Parents' Guide to Clash Royale

App iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad , Android Free Strategy Games
Clash Royale Poster Image

Common Sense Media Review

Galen McQuillen By Galen McQuillen , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 14+

Fantasy action-strategy game wants all your time and money.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 14+?

Any Positive Content?

  • Clash Royale App Screenshot #1
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Parent and Kid Reviews

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age 12+

Based on 119 parent reviews

Parents say that this mobile app is plagued by a myriad of issues including rigged matchmaking, heavy monetization, and poor gameplay experiences that lead to frustration and anger, particularly for younger players. Many reviews criticize the perceived "pay-to-win" model, making the game feel unfair and leading to extensive complaints about aggressive monetization strategies and inadequate customer support.

  • pay to win
  • poor matchmaking
  • frustrating gameplay
  • heavy monetization
  • addictive nature
Summarized with AI
 

 

See all 119 parent reviews
age 9+

Based on 173 kid reviews

 

 

See all 173 kid reviews

Privacy Rating Warning

  • Unclear whether personal information is sold or rented to third parties.
  • Personal information is shared for third-party marketing.
  • Personalised advertising is displayed.
  • Data are collected by third-parties for their own purposes.
  • User's information is used to track and target advertisements on other third-party websites or services.
  • Unclear whether this product creates and uses data profiles for personalised advertisements.
Learn more about our privacy ratings

What's It About?

CLASH ROYALE is a real-time action strategy game where players choose from a deck of cards featuring a variety of medieval fantasy combatants to attack enemy towers and defend their own from real-world opponents doing the same. Gameplay involves simply dragging desired cards onto the battlefield to spawn characters, at the cost of an ever-regenerating magical elixir. Destroying an opponent's main tower or the most minor towers at the end of each two-minute battle results in a chest full of gold, gems, and character cards, which can all be used to make better decks and upgrade to stronger combatants. Outside of battle, players can unlock loot chests (either by waiting a preset amount of time or by paying gems to open immediately), customize battle decks, join a clan of fellow players to chat and donate or request specific cards, or visit the in-game shop to buy more cards, upgrades, or in-game currency. 

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say ( 119 ):
Kids say ( 173 ):

As a way to kill some time and get a quick thrill, it succeeds; however, it's designed to be addictive with its balance of free and paid content, fast adrenaline rushes, and the promise of rewards. Unlike some others of its kind, this incarnation of the pay-or-wait strategy incorporates card collection and special powers, which adds some interest. Yet the entertainment value is fleeting and as frequently frustrating as it is exciting. There are many better fantasy games, better tower-defense games, and better card-based strategy games out there but none that keep players itching for a fix half as effectively as Clash Royale does. 

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about protecting yourself online. What kinds of information are and are not OK to share with strangers on the Internet? How should kids respond when someone makes them feel threatened or uncomfortable? 

  • Talk about your rules about in-app purchases and waiting vs. paying. Can your teen buy upgrades or pay to avoid waiting? What's the value in learning to wait?

  • Discuss good sportsmanship and patience in the face of defeat when you can't see your opponent in person, as Clash Royale features no shortage of one-sided games and rude players. (Especially if your kids seem like they're into massively online games, this could start a good conversation about how not to be one of "those" players.)

App Details

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Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

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