Clash of Clans

Have been playing Clash of Clans for the past few weeks, and I have to admit it's quite addictive. It started when my wife's cousin was teaching my son how to play the game. He didn't get the finer points of the game, so he simply wasted away his resources, and nothing much was happening after that. So I thought I better play and learn the game myself, so I can teach him. Ended up playing more than him.

There are three ways to play Clash of Clans. In single-player campaign, you attack a series of goblin villages, earning gold and elixir as reward. In multiplayer mode, you are paired with another player within your same league. If your attack is successful, you are rewarded with gold, elixir, and trophies. You can also opt to join a clan, and attack other clans. This involves one day for preparation and another day for the actual clash.

Most of my game time is spent on building/upgrading defences, gold mines, elixir collectors, and storages. With the collected loot, you can train troops, upgrade buildings and walls, etc. Once your troops are ready, you can attack other players for trophies and more gold/elixir. When your phone/tablet is idle, other players can also attack your village. So on and so forth.  Build time takes longer and longer as you level up. It also requires more and more resources to upgrade the same structure.

I guess this is where the appeal of the game comes from. There is an end goal to aspire for, and it takes a lot of effort and resources to achieve, but everything is broken down into levels, so you know where you are in the hierarchy. You train up to see if you have what it takes to beat the next guy. You design and plan your village and defences to see if they can stand up to attackers on their own. So far, I haven't joined any clans because I wanted to see how far I can take my village without resorting to outside help. And no actual money spent on IAPs like gems.