer and an early Riot Games employee, and Andrew Yip, as big fans of '' Magic: The Gathering''. There were several different concepts of the game, but ''Legends of Runeterra'' was primarily developed over three years beginning in 2017. Riot recruited professional ''Magic'' competitors as early playtesters; of them, Steve Rubin was invited to return permanently and later moved into the design team. Rubin noted that the announcement of '' Artifact'' caused the developers to consider rushing the game's release, but ultimately decided to polish the game and aim for wider demographics. A significant challenge in development was determining the mechanics of card acquisition; an early iteration in which players simply unlocked region combinations was poorly received by
playtest A playtest is the process by which a game designer tests a new game for bugs and design flaws before releasing it to market. Playtests can be run "open", "closed", "beta", or otherwise, and are very common with board games, collectible card games, ...
ers, who missed the satisfaction of collecting all cards. Accessibility was a priority for the developers, who sought to provide a familiar experience while not forcing players to buy
booster pack In collectible card games, digital collectible card games and collectible miniature wargames, a booster pack is a sealed package of cards or figurines, designed to add to a player's collection. A box of multiple booster packs is referred to as a ...
s, a random bundle of cards otherwise common in the CCG genre. The developers placed a limit on how many cards could be bought in exchange for real money each week. Instead, players are given a number of random cards each week that scales with how frequently they play, and a mechanic called Wild Cards, a way for players to directly craft desired cards. Jeff Jew said that frictionless card collection for players enables the developers to balance more responsively, as players would not be upset that a deck they spent up to building had been weakened. In 2023, an update introducing an Emporium, in which cards and cosmetic items could be purchased with real currency, was released. The Emporium was criticized for its pricing and bugs, with director Dave Guskin acknowledging the issues. The Emporium allowed for the purchase of chests containing a random assortment of cards, which was perceived as contradictory to the original statement of not purchasing booster packs. Card acquisition was also changed, reducing the number of Wild Cards which could be acquired for free. This was later stated to be an oversight in which intended behavior was misidentified as a bug.


Release and sets

''Legends of Runeterra'' was revealed at Riot Games' celebration event of the tenth anniversary of ''League of Legends'' on October 15, 2019; applications for the closed beta period began following the conclusion of the stream. ''Eurogamer'' observed the unusual timing of the reveal, given the recent failure of
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's ''Artifact'' and the waning audience for
Blizzard Entertainment Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and Video game publisher, publisher based in Irvine, California, and a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard. Originally founded in 1991, the company is best known for producing the h ...
's ''
Hearthstone ''Hearthstone'' is a 2014 Online game, online digital collectible card game, digital collectible card video game produced by Blizzard Entertainment, released under the free-to-play model. Originally subtitled ''Heroes of Warcraft'', ''Hearthsto ...
''. The first
closed beta The software release life cycle is the process of developing, testing, and distributing a software product (e.g., an operating system). It typically consists of several stages, such as pre-alpha, alpha, beta, and release candidate, before the fi ...
period ended in October 2019. A second provided access to an additional mode called Expeditions from November 14–19, 2019. The
open beta The software release life cycle is the process of developing, testing, and distributing a software product (e.g., an operating system). It typically consists of several stages, such as pre-alpha, alpha, beta, and release candidate, before the fi ...
, giving access to all players, commenced on January 24, 2020; unlike in the closed beta period, cards and cosmetics purchased in the open beta carried over to the live release of the game. The game was released on April 29, 2020; although the beta period was limited to
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users, the launch accompanied the game's release on mobile operating systems
iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...
and Android. During beta, the game had included six regions, with four champion cards per region, and 294 total cards. The official launch also brought a new set to the game, ''Rising Tides,'' introducing 120 new cards and a new region—Bilgewater. Along with new cards, sets contain new game mechanics and further development to existing ones. Every existing region was given an additional champion, with Bilgewater having six. With the game's second set, ''Call of the Mountain'', Riot Games altered the release schedule, with each set spanning three "expansions". ''Call of the Mountain'' introduced the region of Mount Targon and was released for PC and mobile devices on August 26, 2020. The region of Shurima became part of the game with the ''Empires of the Ascended'' set, released on March 3, 2021. The tenth and final region of the game, Bandle City, was released on August 25, 2021, and brought four expansions instead of the usual three. Between the region expansions are Event or Champion Expansions, with Aphelios for the ''Call of the Mountain'' set, Viego & Akshan for the ''Empires of the Ascended'' set, and Path of Champions for the ''Beyond the Bandlewood'', all of which belongs to the Event Set. After the final region, Bandle City, fully released in 2022, Legends of Runeterra started releasing stand-alone expansions, with content for both PvP and PvE aspects of the game. The first stand-alone expansion, Worldwalker, was released on May 25, 2022, introducing Runeterran champions.


Reception

''Legends of Runeterra'' received positive reviews from critics. According to review aggregator
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, the game has a
weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...
of 87/100. Many outlets highlighted that the game was both accessible for newcomers to the genre while preserving its depth. ''
IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
'''s Cam Shea awarded the game a 9/10, noting that it managed to maintain its complexity while also streamlining elements from other collectible card games, such as ''Magic: The Gathering''. Jason Coles of ''
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'' wrote that it "may well be the most accessible card game out there". Also of note was the game's generous
free-to-play "Free-to-play" ("F2P" or "FtP") video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content for free. The term "free-to-play business model" or simply, "free-to-play model", refers collectively to business models tha ...
business model, especially in relation to other games in the same genre. Giving the game an 85/100, Steven Messner, writing for ''
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'' noted the absence of "booster packs", bundles of cards purchasable with real currency, having been replaced with a generous
battle pass In the video game industry, a battle pass or rewards track is a type of monetization approach that provides additional content for a game usually through a tiered system, rewarding the player with in-game items for playing the game and complet ...
system which gives out an abundance of free cards and crafting material every week. Messner also mentioned the ease of achieving the maximum level of the battle pass every week.


Awards

''Legends of Runeterra'' was nominated for Best Mobile Game at The Game Awards 2020.
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named it the
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Game of the Year for 2020. It was also awarded with Mobile Game of the Year by the
Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) is a non-profit organization of video game industry professionals. It organizes the annual Design Innovate Communicate Entertain Summit, better known as D.I.C.E., which includes the presentation ...
at the
24th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards The ''24th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards'' was the 24th edition of the D.I.C.E. Awards ("Design Innovate Communicate Entertain"), an annual awards event that honored the best games in the video game industry during 2020. The awards were arranged by the ...
.


References


Notes


Citations


External links

* {{League of Legends League of Legends spinoff games Digital collectible card games Multiplayer online games Free-to-play video games Windows games IOS games Android (operating system) games Video games developed in the United States 2020 video games Riot Games games