Champions Arena Is an Addictive Mobile Battler With Crypto Rewards

REVIEW: In this mobile-first turn-based RPG, players can buy characters with crypto and turn them into NFTs later.

Kate Irwin8 min read

On Champions Arena’s mobile iOS version, a chest of 3,000 “paid gems” costs about $29. On Gala Games’ website, a chest of 3,000 paid gems is listed at 0.019 ETH, or $31. Right now, it appears that buying gems through Gala directly does not give players lower prices.

Considering that it costs between 200 and 1,000 gems (about $2 to $10.60) to summon one Champion, it could be a better deal to take your chances with the gacha mechanic than to buy an NFT of a specific Champion on secondary.

Champion-caliber?

Champions Arena’s graphics are great overall. The character models are detailed and colorful, animations are smooth, and the game assets are sharp on iOS. The game loads quickly and is virtually free of performance-related issues. The PC version of Champions Arena feels like it was ported from the mobile version, so it could benefit from a graphics upgrade. I strongly recommend playing this game on mobile over PC—it just feels like a better fit, including from a UI perspective.

Meanwhile, the audio in Champions Arena can feel a bit repetitive after even just 10 matches. Each character only has one or two main voice lines, so you’ll likely get tired of hearing your characters say the same thing every time they fight. You can, however, just play the game without sound—there are no cues that would require a player to listen to the game.

The game is awash with free idle rewards, as well as shops where tickets, scrolls, chests, gems, battle passes, and more can be purchased with fiat currency or crypto, which is then converted into the game’s synthetic gems currency.

The sheer number of idle achievements in the game that grant players “gold,” another synthetic game currency, may be a bit overwhelming to those unfamiliar with mobile games. But it feels great and is a part of what makes the game addictive—you can get tens of thousands of gold in-game with just a few clicks between matches.

Some players may be turned off by the amount of items and content that has been paywalled, but it’s pretty much par for the course for modern mobile games. Also, a lot of items can be earned for free—it just takes more time and a bit of luck.

Overall, Champions Arena is a fun, solid mobile game for RPG and TCG fans looking for a new fantasy game with low stakes to spend some crypto on. It’s casual-friendly for those seeking a mobile distraction, but also has a built-in ranked competitive system for grinders looking to earn GALA tokens—and possibly win back some of the money spent turning their characters into NFTs.

While it doesn’t stand out from the crowd when it comes to rich lore or a distinctive game world, there’s plenty of charming characters to unlock, buttons to click, and matches to win in Champions Arena.