Free Game of the Week 5 - Brawlhalla!

Beat it up like a rampage in this week's game, Brawlhalla. With no official release date yet Brawlhalla is currently in open beta but is definitely a game to keep your eye out for.  Developed by Blue Mammoth Games, Brawlhalla draws its inspiration from the popular Nintendo game, Super Smash Bros. Brawlhalla is a multiplayer 2D platformer fighting game, using cartoon-style graphics.

How Do I Play?

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Source: Blue Mammoth Games

Players select from a list of 21 characters called “legends”. Once selected, players select from 11 different maps or “realms.” After that players are launched into the game and begin to slug it out. Unlike most fighting games, in Brawlhalla you do not have a set amount of life points. The way you play is simple: the more damage you take the easier it is to be knocked off and smacked around. Players have the option of either using their fists or grabbing one of two unique weapons for each legend.

Game Modes

Brawlhalla currently has five game modes to choose from including, Time Battle, Stock Battle, Brawlball, Bombketball and Snowbrawl.

1. Time battle: Players have unlimited lives, and try and get as many kills as possible in a certain amount of time

2. Stock battle: Similar to time battle, but instead players have only a certain amount of lives to use

3. Brawlball: Like football except you you’re encouraged to fight each other and use weapons

4. Bombsketball: Like basketball, players use bouncy bombs to try and score above the opposing team's basket.

5. Snowbrawl: Players receive an unlimited amount of snowballs, and try to hit each other to score points. The player with the most points at the end of an amount of time wins.

Unlike most other games, in Brawlhalla you can play with up to four players at once on one computer!

Rankings

Along with the standard modes, Brawlhalla also offers a ranked mode, where players choose between a one-on-one game or a two-on-two game. The ranking is based on an amount of points that you receive for winning a match. Rankings span from the bottom which is called “Tin” all the way up to the top which is called “Diamond.”

Store and More!

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Source: Blue Mammoth Games

Unfortunately players only have access to 6 of the 21 legends for free, however Brawlhalla does have an in-game store called the “Mallhalla”. At the “Mallhalla” players have access to two types of in-game currency: gold and “mammoth coins”. Gold is used for purchasing legends, whereas mammoth coins are used for alternate costumes as well as alternate weapon skins.

Overall

Whether you grind your way to the top of the leaderboards, or you just want to beat down your buddies; Brawlhalla has something for everyone. So definitely check it out, and be sure to check in daily for bonus log-in gold, as well as weekly for a new legend rotation.

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Written by A Play On Nerds contributor, Ben Tuchenhagen, based out of Austin, Texas.

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Free Game of the Week 4 - League of Legends

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?

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Source: Riot Games via Neoseeker.com

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?

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Source: Riot Games

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

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Source: Riot Games via Gameverse.com

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!”

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Written by A Play On Nerds contributor, Ben Tuchenhagen, based out of Austin, Texas.

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Free Game of the Week 2 - Hearthstone

If Magic the Gathering and World of Warcraft could produce a child; Hearthstone would be it. With just over 40 MILLION players, Hearthstone is leading the way in online strategy card games. With the newest expansion “The Grand Tournament” being released last August, it became the second expansion with many more to come, including one set to be released in the spring of this year.

So what exactly is Hearthstone and how do I play?

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Source: Blizzard

Hearthstone is a turn based strategy card game between two players. The objective of the game is to drain your opponent's life points, while maintaining your own. Before you start your matchmaking journey, you must first select a character to play and a deck to use. Once you’ve entered a match both players are given three random cards to which they can keep or discard in exchange for new cards. Then one player is randomly chosen to go first. The other player receives a card that allows the user to get an extra mana crystal to balance out the first play advantage. Once the game is underway both players start with one mana crystal, and each turn the amount of crystals goes up by one until a maximum of ten is possessed. The more mana crystals you possess, the more powerful the card you can put into play.

What characters can I choose from?

 From druids to warriors, paladins to warlocks, Hearthstone has everything a fantasy lover could ask for.  If you’re a fan of the Warcraft series you’ll notice some familiar faces including Thrall and Jaina. With nine different heroes to choose from, each with a unique skill and play style, Hearthstone is jam-packed full of hours of thought-inducing strategies and careful planning before the game even starts. 

What kind of cards are there and what do they do?

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Source: MetaBomb

Cards are broken down into three categories, you have minion cards, spell cards, and weapons. You use minion cards to summon minions to aid you in battle. Minions have both attack and life points and attack at the start of your next turn after summoning it, but are killed when their life points reach zero. Now minion cards can do a variety of things when summoned, from having a charge attack which lets you attack immediately, to buffing allies adjacent to it. Spell cards are fairly straightforward. Whatever the card says, that’s what it does. A fireball that deals four damage to all minions, will deal damage to all minions; no fancy trickery is involved. A weapon card allows the hero to gain an attack as if it were a minion and attack the other hero or his minions. However, any damage taken will be deduced from your hero’s life points, so be cautious.

Do I get all the cards? How do I get more?

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Source: Blizzard

You start off with some basic cards, but most cards are gathered through booster packs. Booster packs are a package of five random cards. You can get them one of two ways. The first is by simply paying actual money; each costing $0.99. Another method is by completing in game quests for gold, and gold can be exchanged for booster packs as well. The last method of acquiring cards is a bit different than the others. With this method you take the cards you do not want, and turn them into powder. With the powder you can make specific cards. So if you’re looking for that perfect card, this is your best bet!

What’s the community like?

With thousands of viewers on Twitch, and many online guides and forums, Hearthstone has, without a doubt, a thriving and rich community. Also be sure to check out the Hearthstone e-sports scene with the prize pools are up to $250,000!

Overall

Whether you rather sitting down for a few quick games or spending hours theory-crafting the best deck and strategy, Hearthstone is for you. While each game takes only about 15 minutes you’ll soon find the hours flying by. Also be sure to check out the mobile version. Just like the computer version mobile Hearthstone is free and easy to use! So be sure to check out Hearthstone free on Battle.net, and I’ll see you on the battlefield!​ 

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Written by A Play On Nerds contributor Ben Tuchenhagen

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