It’s official. Riot wanted to do something special for the 10th anniversary of LoL, and mobile LoL is certainly that.
Not too long ago, we would have laughed at the idea of LoL coming to mobile. Not only is it mechanically challenging, but there are so many buttons you have to press – ‘surely one tiny screen possibly hold all of that’ you might be thinking.
The design layout for League of Legends mobile is beautifully simple, but is it simple enough? When shrinking a game to fit a phone, sometimes the content has to shrink too, and we’ll cover all of that shortly. Read on to discover what benefits mobile League of Legends offers, if cross-platform play is possible, and more!
There are towers and trick shots, farming and flaming, all the little things you’re used to in LoL. That being said, we can’t completely say that mobile League of Legends is the same as the desktop version.
First off, you can’t play every Champion – we know, we know, it sucks, but we’re sure Riot will release more in the future. For now, here are some of the Champions that are available;
You’ve likely noticed that many of these Champions are mechanically simple, and that’s by design. Controlling Champions in the mobile version of LoL will likely take some getting used to. By only allowing people to play easier Champions, fewer players are going to get overwhelmed and rage quit.
How do you actually control your Champion though? Phone screens are small, and we miss-click too much on the desktop version.
Having to tap rapidly across your screen would be a challenge. It would also cause your hand to block half of the team fight – thankfully, Riot decided not to go down that route. Instead, they have added a digital control pad to the bottom left of the screen.
Wherever you drag it, that’s where your Champion goes. Auto-attacking and skill shots work in a much simpler way too.
Toward the right of the screen, you’ll notice your Champions abilities and auto-attack button. All you have to do is tap on one of these and the radius of the spell will pop up, you then click your target like normal!
This is similar to a touchpad, and anyone who’s used a touchpad knows how annoying they are in League of Legends – however, the reason they’re annoying is because your enemies are having a much easier time. This is not true in Mobile League of Legends; you’re all on even footing
The mini-map has also moved to the top left now, along with gold, and item effects. Some might find the screen overly crowded, and that’s definitely the case if you’re playing on a smaller device. However, with a big enough screen you should be fine.
Here’s some footage of a Chinese leak that shows off the game's controls, and how easy they are to use.
It’s also worth noting that cross-platform play is not available. Playing on desktop gives people a huge advantage, and it would be unfair for mobile users to have to face off against them.
There’s the obvious benefit that comes with a mobile game – it’s mobile. You know that itch for LoL that you sometimes get while at work or school? Well, that’s no more! Simply whip out your phone and have a quick game while on your lunch break.
You can also take League with you while you travel. There’s nothing quite like lounging on the terrace in Spain while raging at your Bronze teammates. Then again, you might not find yourself raging as much.
This seems like a strange one, right? Why should it seem calmer when it’s almost the exact same game? The answer is because there’s less of a competitive edge. You’re less likely to get raged at, because typing is tricky. While the mobile version of LoL does feel more relaxing, some of us still struggle with rage. If you’re unable to keep yourself from tilting, then this article will help you out.
Perhaps it’s because you’re on a mobile device, and the experience is so refreshing that you forget to get angry – or perhaps it’s the lack of a ranked system that keeps people from taking it too seriously.
While Riot has claimed that League of Legends mobile has been released for the games tenth anniversary, but we know that there are other reasons.
While some claim that Riot wanted to crush Mobile Legends – and there’s no doubt they’ll succeed – we believe the real reason Riot brought League of Legends to a mobile platform is because of China.
There is a massive market for mobile games in China, and LoL on the go definitely appeals to them. It has also attracted people who previously thought LoL was too complicated. After all, it’s on mobile, how complicated could it be?
It also seems likely that Riot saw the success Epic Games had when they released a mobile version of Fortnite and wanted a slice. And of course, it appeals to players for the reasons we’ve listed above. What if you want to stick to plain old League of Legends though?
Riot have assured us that they will continue to update the desktop version of their flagship game as regularly as ever – then, of course, there’s Riot’s other game.
This is a game that was made to be played on a phone. The mechanics are simple, and it’s not played in real-time either. Plus, it will mean more people handing over money for in-game cosmetics, which means even more money for Riot.
Watch this space – Mobile Teamfight tactics won’t be far behind mobile League of Legends.
With all that said, the desktop version of League of Legends isn’t going anywhere. If you want to stun your friends with high-quality smurf, then be sure to check out our store down below!
