Wild Rift: The Friendlier Version of League of Legends

By: Camila Barrios | April 18, 2021

Some of the champions available to play on Wild Rift. (Riot Games)

League of Legends, known for its complex gameplay, competitive experience, and highly toxic
player base, now has a mobile version. With the release of Wild Rift in North America on March
29, 2021, Riot was able to remove most of the complicated aspects (as well as toxic ones) of
League and make a more beginner-friendly game.
Riot Games released the MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) game, League of Legends, back
in 2009 and has seen major success over the past decade. The premise of MOBA games is to
defeat the enemy’s base with the help of your teammates. MOBA games became popular in the
early 2010s, with League of Legends, Dota 2, and Smite being some of the biggest ones.
Toxicity amongst its players has become something League is known for. Most players have
experienced some form of toxicity, whether that be getting harassed in chat or through players
intentionally trying to lose games. Riot has tried to change parts of the game to lessen toxicity,
such as implementing chat restrictions to punish repeated negative behavior and reworking the
honor system to reward positive and helpful players. However, this has done little to lessen
toxicity and make the game more enjoyable.
Like many MOBA games, the main concept of League is the defeat your opponents by
destroying their base. In order to properly play the game, players have to know a multitude of
concepts, such as: knowing what all the champions’ abilities and weaknesses, when to roam,
where to place wards, how to manage waves, and doing other objectives. All these concepts
combined with a toxic player base has made the game a lot less welcoming to new players.
Wild Rift takes all these aspects of League and simplifies it for a better mobile experience and
makes it more welcoming for new players. Although the concepts of both games are the same,
Wild Rift has some small changes that allow the games to go by quicker. These changes include:
a smaller map, difference respawn timers for certain objectives, less champions to choose from,
and no inhibitors in the nexus. These changes also allow for new players to pick up the game
quickly compared to League of Legends, where there is a steep learning curve.

UI in game.

The first thing you see when you jump into a game is the huge controls and mini map taking
over most of the screen. To the right of the screen there are the controls for abilities,
summoner spells, wards, pings, and basic attacks. To the left there is the mini map, current
gold, control for character movement and the recall button. For people playing on bigger
devices, such as tablets, the display is not much of a problem, but for people playing on smaller
screens, it feels a lot more cluttered.
One major thing that many players will notice is the lack of HUD. The HUD includes information
on current health, mana, champion stats (armor, magic penetration, movement speed, etc.),
and current items. While most of the time in game the HUD is not that important, it is good
information to have when going into team fights, which can decide the outcome of the game.
The HUD may have been removed to make the display look cleaner, but it would have been
nice if Riot found a way to include it.
The tutorial in Wild Rift does a lot to teach players the controls but does little to teach players
how to play the game. The tutorial explains what each button does, how to shop for items, and
the layout of the map. All it tells you about how to beat the game is that you have to defeat the
enemy nexus, which should be obvious given the fact that it’s a MOBA game. It does not give
any information as to what champions play which roles or the purpose of each objective (such
as the drakes and baron).
The tutorial is very short and easy to understand, which is great for new players, but it ends up
giving them a disadvantage against experienced League players and people that have
experience with MOBAs because it does not teach them more about the game.
Riot Games did a great job when it came to simplifying the game enough so that it runs
smoother on mobile devices. The games on Wild Rift last about 20 minutes or less, compared to
the games on League, which last anywhere from 20 minutes to over 40 minutes. The shorter
games are better for people who just want to get some quick fun and move on with their day.
According to Shannon Liao, a video game reviewer for The Washington Post, Wild Rift “appears
to be attracting a new set of players, those who quit ‘League’ on PC, those who never had a
gaming PC, those who never learned ‘League’ because I was too information-dense.” While
current League players are less likely to get the game, it has been attracting millions of new
players and players that have quit League. With this growing player base, Wild Rift is becoming
a huge success.
Liao also mentions that there is less toxicity in Wild Rift due to it being harder to type because
there is a lot of hands-on tapping. This encourages players to try new things in game and have
more fun since they don’t have to worry about their teammates flaming them.
According to Cass Marshall, a reviewer for Polygon, “the skill ceiling may be lower, and so the
highs aren’t quite as high as the base game, but the positive side of that is that Wild Rift is much
more accessible than League of Legends.” Being a simpler game is not necessarily a bad thing, it
makes it easier for more people to get into the game.
A reviewer for The Verge, Andrew Webster, mentions that “Riot seems to have found a nice
balance between streamlined controls and giving you lots of information.” The controls are
easy to learn, and Riot tries to give you the information you need to learn a champion. This
makes it easy to pick up new champions and try different roles.
If you’re looking for a game that’s fast paced and easy to get into or if you’ve wanted to try
League but have been scared to, give Wild Rift a try. The game has been released in all regions
and is available to download on iOS and Android.

Great 8.5/10
Riot Games did a great job turning League into a mobile game, although there could be some
improvements to the display and tutorial.
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