Test de Lords Mobile : between tower defense and MMO

After several weeks of testit's time to present you my opinion on Lords Mobile. You will be able to find out if IGG's famous title lives up to its promise and where it stands in the mobile strategy game market compared to other titles such as King of Avalon or State of Survival.

A multitude of Lords Mobile game modes to never get bored

If there's one thing to be said for IGG's title, it's that it doesn't lack for gameplay variety. The game modes follow one another and are not alike. In fact, one of the positive points of my review of Lords Mobile is the fact that there is almost never a dull moment in-game as there are so many activities on your priority list.

Strategy game with a tower defense background

Through a well-translated tutorial in the language of your choice (like the rest of the game), you first discover how to face waves of minions and bosses in PvE in a tower defense mode.

Then comes the basic construction, where you can arrange the layout and number of your buildings as you wish, in order to produce the resources you really need. Don't forget to quickly level up your resource buildings and constantly farm on the kingdom map. This will prevent you from running out of food when creating a large army, which will be very consuming.

Fortunately, the game provides you with a multitude of boosts, and each success brings new ones. After the territory building, the test of Lords Mobile led me in PvE clashes only between heroes, with a very simple but very efficient gacha mechanic. By collecting heroes in this mode, you will find new commanders for your armies but also heroes for monster hunting, which we will talk about later. This is just my opinion on this Lords Mobile mechanic, but the gacha system is quite permissive and doesn't really push you to buy. You're not constantly waving heroes you don't own in front of your face.

In addition to the gameplay mechanics mentioned above, there is also in-house production management (troops, resources, technologies), the assignment of level crossing points (which will allow you to focus on warfare, construction or a hybrid mix) as well as participation in a multitude of events, some daily and some longer. I really appreciated the attention the developers paid to the adventure journal challenges. They are multiple, depend on the day/night cycle, are constantly renewed and bring a regular freshness to the gameplay that I experienced during my test of Lords Mobile.

Social dimension of Lords Mobile

But let's not forget that Lords Mobile is also an MMO. If you go outside your base, to gather resources or search for treasure for example, you will find that the range of territories to explore is as vast as the number of players in the kingdom. And the more players who want to access the kingdom's control points, each developing their own sphere of influence, making and breaking alliances, the more war will break out.

This war extends to the infighting on your server, which will see lone lords or entire guilds fighting each other. However, you can also settle scores in PvP in the arena, another battle system. What greatly influences my opinion of Lords Mobile is the way the developers have multiplied the gameplay experiences without it becoming inconsistent.

In addition, there is the famous monster hunt in test Lords Mobile. Indeed, nasty creatures are roaming your kingdom. Among them, the Saberfang, theFrostwing or the Mega-Warp are waiting to confront you. But to defeat them, you won't be alone. You will have to trust the members of your alliance and gather your forces to defeat these creatures during their life cycle (2h55min). In this way, you can collect rewards for yourself and your guild, craft sets and obtain pets with powerful stat boosts.

By the way, if you are too far behind the other players in your kingdom and your castle is not yet level 6, you can still change your kingdom in Lords Mobile. This will allow you to teleport to a newer server while keeping your progress.

Good ideas in the creation of the sound atmosphere

The music emphasises the gameplay particularly well. In fact, it is of better quality than many mobile strategy games on the market. Even if you are a soundless player on public transport, you will be tempted to put the soundtrack back on, if only to take part in all the challenges of the adventure and exploration log. In this respect, my opinion of Lords Mobile is more than positive. The game doesn't just offer a soundtrack without interaction.

For example, it adds some fairly simple sound recognition challenges. Indeed, in exploration, the magic conch challenge will make you recognise a sound for which it is necessary to have the game's sound effects. I think this is a great way to push players to enjoy the full experience and it adds to the variety of gameplay I was talking about earlier.

My opinion on Lords Mobile and its business model

As in many strategy games such as RoK or Infinity Kingdomthe business model is as follows:

• Free-to-play / Pay-to-fast
• No advertising
• Many free rewards to keep players active.

The game doesn't impose ads on you and is much more permissive with its F2P players than other titles like State of Survival. You just have to work hard to get past the premium barrier: be a regular player, logging in every day and taking part in as many events as you can.

To conclude, my opinion on Lords Mobile is very positive. If the graphics are not revolutionary, IGG's title does everything else smartly, offers varied gameplay and events galore, so that there is always something to do to progress in the game. This feeling of always being busy makes it a time consuming game, like strategy games in general, but also full of life. And it prevents some of the frustration associated with F2P play that is usually more present in other titles. IGG signs here a title that is worthy of your attention and that will surely surprise you with its sincerity and good ideas.

A big thank you to Huawei with whom this test is made in partnership. If you're looking for a good starting point to get a head start on Lords Mobile or just enjoy some great rewards, both free and premium, use the AppGallery and Game Center designed for gamers who aren't afraid to farm.

Positive points

• A permissive business model for F2P players
• Pleasantly varied gameplay
• Good ideas for mechanics

Negative points

• Time-consuming and visually average