In an exclusive behind closed doors session at PAX Aus, we were treated to an early look at the first new game to come out of Riot Games’ studio since its inception. Developers of the massively popular League of Legends (LoL) Riot revealed their next game would be a free-to-play strategy card game called “Legends of Runeterra” (LoR).
Set in the LoL universe Legends of Runeterra will feature cards based on LoL’s most iconic champions along with new characters from different areas of Runeterra to populate player’s deck.
Developed for both mobile and PC the game will launch in 2020 for all platforms simultaneously with a closed beta beginning in the first few months of next year.
A lucky selection of players have the opportunity to be invited to a special “preview patch” happening in October and November, which you can pre-register for now or have a chance of gaining instant access by watching the LoR live on YouTube and Twitch (and linking them to your Riot account).
But how does it play? As someone who isn’t overly familiar with Collectible Card Games (CCG) I’m not going to lie, there was a bit of a learning curve, but after some careful coaching and graceful gameplay from my Riot employee opponent I got into the swing of it much faster than others I’d tried before.
The artwork is stunning, with animations and gameplay honed in a very distinctive LoL style that will have transitioning LoL players feeling very at home in a new CCG surrounding.
For those heavily invested in other CCGs LoR brings to it a range of new elements designed to strike the right balance between accessibility and strategic depth as well as allowing more control over how you obtain cards.
The game is entirely free-to-play for example and cards can be earned or unlocked through different means. You can complete quests in different regions of the game, unlock a vault once a week and encounter wildcards that can be turned into another you may want.
One big takeaway for LoR is that there is no option to pay for randomised packs and building your deck can be done in a variety of ways that players can enjoy without having to dip into the wallets.
For more details about the game and it’s upcoming ‘Play Patches’ and beta visit the official Legends of Runeterra website at playruneterra.com
