Join Dylan as he explores the history of the autobattler genre and shares his recommendations for some games you may want to check out if you are interested in trying out the genre!
Autobattlers spawned out of the Multiplayer Online Battle Arena Games like DOTA and League of Legends. A mod called DOTA Auto Chess developed by Drodo Studios released in early 2019 and is regarded as the originator of the genre. As the popularity of the DOTA Auto Chess mod skyrocketed, other developers put their own spin on the genre, in some cases releasing a similar mode for their game like Team Fight Tactics for League of Legends and Battlegrounds for Hearthstone, or a standalone game like Auto Chess or DOTA Underlords. In the years since, more games have released. Some expand the genre, like Super Auto Pets or Tales and Tactics. Others have taken ideas from the genre and incorporated them into other types of games like Unicorn Overlord and Mechabellum.
The game plays out amongst a group of players, each with their own chess-like board. Each round, players can purchase units and position them on their half of the board, after which the units will automatically battle an opponent’s units, with the loser taking damage. This continues until all but one player has been eliminated. Units typically have traits assigned to them, becoming more powerful the more units with the same traits you put on your board. They can also evolve into more powerful versions if you purchase multiple copies of the same units. As players progress, they are able to field more units and access more powerful units from the shops, doing their best to create the most synergistic team they can.
