An Adventure Time MOBA?

That’s right! Cartoon Network has released a new game called Adventure Time Battle Party; it’s a free-to-play MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena), and the best part about it is that it’s a browser game! You can play without signing up to the Cartoon Network website, but then you wouldn’t save your rank.

I love this game because it is so noob-friendly. This game is perfect for introducing any of your friends to the MOBA genre. Most MOBAs have an incredibly steep learning curve, but Battle Party doesn’t. You can play just for fun of course, but if you want to get competitive, there is a whole reddit for that (/r/battleparty).

You get to choose from 15 of your favorite Adventure Time characters to battle it out and take down the other team’s base. It’s similar to League of Legends in the sense that you can take down the other team’s towers and then base to win the game, but it’s different because instead of doing that, you can run out the clock. The game starts with 15 minutes on the clock, and when it runs out, whichever team has the most points wins the game.

You earn points by killing minions, taking out jungle camps, defeating champions, destroying towers, and capturing altars. The game is pretty farm-centric, and my favorite thing about the game is that you technically don’t ever have to return to base! There are no items to buy. When you choose your champion in the pick screen, you get to choose which backpack you want to use. Backpacks in this game stand in for runes/masteries/items. They cover every stat you might need, AD, AP, armor, shields (magic resist), and HP.

There’s 11 different backpacks you can purchase in the in game store with currency similar to IP in League of Legends. Each backpack has its different strengths and weaknesses, but some are really better than others. Since Battle Party is so farm-focused, the backpack pictured above “Meta-Science Sack” is one of the more popular backpacks because it features a passive similar to the Hunter’s Machete in LoL, making farming minions and jungle camps easier.

Oh, and to boil down the mechanics, you start off with all three skills and you never have to level them up! There’s also no mana, all you have to worry about is cooldowns. To make your abilities more powerful, you would just need to put some points into the stat in your backpack that would give you AP. AD stats in the backpack only increase your auto-attack damage.

The game is basically a 3v3 on Twisted Treeline, instead of there being a giant spider at the top of the map, you have the Goo monster who grants a speed buff when killed, and at the bottom you have Ke-Oth, a much harder monster who grants bonus combat stats. You should prioritize capturing altars, just like in League of Legends, and killing champions, but don't forget about the minions! Farm your face off, and you'll steamroll every single game.

Even though the game has its strengths, it has its drawbacks too. Since it’s a browser game, it isn’t taken very seriously, and in lower “elo” games, most people just exit out the tab it’s running on when they get frustrated, leaving you in a 2v3 situation. Leaving in the this game is one of the worst problems at the moment, because even in higher ranked games, people just quit before the match ends so they don’t lose their precious rank. It takes away a lot of the fun, because most times when you’re waiting for a high ranked game, queue times can be absurd (similar to high ranked challenger players in LoL).

But if you can get through the quitters, and get past the fact that you might be playing with a few eight year olds, then Battle Party can be a real good time. It’s a great way to follow up some rough LoL matches, it’s a game takes away mechanical demand and lets you focus on having fun. If you ever find yourself playing, and needing a partner to queue up with, add Clever Nacho! I’d be happy to help you out and teach you more about the game. See you in Ooo!