If you play computer games, you’ve probably heard of League of Legends. With over 67 MILLION players ACTIVELY playing each month, without a doubt, League of Legends is leading the way not only in its genre, but in computer games as a whole. Originally released by Riot games in fall of 2009, it quickly went on to become one of the most popular games ever. With tens of thousands of views on the Twitch live game streaming service, and an annual world championship with prize pools of over 2 MILLION dollars, League of Legends is no joke.
So what is League of Legends?
Similarly to Dota 2 (a previously feature game here on Free Game of the Week), League of Legends is a multiplayer online battle arena, in which two teams of champions battle against one another in order to destroy the enemy base, or “nexus.” In League, you acquire gold to buy items in order to help you with your objectives. Gold can be obtained in three ways
1. Passively (you receive 20 gold every 10 seconds)
2. By killing minions (creatures throughout the game map)
3. By assisting in or killing an enemy champion (another player)
While most games last about 20-40 minutes, it’s not uncommon for games to go on longer than an hour. Your champion also starts off fairly weak, but as the game progress you quickly become a powerful force. But be attentive, because just as you grow stronger, so do the enemy champions!
What types of champions are there?
From robots to mermaids, demons to mummies, League has a champ for everyone. With 129 champions to choose from, each champion is broken down into a type of character
1. Tanks: Strong upfront in your face kind of characters with lots of health
2. Assassins: Quick, agile characters that offer a lot of quick damage
3. Mage: Spell casters; characters that use lots of spells
4. Marksmen: Usually rely on basic attacks and dealing damage from afar
Not only are the champions broken down into types, but they are also broken down further into roles. While some roles can be switched around generally there's only five. These roles define how your champion will contribute to the team as a whole
1. Top lane (protect the top lane of the map from approaching minions and champions)
2. Mid (protect the mid lane of the map from approaching minions and champions)
3. Jungle (patrol the jungles near your base from approaching champions and kill the minions scattered throughout)
4. Carry (obtains the most champion kills on the team, beefing up this character the most on the team)
5. Support (assist champions on your team throughout the map with heals and buffs or with kill assists)
What Makes League of Legends Distinctive?
League has a few special things which sets it far apart from its competition. The first being the runes and masteries. Runes and masteries are very minor permanent buffs that transfer between matches. While the buffs are small, it does add up, and can easily be the deciding factor in games, so choose carefully! Another distinctive feature League offers is multiple maps. Not only can you play a 5v5, but also you can play 3v3 and even 1v1, each with its own unique map.
The Paying Aspect
While League does offer some amazing content, unfortunately not all of it is free. For the most part, the money you spend is purely for cosmetic purposes, however there are a few exceptions. Riot has two forms of in game currency. One is IP (influence points) the second is RP (riot points). IP is gained by playing matches and can be used to buy champions and runes. RP however can only be purchased with actual money. So even though you can obtain runes and champions through playing and obtaining IP for free, paying for RP can speed up the process and give you an advantage. Although, League does cycle through 10 free champions to play each week, so you can eventually get a chance to test out new champions without having to purchase them with IP or RP.
Overall
Whether you play by yourself or with friends, League of Legends is highly fun; highly competitive, and highly addicting. Also be sure to check out the professional e-sports scene for some really great gameplay as well as fun and excitement. So check out this week's free game, “League of Legends!”
Written by A Play On Nerds contributor, Ben Tuchenhagen, based out of Austin, Texas.