For those who don’t know what Clash Royale is, Clash Royale is a free-to-play mobile strategy game developed by Supercell. Players compete in real time battles using decks of cards that represent troops, spells and buildings. The objective of the game is to destroy the opponent’s towers while simultaneously defending your own, a typical match lasts around a few minutes. The game also includes clan features, tournaments and seasonal events. Although there is a new policy prohibiting the use of cell phones in schools, Clash Royale has remained relevant here at Plant. Whether in the hallway, during lunch, or between classes, the game’s mix of strategy, short match times and frequent updates has kept it from becoming outdated.
Regardless of the game’s release nearly a decade ago in 2016, Clash Royale continues to attract a significant number of players. According to a recent snapshot from Q2 2025, the game has approximately 18 million daily active users and 25.1 million weekly active users.
When asked what his favorite part of Clash Royale was, Peter Ramos (11) stated that, “I like playing Clash Royale because the battles are so quick I can still play during school when I have short breaks in my schedule.”
Each Clash Royale match is designed to be short, typically lasting around three minutes. If both players are tied when the timer runs out, the game enters a two-minute sudden death overtime period. During overtime, the first player to destroy a tower wins the match. It is very rare, but if the game remains tied after overtime, then the player with more damage against the other’s tower wins, but if the damages are equal then the game ends in a tie.
Although the matches are over quickly and there is not much time to bond with others, Clash Royal still has a social component that attracts students. Players can join or create clans which allow them to share cards, participate in clan wars and chat with one another. This has led to many students forming clans with their friends, making the game a group activity as well as an individual one. This feature encourages collaboration between kids and provides a way for students to stay connected outside of class.
“I love the challenge,” Isaak Elaswalhi (11) said when asked what keeps him motivated to play the fast paced game. “Trying other decks to get my trophies up in order to climb through the arenas is so cool.”
Clash Royale includes a ranking system based on trophies, which players earn by winning matches and lose when they are defeated. The number of trophies determines a player’s arena level and who they are matched up against since you can only be matched up against players in the same arena as you.
According to gaming phone.com, “The number of trophies lost on a defeat is increased to keep matchmaking fair and allow players with appropriate card levels to progress to the respective arena.”
Additionally, when you reach an arena, it becomes impossible to derank from that arena which provides a safety net for players that may be on a loss streak. Even though Clash Royale is an older game, having been released almost a decade ago, it has kept from losing popularity due to its steady updates and because of its ability to serve as both a form of entertainment and competitive outlet for players.
