Clash Royale is an epic PvP card battle strategy mobile and PC game created by Supercell. Clash Royale has been a relatively popular mobile game, but during the 2025–2026 school year, it has risen in popularity among students, especially during school hours. Students can easily download Clash Royale for free on their phones or any device they have. Students play Clash Royale for many different reasons, such as the competitiveness of either battling opponents or competing with friends, the matches being quick to start and finish, it being free and simple to play, and it can lead to an addictive cycle.
In Clash Royale, players must collect cards by opening chests from battling opponents. Every card has its own unique ability, cost, stats, and uses, which will help you progress through arenas. Additionally, you will have to level up your cards, which will require getting the same card multiple times and having the required gold to level up. To add on, there is the option to spend money if you fall behind everyone else. Arenas are a sort of ranking system in the game — the higher your arena rank, the more cards are available, but also the tougher the opponents. Trophies determine your status on the leaderboard, which leads to competitive games and battles with friends, competing to see who can get more. All these components that are part of Clash Royale, combined with regular updates such as new cards, arenas, etc., lead to it being one of the most addictive and popular games.
Supercell, the creator of Clash Royale, has made many mobile games. One such example is Brawl Stars, which had a similar level of popularity among students as Clash Royale does currently. Just like Clash Royale, Brawl Stars was popular among students for similar reasons: fast matches, competitiveness, free and easy to play. But after the school year ended, its popularity started declining, which can be easily connected to the fact that during the summer students have many sources of entertainment they like. The game’s lack of updates also caused it to lose popularity and for students to move on to the next big thing.
There is a reason why Clash Royale got its popularity. First of all, let’s talk about the requirements needed to play the game itself. The game only needs at least iOS 14 or Android 7 and takes up relatively little space, being around 1 GB, making it accessible to almost everyone. The game is also really easy to get into as a beginner, with simple gameplay and an easy tutorial to follow. It can be played by anyone, no matter the skill. Not to mention the fact of how fun the game can get at times.
But with everything, there are cons with Clash Royale, such as being a distraction to students leading to a decline in learning and grades. It can get addictive, which is bad considering students can spend real money, and it can be too competitive, which could lead to harm to the player or people around them. It can also be unfair from people spending money or just having a bad matchup.
Overall, Clash Royale has been the go-to game for students during school from 2025–2026 due to it being competitive, free, easy to play, and having quick games that can be accessed easily. It was created by Supercell and has pros such as being light on your device and easy to play but also cons such as distracting students from learning and potentially leading to frustration.
What is next? Most likely, just like Brawl Stars, Clash Royale will come and go, remaining popular during the school year but declining as summer begins.
THE NORTH STAR 