Clash Mini is a free strategic mobile board battle game developed and published by Supercell and launched on November 8, 2021. It features a map consisting of tiles where you can place your units. When the match begins, your opponent’s army appears to face yours until only one side prevails.
While there are only two modes in the beginning, you’ll climb a ladder to unlock new features. It’s about 127 MB when you first download Clash Mini, but it rises in storage the more you obtain new characters and items. Stay tuned to see how to play this MOBA and win with the best strategies!
Becoming acquainted with Clash Mini
Let me begin my Clash Mini review by looking at some of the introductory elements. There’s no story to the game, so it’s more of a mobile battle arena without any plot. You’ll fight others for a chance to rule the leaderboard with casual progression.
Mastering the basics
When you start playing Clash Mini, there will be a short introduction. You’ll have to follow the guidelines during and after the fight. Once you have the hang of the mechanics, you’ll be on your own until you unlock new features or abilities. The game is quick to learn and not too challenging.
Choosing your initial characters
During the tutorial, you’ll need to select a primary hero. Each one has different abilities, so read more about them and choose carefully. You won’t be stuck with the hero too long, as the chance to unlock and opt for a new one will appear after some gameplay.
Abilities, and how to use them
Minions, or units, accompany your hero into battle. They also have specific abilities, but there’s a limit to how many can join you. You’ll see a small blue bar under the health meter for each unit. Once it’s full, it unleashes the character’s primary ability against the opponent.
Which power the unit uses depends on the level. I’ll touch on that a bit more later in my Clash Mini review. With each star that your character has, a new skill becomes available that makes it more powerful. That’s why switching minions or heroes is so risky.
Creating a Supercell account
Not long after you start playing Clash Mini, the game will ask you if you want to create a Supercell account. I recommend that you do. If you switch devices or decide to play on Windows with Bluestacks, you’ll be able to use your accumulated points on your account. There’s also a special skin reward, depending on when you join.
Rising up the ranks
Before I get into the actual game mechanics for Clash Mini, I want to quickly touch on the ranks. Your profile has its own leveling system. As you win battles and gain experience, you’ll climb up the steps towards a new rank. The higher the rank, the better the rewards. You’ll also unlock different units at specific rank levels.
Playing Clash Mini with strategy
Are you excited to play Clash Mini yet? Before you head to your phone and install it, you may want to see what the combat mechanics and modes are like. My review has only given you a taste of what’s to come.
Two modes to play
There are only two modes available in Clash Mini, but you can play them in two ways. Firstly, you have Rumble and Dual modes. The former lets you battle opponents in a tournament setting, where the winner continues to fight other players until you reach the semi-finals and finals. Dual-mode is simply a 1v1 match over three to five rounds to see who the ultimate victor is.
Now let’s look at how you can play these modes. There’s a casual, unranked setting where Clash Mini randomly picks opponents regardless of rank. I’ve lost many battles this way since I faced players much stronger than me. I prefer the ranked version, where opponents seem to be the same rank as me. It makes it much easier for a beginner to win rewards and units this way. Sadly, there are no other modes, such as Story or 4v4.
Games similar to Clash Mini by the same developer include Clash Quest and Clash Royale.
Understanding combat mechanics in Clash Mini
So, what actually happens during a Clash Mini battle? When the match begins, you’ll have three units in a bar with your hero on the board. You can’t see where your enemy’s troops are just yet.
To the right, there’s an elixir bottle with points. Each unit will cost you points to transfer to the board. There’s a refill button that changes the current selection of minions, but you’ll only have three chances per match.
Once the timer counts down, the match starts whether or not you’re ready. You’ll have no control over the battle as units move towards or attack the closest opponents. When the health bar runs out on a unit, they die. The match ends when one side no longer has any characters left.
In the next round, your units all return to the board, and you’ll have new elixir points. I’ll discuss how to use these in a bit. All you need to know is that you can add more minions or upgrade them. The match continues until there’s a winner. The first one to reach three trophies in dual mode wins. You’ll only need one victory per opposing player in rumble mode.
Using Elixir points wisely
The elixir point is the most significant strategic element in Clash Mini. Each unit has a different value. The smaller, more basic minions will cost you about 2, while the larger ones will be 4. You have about 6 points to allocate per round.
The strategy becomes more intense when you need to decide whether to upgrade or place a new unit. If you already have that minion on the board, you can move the same type into the arena to level it up. It unlocks a special ability for that character.
The other option of adding more units means you might overwhelm your opponent if they only have a few troops. However, it doesn’t help if they’ve upgraded minions that quickly kill your team. You need to find a balance between numbers and skills.
Upgrading heroes and units
You can only unlock new abilities and level units up in battle after you level them up. When you head to the sections for heroes and minions, you’ll notice stars under them. The max level is 3 stars, which opens all the abilities for that unit. Chests and rewards provide you with hero and minion cards that help you upgrade them.
More items in the Battle Pass
If you like paying for items in games, you’ll be happy to know that Clash Mini has an in-game transaction system that’s like Battle Pass in Call of Duty multiplayer modes. You’ll need to subscribe to unlock specific rewards when you climb the tiers. In the shop, you can also use green gems to obtain unique units and items.
Placing your units wisely
It may not seem important in the beginning, but how you place your units on the board is vital to winning the match. Sure, you can’t see where your opponent’s fighters are. However, you’ll get an idea of how they play in the first round.
Let me give you an example from the Clash Mini matches I played for this review. There’s a goblin that has the chance to throw a heavy spear before any other units move, straight down the board. Your opponent will watch where you place your hero in the first round so they can target it with this fighter in the second round. It’s best to shuffle them around between rounds to confuse the other player.
You also need to visualize where the enemy units may be. Your melee units will walk towards the closest opponent, so they should be upfront. The ranged fighters can shoot from anywhere, so keep them close to your hero at the back.
What else Clash Mini has to offer
You now have a deeper understanding of how Clash Mini works. Before I end my review, I want to give a quick overview of some other elements I haven’t covered yet.
Superb mobile visuals
Clash Mini provides outstanding visuals on mobile devices that don’t cause the performance to lag. Of course, it depends on how much space and memory you have on your tablet or phone. I love how much color there is, and you’ll unlock more boards as you progress.
Brilliant animations and effects
The action in Clash Mini is adorable and intense at the same time. You’ll watch those ability bars fill up, waiting for that ultimate power to unleash. There are some pretty devastating attacks that made me gape in excitement. The battle sounds are also exhilarating, especially when everyone is fighting at full force.
The latest Clash Mini news
Supercell is constantly working on new features. Season 3 was released a few days ago, so you can start early to rise up the tiers. Fortunately, I was able to use the new Skeleton ranger that just appeared a few hours ago in Clash Mini. There’s a tab at the top where you can access the latest announcements.
Final Verdict of Clash Mini
Clash Mini provides a fun mobile battle experience that’s almost casual in nature. My children and I took turns fighting online opponents, and we loved collecting as many units as possible. Since you don’t have much control over the actual battle, it sometimes feels like you’re winning or losing based on luck. Still, you don’t feel like a loser when defeated, and it leaves you eager to try again.
If you enjoyed this game, you may want to look at our Clash Royale review. Supercell also made this title, but you’ll have towers and lanes to deal with, much like League of Legends and DOTA 2.
Pros
- Stunning mobile graphics and colors
- Enjoyable animations and effects
- Easy to learn
- Using strategies makes you feel powerful
- Plenty of units to unlock
Cons
- You have no idea what you’ll be facing beforehand
- Needs more modes
- Feels like victories are based on luck at times
Developer: Supercell
Publisher: Supercell
Game Modes: Rumble, Dual (ranked and unranked)
Platform reviewed: Huawei P Smart 2021 – Android 10
