Just when it seemed Clash Royale had settled into mobile gaming history, it came back stronger than ever, turning lunches and study halls into 1v1 battles. Clash Royale is a real-time mobile strategy game that involves tower defense, collective cards and organized decks that was released in 2016. In July of 2025, the game’s popularity drastically increased when it “amassed over 662 million lifetime downloads, of which around 84 million were from users in the United States” (statista.com).
“It’s a very strategic and competitive game,” senior Andrew Benites said. “Your timing, placement and elixir management can decide whether you win or lose. You always feel like you are improving with each match you win, and the progression in the game, like building new decks as you unlock new cards is very fun and it keeps you coming back to the game.”
The game has received many awards since its release:
2016 (Google Play Awards): “Best Game”
2016 (International Mobile Gaming Awards): “Best Upcoming Game” & “Best Multiplayer Game”
2016 (Finnish Game Awards): “The Small Screen Game of the Year 2016” & “The Finnish Game of the Year 2016”
2017 (British Academy Games Awards): “AMD eSports Audience Award”
2020 (Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards): “Best Mobile eSport”
“The thought put into the cards and the interactions makes the game feel very polished, and the detail and sound put into each new arena means that the developers put a lot of time and love into the game, making it worthy of all those awards,” Benites said.
In a survey of 127 people (3 teachers and 124 students), 19 respondents said they played Clash Royale for more than two hours a day.
Clash Royale has a ranking system based on trophy count. The more trophies a player has, the higher a player climbs in rankings. As players win trophies, they reach new arenas and unlock new cards.
Arena 1–5: 0–1,600 trophies
Arena 6–10: 1,600–3,400 trophies
Arena 11–15: 3,400–5,500 trophies
Arena 16–20: 5,500–8,000 trophies
Arena 21–24: 8,000–10,000 trophies
Arena 24+: 10,000+ trophies
Every player creates a deck to play matches. Each deck consists of eight cards and there are 125 cards to choose from. 39 cards in Clash Royale have evolutions, which are upgrades to cards that can save players in tight moments.
There are over 2.5 trillion possible deck combinations.
Clash Royale has 32.4 million active players and there are many reasons why. Streamers such as Jynxi have reintroduced the game to streams and have brought nostalgia to veteran players. New updates including evolutions and champions bring complexity to the game and has sparked interest in playing. Many respondents explained that the game was fun and it helped pass the time, while some said that they enjoyed the competitiveness of the game.
“It’s addicting, trying to win trophies, seasonal chests, unlock new cards, upgrade all my cards and have higher upgrades than the guys in my classes.” freshman Nina Damitsian said.
Oftentimes students will be seen playing Clash Royale, either in friendly battles or leading their clan to victory or climbing the ranks to be the best player possible. Several students strive for the wins in-game and want to prove why they are better players than their friends.
“It’s just like in human nature to be competitive,” Damitsian said. “When you’re playing your friend, it’s funny, because I beat other people, and then I’m like, ‘Haha, you lost’.”
