Brawl Stars APK

Pros

• Interesting mix of MOBA and battle royale
• Balanced free to play mechanics
• Tons of characters and modes

Cons

• Lack of a long term meta-game

Brawl Stars is exciting proof that the battle royale genre can be adapted to phones. But considering that it comes from Finnish developer Supercell - known for multiplayer hits like Clash of Clans and Clash Royale - it's no surprise that it adds other genre sensibilities into the mix as well. The result is a game that feels like a complex mix of a half dozen shooter subgenres and a multiplayer online battle arena.

While battle royales like PUBG and Fortnite have taken mobile gaming by storm, they're rather standard mobile ports of PC games. Brawl Stars is built with mobile gamers in mind, and that's reflected in the intuitive control scheme. One virtual joystick is used to handle movement, while the other functions for aiming and shooting. And instead of taking the first-person or over-the-shoulder third-person perspective that is common in battle royale shooters, Brawl Stars uses an overhead isometric angle. In other words, you won't have to worry about getting blindly shot because of poor camera angles.

The pace of the game has been similarly stripped down to suit the needs of mobile players. A normal game will only last you a few minutes, so Brawl Stars is tailored towards a style of pick-up-and-go gameplay that really suits the mobile experience. It also prevents long wars of attrition where the winner is already decided or long waits between dying and waiting for a new game to start.

There's also a decent variety of game modes, so you'll be encouraged to keep coming back even if you find yourself tiring of playing the same event over and over again. But the default mode, known as Gem Grab is plenty compelling in its own right. Groups of three compete to be the first to collect 10 gems, but they need to hold onto them through the extent of the match, and losing one is as simple as falling prey to a lucky or well-timed shot.

Playing and leveling up will unlock a whole array of new modes that add some variety to the formula. There's the standard deathmatch and team deathmatch as well as a mod that more closely resembles the lane-based push-and-pull of a more traditional MOBA. There's even a version of soccer that turns into pure chaos once you get guns and special powers involved. All told, Brawl Stars offers a well-rounded variety of modes that should suit the needs of practically any player.

That level of variety extends to the playable characters as well. The lack of a core narrative or setting means that the developers can get as wild as they want, and there's a universal sense of eccentricity to the characters on display. Fortunately, that diversity extends to powers as well. Each of the roughly two dozen characters has their own unique powers that can dramatically change up how you play the game.

Brawl Stars may be free to play, but it's generous with its microtransactions. This is a game that might encourage you to pay, but that's never a requirement to succeed. But given how strong the core game is here, it does a good job of encouraging you to pull out your wallet.

Pros

• Interesting mix of MOBA and battle royale
• Balanced free to play mechanics
• Tons of characters and modes

Cons

• Lack of a long term meta-game