Back in the mists of 2019, just before the world ended, autobattlers erupted out of a seemingly exponentially popular Dota 2 custom game mode. Fuelled by fast-paced development from teams eager to grab a slice of Hot New Emerging Genre pie, we saw a wave of high-profile games about building up armies then sitting back and watching them do battle with those of other players. They were neat! I and millions of others played a ton of Auto Chess , Dota Underlords , and Team Fight Tactics .
But despite Valve, Riot and a handful of smaller teams all throwing their auto-fighting hats into the ring, the genre mostly fizzled, with only TFT seeming to find long-term success. But don't count it out just yet..
. Autobattlers may not have become the behemoth it briefly looked like they might, but the initial megahit of that trifecta has left a legacy full of ongoing innovation—from competitive mediaeval inventory tetris to singleplayer Pokémon roguelikes, all with automated battlin’ at their core. Here’s the traditional autobattler experience: in real-time, you compete against 7 other players in a series of rounds where your army gets pitted against that of one other player.
Each time you lose a fight your health trickles down from one hundred, and the last general standing wins. Between rounds, you buy new units and upgrade your existing ones by purchasing copies of them, pursuing synergistic alliance bonuses and items that best fit your build and counter your opponent’s. Strateg.
