Clash of clans

Image by Clash of Clans Android

Clash of Clans by Supercell is "that one game I keep seeing tv ads for".  It is a Real Time Strategy game, meaning you build up your village and collect resources to fund upgrades.  You collect Gold for defense upgrades, such as better cannons, as well as upgrading your Elixir.  Elixir is used for upgrading troops and Gold collection.  

Image by Supercell

As you upgrade your troops, you unlock new warrior classes that do specific tasks, such as attack from a distance, focus on cannon and mortar fire, and blow up walls used for defense.  There are two main modes that you use your troops in, Campaign and Player vs. Player.  In the Campaign mode you travel through different levels which are Non-Playable Character villages - "The Goblins", AKA the bad guys who attacked your village first during the tutorial.  Stars are earned based on damage dealt to these villages, and a level is not considered "Cleared" until you earn one star, gained at dealing at least 50% damage to that village.  PvP matches are exactly the same, but they can actually attack you back later.

Clash of Clans offers very fluid game play.  The animations are smooth and things happen easily for the player.  All RTS games are based on purchasing and upgrading, and this game didn't feel unrealistic in terms of pricing or time for those purchases.  I like that the game launches you right in, wasting no time to show you the ropes.  As a result, the game is easy to pick up.  

The few issues I had were the other players and repetition.  If you go on the global chat, which I wouldn't recommend, it seems like median age is 12.  There's nothing wrong with that if you want to see complete strangers have penis envy regarding each other's villages, clans, levels, etc.  And the big downside to that is that Supercell gives you a limited number of reports in one day, making it harder to give them the safe environment they are supposedly working towards. The repitious aspect refers to you the player being limited to just attacking NPC villages and user villages, and really nothing else to do while you sit and wait for upgrades to happen (which could take literally 12 hours).  And like all RTS games, the really cool stuff is going to be out of your price range

While the emphasis is on PvP matches, Clash of Clans still has a rewarding campaign mode.  This game definetly lives up to the hype, and is highly recommended to all RTS fans.