I love the game League of Legends, which is a five versus five competitive game mode where players can pick a “champion” with specific abilities and resource constraints. The goal is to earn gold to gain a competitive advantage while invading the enemy’s side of the map and destroying their Nexus building.
There are a wide variety of mechanisms in the game. Each champion has a certain set of abilities that affect other players, NPC units, tower defenses, and the environment among other things. Because there are over 168 champions in the game, the number of interactions are almost limitless. Within your own team, you have to work together by combining abilities or supporting other players in the most effective way. Certain characters have stealth or surprise abilities that require players to react quickly. Against the enemy, you need to strategize and fight with your team, using your abilities and attacks to deal the most damage while also navigating the map.
The game is fun mainly because of the elements of fantasy, discovery, and challenges. When you play a new champion, you step into its role and share the feelings of the character that you normally wouldn’t experience in real life. For example, if you play a tank character, you feel powerful and unstoppable because your role is to dive headfirst into fights and absorb as much damage as possible. If you play a damage-based hero, you need to master the mechanics of movement and timing to ensure that you’re able to eliminate the enemy. You almost feel like a soldier battling in war because you’re the most vulnerable but most damage-dealing capable. Unlike tanks, you get a lot more scared and rely on teamwork. Due to the wide range of champions, players naturally discover game dynamics by playing and interacting with each other. This is incredibly enjoyable because you’re always learning and being excited by new mechanisms. The game is also inherently challenging because you need to find ways to one-up your opponent, which involves fighting NPCs or completing quicktime events like killing a dragon for power ups. It’s not just a simple fighting game with other players—you need to be able to participate in battles while simultaneously working with elements of the environment to not fall behind.
