Clash Royale is a tower defense and battle arena style mobile game made in 2016 with overall positive reviews. The game experienced a resurgence of popularity as of 2025 since their fall in 2017 to 2020. Teenagers all over school are consumed by Clash Royale and something needs to be done.
In classrooms at Lincoln East High School, I’ve witnessed people playing a Clash Royale game, and they continue to play after the bell has rung to put their phone away. Then they get in trouble and have to put it in their bag anyway, but why is a single match so important? Is the risk of getting in trouble outweighing the chance that you’ll lose the match? The game structure makes it very hard to just play one round and quit—especially for teenagers without self control.
“Seeing the trophy count go up is what keeps me playing,” Dane Webb, an eight-year player with over fourteen thousand trophies said.
For individuals with a significant other that plays, it is so degrading to text your partner and be left on delivered because, in their mind, winning a match is more important. I can’t begin to count the amount of times I have asked my boyfriend why he didn’t answer a call or message only to be met with “Sorry I was on Clash,” or “I couldn’t just throw the game.” This type of behavior can not be tolerated any longer. A mobile game should not be so addictive that throwing a couple games causes distress.
“If my girlfriend called me while I was in a Clash game and I was playing for trophies, I would hit the button that says I’ll call you back later,” Caden Maggiore, a nine-year player with over ten thousand trophies stated.
Millions of people play Clash Royale daily for a prolonged period of time, especially teenagers. I think it’s damaging to pander to teenagers or format a game to purposefully be addictive to gain the most money. A system in place could be a time limit for the day or week or an in-game currency to override those limits—that way, a teenager won’t be spending hours a week on something unproductive.
There is also such a saturated field of players that are teenagers that convince others to start playing as well.
“All my friends were playing it at a sleepover and I got peer pressured into downloading it,” Mandi Niday, player of three months with over 200 trophies stated.
When games get popular among teens, it can result in pressure and judgment for not playing. Another mobile game that experienced a peak in popularity among teenagers is Brawl Stars, which resulted in almost the same outcome of addiction and pressure to play among peers as Clash Royale did. Many predict a fall off from Clash Royale after the huge spike in players and praise just like Brawl Stars.
“It’s become such a trend now just like Brawl Stars used to be, whatever game is trending is what people will say is better,” Maggiore stated.
Overall, I think Clash Royale is experiencing hype and praise that isn’t fully deserved. Yes, it is a fun game, but the sheer amount of people obsessed with it shows that the outlook of the game is skewed and it will most likely fall off soon and be replaced with the next mobile game.
