Auto battler

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An Auto-Battler (also Auto Chess ) is a sub-genre of the turn-based strategy game and a concept that combines the game of chess with a multiplayer online battle arena game. The term auto refers to the automatic fighting of placed units.

Game principle and features

Auto-battlers are played on a playing field with mostly 8 by 8 fields and the game figures (also called heroes or champions) are placed on a turn-based basis and given at random to the players for selection or must be acquired by them. After the game pieces have been placed, they automatically fight against the opposing team. The classes, combo effects and values ​​of the characters and items usually also play an important role. Therefore leveling up and strengthening units is an important aspect of the game.

The games are mostly sold under the free-to-play and games-as-a-service model. Between the individual fights, the players can also compete against computer opponents who drop useful items for a better attack or a better defense. Usually eight players compete with their pieces one after the other.

Depending on the game, either strategy and tactics or luck can be in the foreground. Likewise, the length of a game and the degree of preparation can vary greatly from the standard team to the collection of characters for a custom team.

History and differences

One of the first auto-chess games was the Pokemon Defense-Mod for the computer game Warcraft 3 , which already existed in 2010 and was based on the tower defense concept. In the game Totally Accurate Battle Simulator you can already find the first elements. The game Plants versus Zombies from 2009 also received elements of an auto battler.

The first Auto Chess mentioned in the media, which also influenced the name of the genre, was developed under the name Dota Auto Chess as a mod for the computer game Dota 2 by Drodo Studios and was first published on January 4, 2019 on Steam . The game plays slower compared to the successors and items are largely randomly distributed, but still offers more tactical depth.

Since the mod had already been downloaded over 8 million times by May 2019, it was released as a standalone game for Android in April, for iOS in May and in June exclusively in the Epic Games Store for PC.

The Valve Corporation saw the success of the mod and wanted to publish their own version for Steam together with Drodo Studios . However, both wanted to go their separate ways, but still support each other. On June 20, 2019, Steam released Dota Underlords for Android, iOS, MacOS , Windows and Linux in early access and achieved a lot of media attention and high player numbers after just a few days. In contrast to its predecessor, it offers more options for planning and managing items .

On June 26, 2019, the Auto-Battler mode Teamfight Tactics in League of Legends was launched. In contrast to its predecessors, the game is played on hexagonal and not square fields and it is generally faster. The release of Teamfight Tactics , among other things, contributed to the fact that the player numbers of Dota Underlords have halved.

In the mobile game market, the Chinese publisher Tencent also published Chess Rush as an auto battler. The futuristic Arena of Evolution by HERO Game, on the other hand, tries to put more emphasis on science fiction than on fantasy . Some representatives now also offer different game modes or a co-op mode .

Reception and reasons for its popularity

The Süddeutsche Zeitung compares the auto battler hype with the battle royale hype. It is also with trading card games such as Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft , Yu-Gi-Oh! and Magic: The Gathering , except that the game is played on a field. This hype is also intensified by the popular spread on streaming media services such as Twitch and YouTube , and so the games are already among the most frequently streamed games on the platforms.

The chance in the game promotes a certain addictive potential (cf. gambling and pathological gaming ), while the strategic aspects lead to improving tactics and decks. Since many players like chess and MOBAs, a mix is ​​considered appealing. Nevertheless, both from the area of ​​chess (e.g. the set of the fixed movement patterns of the specified game pieces) and the area of ​​MOBA (e.g. the real-time strategy game system with extensive maps), the most important aspects are mostly ignored Identify genres so that the really important elements are missing on both sides. The genre is also becoming increasingly important for e-sports .

In a GameStar survey, Dota Underlords was 47% popular, ahead of Team Fight Tactics (34.61%) and Dota Auto Chess (18.31%).

Individual evidence

  1. What is "Auto Chess"? We explain the hype genre Auto Battler! Retrieved July 29, 2019 .
  2. a b What is Auto Chess and why is everyone playing it now? Retrieved July 29, 2019 .
  3. a b c d e heise online: The Autobattler phenomenon: Let go of the champions! Retrieved July 29, 2019 .
  4. Teamfight Tactics vs. Dota Underlords - These are the differences. June 28, 2019. Retrieved July 29, 2019 .
  5. Pokemon Defense FINAL - Warcraft 3 Maps - Epic War.com. Retrieved July 29, 2019 .
  6. a b c Austen Goslin: Which auto battler should you play: Teamfight Tactics, Underlords, or Dota 2 Auto Chess. June 27, 2019, accessed July 29, 2019 .
  7. This new Dota 2 custom mode is way more popular than Artifact. Retrieved July 29, 2019 (UK English).
  8. ^ Ian Boudreau: The mobile version of Dota Auto Chess is playable now (Updated). Pocket Tactics, May 27, 2019, accessed July 29, 2019 .
  9. Tom Senior: The Dota Auto Chess modders are making a version exclusive to the Epic Games Store. In: PC Gamer. June 10, 2019. Retrieved July 29, 2019 (American English).
  10. Hongyu Chen: Valve Developing Its Own Standalone Version of Dota Auto Chess. In: The Esports Observer. May 22, 2019. Retrieved July 29, 2019 (American English).
  11. Austen Goslin: Which auto battler should you play: Teamfight Tactics, Underlords, or Dota 2 Auto Chess. June 27, 2019, accessed July 29, 2019 .
  12. An Introduction to Auto Chess, Teamfight Tactics and Dota Underlords - IGN. Retrieved July 29, 2019 .
  13. ^ Ryan Gilliam: Riot Games is making its own League of Legends Auto Chess game. June 10, 2019, accessed July 29, 2019 .
  14. "Teamfight Tactics": What is behind the phenomenon of autobattlers? - derStandard.de. Retrieved July 29, 2019 .
  15. Dota Underlords loses almost 50% of its players - is the hype gone? In: Mein-MMO.de. July 2, 2019, accessed July 29, 2019 .
  16. "Autobattlers" are the new Fortnite . In: sueddeutsche.de . ISSN  0174-4917 ( online [accessed July 29, 2019]).
  17. a b The best e-athletes: These professional gamers dominate the world rankings! In: esportwetten.com. Retrieved November 25, 2019 .
  18. This is the GameStar community's auto-chess favorite. July 3, 2019, accessed July 29, 2019 .