In the summer of 2023, Supercell’s video game Brawl Stars became a hit in the mobile game industry, with many high schoolers playing the game 24/7. As game developers released lackluster updates, such as their bi-monthly collaborations, their player base has flocked to Supercell’s sister game, Clash Royale.
The simple formula of two players fighting to attack their opponents’ towers and defend their own allows for very well thought out plays, synergies and best of all, predicting your opponents’ move. I enjoy how the game is fast paced, but I don’t like how unbalanced the game can get. I also don’t like that the game can be pay to win, with many players having overpowered cards. Matches move at a slow pace with each player gaining one elixir every 2.8 seconds, which they can use to spend on troops or spells, then speed up as the match progresses.
Players can select from a plethora of different troops to add to their deck pool for each match. Popular decks such as lumberloon and logbait are a big part of the meta meaning that they have synergy. For example, the lumberjack has the ability to drop the rage spell upon defeat, giving the balloon speed and enhanced hit speed.
According to Google Play player count statistics, within the past three months, the player count for Clash Royale jumped from a steady 10 million throughout 2024 then a staggering 50 million in 2025 in the past two months. The rise of player count has resulted in the Brawl Stars player count being reduced to a peak of seven million in the past three months.
I’ve noticed that many students at Walnut play the game and many people discuss the current metas and what decks they are playing to climb up the trophy ladder.
The game gained traction as veteran players returned to the game, encouraging many new players to join. A major contributor to the popularity spike is credited to popular streamer Jynxzi, who began to play the game climbing trophies on his stream. This led to a popularity spike for the game across all social media platforms.
To capitalize on the gradual rise in player count, Clash Royale developers have released a series of player-friendly updates and are taking community feedback to improve their game. A gimmick that many players enjoy is card evolutions that grant classic characters new and enhanced abilities. These evolutions, which cost $12, allow for more profit as people begin to fall into Supercell’s consumer trap.
The most recent Halloween update introduces the evolution skeleton army and evolution royal ghost. Although there is a paywall to play these cards, I’m excited to try out these evolutions in special events such as the monthly evolution draft game mode.
