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Auto battler

An auto battler, also known as auto chess, is a subgenre of strategy video games in which players recruit, equip, and position characters or units on a grid-based battlefield, where combat unfolds automatically without direct intervention during fights.^[1] Matches typically involve multiple players competing in rounds that alternate between preparation phases—focusing on resource management, unit synergies, and upgrades—and automated battles that determine survival based on strategic setup.^[2] This passive combat mechanic emphasizes long-term tactics like economy building and team composition over real-time control, often in multiplayer formats with up to eight participants until one remains victorious.^[3] The genre traces its origins to Dota Auto Chess, a custom mod for the multiplayer online battle arena game Dota 2 developed by employees of Drodo Studio and released on January 4, 2019.^[2] Drawing inspiration from earlier concepts like Pokémon Defense maps in Warcraft III and mahjong-style merging mechanics, the mod amassed over four million total players within its first month, with a peak of around 300,000 concurrent players, sparking widespread interest.^[2]^[4]^[5] This success prompted major publishers to create official standalone titles, including Dota Underlords by Valve in June 2019, which peaked at nearly 200,000 concurrent players, and Teamfight Tactics by Riot Games later that month, integrating seamlessly with League of Legends.^[3] Other early adaptations, such as Hearthstone Battlegrounds by Blizzard in November 2019, further diversified the genre by incorporating card game elements from existing franchises.^[6]^[7] Following its rapid ascent in 2019, the auto battler genre saw fluctuating popularity, with some titles like Dota Underlords experiencing sharp declines in player counts due to stagnation and limited social features, dropping below 10,000 concurrent users by 2022.^[3] However, the format has endured and evolved, particularly through regular seasonal updates that introduce new units, augments, and modes, sustaining engagement in core games.^[3] As of 2025, Teamfight Tactics leads with over 33 million monthly players across PC and mobile, bolstered by innovative mechanics like comeback tools and item recipes, while Hearthstone Battlegrounds maintains a strong audience via Warcraft lore.^[8]^[9] Emerging titles such as Mechabellum (emphasizing wargame tactics), Tales and Tactics (with RPG storytelling), and Despot's Game (featuring roguelike dungeon progression) continue to expand the genre's scope, blending it with elements of inventory management, single-player campaigns, and competitive PvP.^[10] The auto battler's lasting appeal stems from its accessible yet deep strategy, allowing players to enjoy spectacle-filled battles while mastering synergies and economies in short, replayable sessions.^[8]

Overview

Definition and Core Concept

An auto battler is a subgenre of strategy video games in which players assemble teams of units that automatically engage in combat against those of opposing players, usually in a competitive multiplayer setting involving asynchronous or round-based progression.^[1]^[11] The core premise revolves around indirect control, where players exert influence primarily through preparation phases—such as selecting units, equipping them, and positioning them on a grid-like battlefield—while the battles themselves resolve autonomously via artificial intelligence, determined by factors like unit statistics, synergies, and programmed behaviors.^[1]^[11] This hands-off approach to combat distinguishes the genre by shifting emphasis from real-time decision-making to strategic foresight and adaptation over multiple rounds.^[1] The terms "auto battler" and "auto chess" originated from the 2019 Dota 2 mod Dota Auto Chess, which popularized the format of automated, grid-based confrontations inspired by chessboard tactics.^[1]^[11] While drawing from earlier influences like the animated unit battles in Battle Chess (1988) and drafting mechanics in collectible card games, auto battlers emphasize full automation of fights, setting them apart from manual-control genres such as multiplayer online battle arenas (MOBAs) or real-time strategy (RTS) games.^[11] In contrast to precursors like chess-like tactics games—such as Hero Academy (2012), which involve turn-based command issuance for unit actions—auto battlers remove direct intervention during engagements, allowing battles to play out without player input to heighten the focus on team composition and positioning.^[12]^[11] Popular examples, including Teamfight Tactics and Dota Underlords, illustrate this automated resolution in a multiplayer context.^[1]

Key Characteristics

Auto battlers are defined by their grid-based positioning system, in which players arrange units on a battlefield grid to influence combat outcomes, typically placing durable frontline tanks to absorb damage while positioning ranged damage dealers and supports in safer rear lines.^[1]^[13] This tactical placement mirrors chess-like strategy, where spatial arrangement determines how units engage enemies, with frontline units often drawing aggression to protect vulnerable allies.^[14] Central to the genre is the synergy system, where combining units with shared traits—such as elemental affinities, classes, or factions—activates bonuses like increased damage output, health regeneration, or defensive buffs.^[1]^[13] These trait-based interactions encourage players to curate complementary teams, as synergies scale with the number of matching units deployed, fostering depth in composition building.^[14] Resource management forms another cornerstone, revolving around economy systems like gold earned from rounds, which players spend on acquiring units, leveling up for access to higher-cost options, or rerolling the shop for desired pieces.^[1]^[13] This creates ongoing strategic trade-offs, balancing immediate purchases against long-term investments in team strength.^[14] Multiplayer asymmetry is a hallmark, with 8-player lobbies being standard, where participants compete in a battle royale format using a shared pool of available units, introducing scarcity that forces adaptation to opponents' choices.^[13]^[1] Random elements enhance replayability, including procedurally generated shop offerings and opponent matchups, which inject variability and require flexible strategies each match.^[13] These traits originated in the 2019 Dota Auto Chess mod, which popularized the format.^[1]

Gameplay

Preparation and Team Building

In auto battlers, the preparation phase centers on acquiring units from a shared pool, typically through a shop that refreshes at the start of each planning round, allowing players to purchase pieces based on their strategic needs.^[13] Units are categorized by rarity tiers, often ranging from low-cost commons (e.g., 1-cost basic troops) to high-cost legendaries (e.g., 5-cost elite characters), with costs reflecting their power and scarcity in the shared pool to encourage diverse team compositions.^[14] Players can reroll the shop for a new selection at an additional gold expense, balancing luck and resource management to secure desired synergies or counters.^[14] Player leveling progresses through experience gained from completing rounds, which expands the board's unit slots—starting with fewer positions (e.g., 1-4) and scaling to 9-10 or more at higher levels—to accommodate stronger lineups.^[13] The economy revolves around gold accumulation via multiple sources: a base amount per round, bonuses for winning streaks, and passive interest (often 10% on saved gold, increasing over time), forcing players to decide between immediate spending on units and banking for long-term advantages like high-level access to rare units.^[14] Customization involves equipping items dropped from rounds or purchased, which provide stat enhancements such as increased attack speed from weapons or durability from armor, directly influencing unit performance in upcoming battles.^[13] A bench system allows holding excess units outside the active board, enabling flexible swaps and upgrades by combining duplicates to evolve pieces into higher tiers with improved abilities.^[14] Strategic decisions hinge on balancing aggressive early investments in combat-ready teams against conservative economy building for late-game dominance, while pursuing synergies—trait-based bonuses activated by fielding multiple compatible units, such as class-wide damage amps or origin-specific heals—to amplify overall effectiveness.^[13] This phase demands adaptation to the evolving meta, as shop offerings and opponent scouting inform pivots toward viable compositions.^[14]

Battle Mechanics

In auto battlers, battles resolve automatically once players have positioned their units, with no direct intervention allowed during combat. Units move and attack according to predefined AI behaviors, following paths determined by their class—such as melee units advancing to engage frontline foes, ranged units firing from safer distances, and assassins leaping toward vulnerable backline targets. Targeting priorities typically favor the nearest enemy or those with the lowest health, enabling dynamic engagements that can shift based on unit capabilities and positioning. These fights generally last 30 to 60 seconds, concluding when one side's units are fully eliminated.^[15] Positioning plays a crucial role in determining engagement order and outcomes, with units divided into front and back lines on the battlefield. Frontline units, often tanks or melee fighters, absorb initial damage and block access to the backline, where damage dealers and supports operate from relative safety to maximize their effectiveness. Abilities activate on timers, mana thresholds, or specific conditions, such as area-of-effect spells triggering after a set number of attacks or upon reaching full mana gained from dealing or receiving damage. Synergies established during team preparation can enhance these mechanics, boosting stats or unlocking passive effects mid-battle.^[16]^[15] Damage is calculated based on unit stats like health, attack damage, and ability power, influenced by items and synergies, while survival depends on coordinated positioning to protect key units. Each player maintains a health pool, typically starting at 100, which decreases based on the battle's result—the number of surviving enemy units determines the damage inflicted, with full defeats causing greater losses. Units that die during a battle are removed from the field but do not permanently perish; surviving units retain their levels, items, and positions for carryover into subsequent rounds.^[17]^[16] Environmental factors further shape battles, including variations in board size such as the 8x8 square grid in Dota Auto Chess or the 7x4 hex grid in Teamfight Tactics, which accommodate up to 10 units per player and affect movement ranges. Neutral objectives, encountered in PvE rounds against computer-controlled creeps, provide opportunities for bonuses like additional loot or experience, integrating into the auto-resolution without altering core PvP dynamics.^[15]^[16]^[18]^[19]

Progression and Victory Conditions

In auto battler games, matches progress through a series of alternating preparation and battle phases, forming the core loop of gameplay. During the preparation phase, typically lasting 30 seconds, players purchase units from a shared pool, level up their board size to accommodate more units, and position their team on a grid-based battlefield. This is followed by the battle phase, where units engage in automated combat without player intervention, lasting until one side is defeated or a time limit expires. Rounds escalate in difficulty across early, mid, and late game stages, beginning with player-versus-environment (PvE) encounters against neutral creeps to build resources and items, before transitioning to player-versus-player (PvP) matchups in a round-robin format against other contestants.^[20]^[21] A central mechanic is the player health system, which starts at 100 hit points and represents the contestant's endurance in the match. In PvP battles, health deductions occur based on the opponent's performance: a loss results in damage equal to the surviving enemy units' output, scaled by their strength and number, while wins preserve full health and may grant minor bonuses. PvE rounds also deduct health if the player's team underperforms against creeps, though these losses are generally smaller to encourage early experimentation. Reaching zero health eliminates a player, removing them from the match and redistributing their units to the shared pool. Streaks of consecutive wins or losses influence the economy, providing bonus gold—up to three additional per streak—to reward consistency or intentional "loss streaking" for accelerated resource accumulation, though prolonged losses risk early elimination.^[20]^[21] Victory is achieved by the last player remaining with health, crowning them the winner in the typical eight-player format. Ties are rare but resolved by final placement rankings, often determined by remaining health, gold reserves, or kill participation in the decisive round. Mid-game pivots, such as the hyper-roll strategy—aggressively spending gold to reroll the shop for high-tier units and force early dominance—can accelerate progression toward endgame power spikes, shifting focus from economy building to aggressive team upgrades. Matches generally last 30 to 45 minutes, allowing time for strategic adaptation as the field narrows from eight to one.^[21]^[22]^[23]

History

Origins in Mods (2019)

The auto battler genre originated with the release of Dota Auto Chess on January 4, 2019, developed by the Chinese team Drodo Studio as a custom game mode within Dota 2.^[4] This mod reimagined Dota 2's heroes as chess-like units drawn from the game's lore, allowing players to assemble and upgrade armies from a shared pool where unit availability decreased as others acquired them.^[24] The core mechanic involved automated battles, where positioned units fought independently without direct player control during combat, twisting traditional MOBA hero strategies into a passive, strategic drafting experience.^[24] The mod's popularity surged rapidly within the Dota 2 community and beyond, reaching over eight million subscribers on Steam Workshop by late April 2019.^[25] This growth was fueled by word-of-mouth among MOBA enthusiasts and high visibility on Twitch streams, where prominent Dota 2 players showcased matches, drawing in hundreds of thousands of concurrent viewers and players at its peak.^[26] By May 2019, it had amassed around eight million players overall, highlighting its appeal as an accessible yet deep diversion from standard Dota 2 gameplay.^[25] However, the mod's reliance on the Dota 2 and underlying Warcraft III engine exposed significant limitations, including frequent server instability and crashes due to overwhelming demand.^[24] These technical constraints, such as connection failures and performance bottlenecks during high-traffic periods, underscored the challenges of scaling a custom mode on an existing platform, ultimately motivating developers to pursue standalone versions.^[27] The innovations of shared unit pools and auto-battles in Dota Auto Chess laid the groundwork for the genre, directly influencing the creation of subsequent commercial titles.^[24]

Commercial Boom and Peak (2019–2020)

Following the viral success of the original Dota Auto Chess mod in early 2019, major game publishers rapidly developed official auto battler titles to capitalize on the emerging genre's momentum.^[28] Valve announced Dota Underlords on June 13, 2019, positioning it as a standalone spin-off from Dota 2, and released it into public beta on June 20, 2019, with cross-platform support across PC, iOS, and Android to broaden accessibility.^[29] The game quickly achieved over 200,000 concurrent players during its launch weekend, underscoring the genre's immediate mainstream appeal.^[30] Drodo Studio, the creators of the original mod, partnered with Epic Games to launch a standalone version of Auto Chess in April 2019, initially on mobile platforms with a PC release following in August on the Epic Games Store, prioritizing mobile-first design to target the growing smartphone gaming audience.^[31] This release emphasized quick sessions and touch-optimized controls, helping it amass millions of downloads shortly after launch and solidify the genre's mobile viability.^[32] Blizzard integrated Hearthstone Battlegrounds into its existing card game Hearthstone on November 5, 2019, during an early access period, with full open beta access on November 12, adapting the auto battler format through card-based units recruited from a tavern system.^[7] Meanwhile, Riot Games released Teamfight Tactics as a game mode within League of Legends on June 25, 2019, drawing on its MOBA ecosystem to attract existing players.^[33] This surge in official releases from established MOBA publishers like Valve, Riot, and Blizzard reflected a strategic industry response to the mod's hype, transforming an amateur creation into a competitive commercial landscape.^[34]

Evolution and Modern Developments (2021–2025)

Following the explosive growth of the auto battler genre in 2019–2020, many early titles experienced significant declines in player engagement by 2021, as the initial novelty waned and competition intensified. For instance, Valve's Dota Underlords, which peaked at over 200,000 concurrent players in June 2019, saw its average daily players drop below 15,000 by late 2019 and continued to plummet, reaching around 1,000 concurrent players as of late 2025. Valve officially ended active support for the game on December 8, 2021, by extending its single-player season indefinitely without further updates, signaling a shift away from maintenance for non-core projects. In contrast, Riot Games' Teamfight Tactics (TFT) maintained a robust player base through consistent post-launch support, including regular patches and content refreshes that kept monthly active users in the millions throughout 2021–2025.^[35] Innovations in the genre during this period focused on enhancing longevity and accessibility, with developers introducing hybrid gameplay modes to blend auto battler elements with other mechanics. TFT pioneered ranked ladder systems with tiered progression (from Iron to Challenger) and no demotion penalties, allowing players to climb through placement matches and skill-based matchmaking, which debuted in early seasons and evolved through 2025. Seasonal sets, lasting approximately four months each, became a staple for content rotation, with TFT releasing over a dozen sets from 2021 onward, each featuring themed traits, units, and balance tweaks to refresh strategies without overhauling core rules. Cross-genre fusions also emerged, particularly with roguelike elements, where procedural generation and permadeath added replayability to single-player auto battles; examples include titles emphasizing randomized runs with evolving synergies and artifacts, diverging from pure PvP formats. The 2021–2025 era saw a surge in indie and mobile titles that democratized the genre, prioritizing casual, free-to-play experiences over high-stakes competition. Super Auto Pets, launched on September 24, 2021, exemplified this shift as a browser-based, free-to-play game featuring asynchronous pet battles with simple team-building around animal units and food buffs, attracting millions of downloads across platforms by emphasizing relaxed pacing. Mobile adaptations proliferated, with games like Backpack Brawl (released in 2024) highlighting inventory management and item-crafting in a 2D auto-battler format, where players arrange gear in a backpack for automated hero clashes in a medieval fantasy setting. Experimental integrations with blockchain technology also appeared, such as Illuvium's auto-battler mode in Illuvium: Arena, which launched in beta in 2023 and incorporated NFT ownership of collectible creatures (Illuvials) for team composition, evolving through 2025 with Ethereum-based staking and multiplayer raids while maintaining core auto-battle mechanics.^[36] Newer commercial releases further diversified the genre, incorporating real-time and thematic twists. Mechabellum entered early access on May 11, 2023, as a turn-based tactical auto battler centered on customizable mech armies, where players deploy units on a grid for automated sci-fi skirmishes, emphasizing counterplay and resource adaptation over random elements. Overlooting followed in 2025, releasing on September 1 as a loot-driven roguelite auto battler that combines equipment synergies and skill trees for boss confrontations, focusing on modular builds that evolve per run. By 2025, trends leaned toward AI-driven enhancements and deeper narrative integrations to sustain player interest amid market saturation. Developers increasingly used AI for dynamic balancing, such as procedural trait adjustments in response to meta shifts, as seen in TFT's 2025 roadmap patches that incorporated machine learning to optimize unit viability across sets. Cross-genre fusions accelerated, with PvE modes blending auto battlers into broader experiences like light MMOs or campaigns; TFT's planned 2025 updates introduced a revamped "Double Up" co-op mode and new PvE adventures with story-driven events, building on Set 15's (K.O. Coliseum) foundations to weave narrative elements into seasonal progression. Hearthstone Battlegrounds continued to evolve with Season 11: Echoes of Un'Goro, launched in August 2025, introducing new heroes and mechanics tied to Warcraft lore. These developments reflect the genre's maturation, prioritizing sustainable engagement over rapid hype cycles.^[37]

Notable Games

Early Mods and Prototypes

The origins of the auto battler genre trace back to custom modifications within established multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games, drawing from the rich tradition of user-generated content in platforms like Warcraft III and its successor, Dota 2. These early experiments leveraged pre-existing game engines to prototype automated strategy mechanics, where players assembled teams of units that engaged in hands-off combat. Influences from older Warcraft III custom maps, such as Defense of the Ancients (DotA), provided a foundation for community-driven innovation, emphasizing strategic team composition and synergies without direct player control during battles.^[38]^[39] The seminal prototype, Dota Auto Chess, emerged as a custom game mode for Dota 2, developed by Drodo Studio and released on January 4, 2019. In this mod, up to eight players competed by purchasing and positioning Dota 2 heroes as chess pieces on an 8x8 board, where battles unfolded automatically based on unit abilities and positioning. Heroes were organized into classes (e.g., warriors, mages) and races (e.g., elves, undead), enabling synergy bonuses that amplified team performance when multiple matching units were fielded together, such as increased damage for warrior groups or healing for elf alliances. This Dota-themed framework, with its 100+ unique hero units drawn directly from the MOBA's roster, emphasized economic management, unit upgrading through merging duplicates, and adapting to shared unit pools across players.^[40]^[24]^[41] Prior to Dota Auto Chess, scattered experiments in other engines hinted at auto battler concepts, though none achieved widespread traction. Broader predecessors included Warcraft III customs like various tower defense and hero survival maps, which prototyped passive combat and synergy systems in a modding environment that fostered rapid iteration without proprietary development tools. These efforts highlighted the appeal of spectator-style strategy but lacked the multiplayer scaling that Dota Auto Chess later popularized.^[42] Following Dota Auto Chess's explosive growth—peaking at over 100,000 concurrent players within weeks—community developers created unofficial forks and variants still within the Dota 2 workshop ecosystem. These pre-official adaptations, such as tweaked versions adjusting unit costs or board layouts, emerged in early 2019 to address emerging balance concerns and experiment with new synergies before Drodo Studio's standalone release. Built on Dota 2's Source engine, these prototypes enabled swift updates via Steam Workshop tools, allowing modders to prototype features like enhanced courier systems for unit acquisition; however, the engine's constraints often resulted in initial balance challenges, including overpowered synergy combinations (e.g., full 10-unit mage alliances dominating late-game scenarios) that required frequent community patches. These mods collectively laid the mechanical groundwork that inspired subsequent commercial titles.^[43]^[44]^[45]

Major Commercial Titles

Teamfight Tactics (TFT), developed and published by Riot Games, launched on June 25, 2019, as a free-to-play spin-off from League of Legends.^[46] In this game, players draft and position League of Legends champions on an 8x8 grid to form synergies based on traits and classes, competing in automated battles across eight rounds until one survivor remains.^[46] The title introduced key strategic metas such as hyper-roll, where players aggressively level up early to acquire three-star units, and slow-roll, which prioritizes gold economy to refresh the shop at optimal levels for specific champions. TFT features seasonal updates known as sets, each with refreshed champion pools, mechanics, and themes; Set 1 debuted in 2019, and as of November 2025, the game is on Set 15, with Set 16 "Lore & Legends" scheduled for release in December 2025, emphasizing Runeterra's historical eras.^[47]^[48] These sets, released roughly every three to four months, maintain player engagement through evolving metas and balance changes.^[47] Dota Underlords, developed and published by Valve Corporation, entered open beta on June 20, 2019, as a standalone adaptation of the Dota Auto Chess mod from Dota 2.^[49] Players assemble teams of Dota heroes on a shared board, leveraging alliances—synergies activated by grouping heroes with matching affiliations like Assassins or Mages—for combat bonuses, while equipping heroes with items scavenged from creeps to customize abilities.^[49] The game supported cross-platform play between PC and mobile, with modes including standard duos and a battle pass for cosmetic rewards.^[49] Valve shifted focus away after the 1.0 release in June 2020, ceasing major updates and content additions, though the title remains playable and influential for its depth in hero customization and alliance complexity on PC. Hearthstone Battlegrounds, developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment, debuted on November 12, 2019, as a permanent mode within the digital card game Hearthstone.^[7] Gameplay centers on recruiting minions from Bob's Tavern, where players spend gold to buy, sell, or freeze units; upgrading tavern tiers unlocks higher-cost, more powerful minions up to Tier 6.^[7] Heroes wield unique powers to influence recruitment and combat, with automated fights determining health loss.^[7] To add variety, Blizzard introduced Anomalies in 2022 as optional rule modifiers that reshape matches, such as altering minion stats or economy; these returned and expanded in patches through 2025, including six new Buddy-interacting Anomalies in October 2025.^[50] Auto Chess, co-developed by Drodo Studio and Dragonest Games with publishing support from Epic Games Store, released on April 18, 2019, for mobile platforms as the first official standalone from the original Dota Auto Chess creators.^[51] Optimized for touch controls, it features 8-player lobbies where users build lineups from 120+ pieces across 22 races and 13 classes, emphasizing positioning and synergy activation during auto-battles.^[31] The game supports global competitive events, such as seasonal passes and holiday tournaments, to foster community engagement.^[52] Over time, Auto Chess evolved by incorporating hero talents—upgradable abilities unique to star-leveled pieces—that allow for deeper customization, alongside balance updates to races and classes.^[53] All major titles trace their origins to the 2019 Dota 2 modding community.^[49]

Indie and Variant Games

Independent developers have contributed significantly to the auto battler genre by introducing accessible, free-to-play titles and experimental mechanics that emphasize simplicity and creativity over high-production values. Super Auto Pets, developed by Team Wood Games and released in 2021, is a free browser and mobile game featuring teams of animal units with basic synergies, allowing players to build squads at their own pace without any core monetization, though optional cosmetic packs were added later.^[54]^[55] Other indies blend auto battler elements with roguelike progression and resource management. Despot's Game, created by Konfa Games in 2021 and published by tinyBuild, combines autobattling with dungeon crawling, where players guide squads of class-based human mutants through procedural levels, sacrificing units to optimize tactics in fast-paced encounters.^[56]^[57] Mechabellum, developed by Game River and entering early access in 2023 before a full release in 2024 with Paradox Interactive and Dreamhaven, hybridizes the genre with real-time strategy by letting players purchase and deploy mechs on a grid for turn-based tactical battles emphasizing adaptation and outmaneuvering opponents.^[58]^[59] Recent indie releases from 2023 to 2025 further diversify the genre through unique resource and management twists. Overlooting, released in 2025 by Posing Possums, is an inventory-focused roguelite autobattler where players hoard loot, combine equipment pieces to trigger synergies, and adapt builds via a variable skill tree to overcome procedurally generated challenges.^[60] Backpack Brawl, launched in 2024 by Rapidfire Games for mobile platforms, centers on backpack-based item fusion mechanics, enabling players to craft powerful artifacts from scavenged gear for auto-battles in a medieval fantasy setting.^[61] Gladiator Guild Manager, developed by Entertainment Forge and released in early access in October 2021 with full release in June 2024, incorporates management simulation by having players recruit, train, and tactically position gladiators in arena fights, balancing guild expansion with strategic team composition.^[62] Variants incorporating blockchain and NFT elements represent another indie evolution, merging creature collection with auto battles for decentralized ownership. Illuvium, developed by Illuvium Labs since 2022 with ongoing updates through 2025, features Illuvium: Arena as its core autobattler mode, where players assemble NFT-based Illuvials for PvP and PvE matches on the Ethereum blockchain, emphasizing team synergies and economic incentives through staking and trading.^[63]^[64]

Reception and Impact

Critical and Community Reception

Auto battlers have been praised by critics for offering strategic depth through unit synergies, positioning, and economy management without requiring real-time micromanagement during combats, allowing players to focus on high-level decision-making.^[65] This hands-off battle system has been highlighted as a key strength, enabling accessible gameplay for casual audiences while rewarding tactical planning in competitive settings.^[1] For instance, Riot Games' Teamfight Tactics (TFT), a flagship title in the genre, received a Metacritic score of 79/100 from critics, lauded for its addictive blend of strategy and quick adaptation in multiplayer matches.^[66] Despite these positives, the genre has faced criticisms for repetitiveness in extended sessions, where repeated rounds of unit recruitment and auto-combats can lead to predictable patterns and player fatigue, particularly in free-to-play implementations with grinding elements.^[67] Pay-to-win perceptions have also been a common complaint, with aggressive microtransactions in titles like The Bazaar accused of giving paying players unfair advantages through accelerated progression or exclusive items, alienating free-to-play users.^[68] Balance issues in shared unit pools have drawn further scrutiny, as random distribution and overpowered synergies can undermine skill-based outcomes, prompting developers to employ optimization frameworks for card and lineup tuning.^[69] Community engagement peaked during the genre's 2019 boom, with Teamfight Tactics achieving over 358,000 concurrent Twitch viewers at its height, reflecting widespread excitement for the emerging format.^[70] By 2025, dedicated forums like the r/TeamfightTactics subreddit maintained around 344,000 members, alongside active Discord communities, indicating sustained but more specialized interest.^[71] Initial hype in 2019 positioned auto battlers as a revolutionary strategy subgenre, drawing massive audiences through accessible multiplayer innovation.^[72] However, by 2022, reception shifted toward niche appeal as core titles like Dota Underlords faded, with players citing formulaic gameplay and market saturation.^[67] Indie developments from 2023 to 2025, such as Backpack Battles and Mechabellum, have revitalized interest by introducing fresh mechanics like inventory-based synergies and asynchronous PvP, expanding the genre's scope beyond traditional MOBAs.^[73]

Cultural Influence and Esports

The auto battler genre has significantly influenced the gaming industry by inspiring integrations and spin-offs within established titles, particularly in multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) ecosystems. Teamfight Tactics (TFT), developed by Riot Games, was seamlessly integrated into the League of Legends client upon its launch in 2019, allowing players to access the mode directly without separate downloads and broadening its reach to the existing player base of over 100 million monthly active users.^[46] This model encouraged similar auto-battler implementations, such as Hearthstone Battlegrounds, which Blizzard Entertainment introduced as a permanent mode within the digital collectible card game Hearthstone in 2019, leveraging the game's established community for rapid adoption. These integrations demonstrated how auto battlers could enhance retention in larger franchises by offering asynchronous, strategy-focused gameplay alongside core modes. Culturally, auto battlers have permeated gaming communities through viral discussions on streaming platforms and social media, fostering debates on optimal strategies like resource management versus unit acquisition. High-profile streams on Twitch and YouTube, often featuring professional players and content creators, amplified these conversations, turning gameplay decisions into shareable moments that resonated beyond dedicated fans. Mobile adaptations have further accelerated this spread, particularly in Asia, where titles like Auto Chess gained traction on platforms such as Android and iOS, contributing to the region's dominance in mobile esports viewership, which accounted for over 50% of global hours watched in 2023. This accessibility drove broader cultural adoption, with Asian markets like China and Southeast Asia leading to localized events that influenced international trends.^[74] The genre's esports scene has evolved into a structured competitive landscape, highlighted by Riot Games' Teamfight Tactics World Championship, held annually since 2020 with escalating prize pools that exceeded $200,000 by 2025, culminating in events like the Esports World Cup offering $500,000.^[75] Regional leagues have supported this growth, such as those organized for Hearthstone Battlegrounds through Blizzard's Battlegrounds Tournaments series, which include qualifiers across North America, Europe, and Asia to feed into global finals. In 2025, Hearthstone esports saw a revival with expanded events and qualification paths.^[76] Indie titles have also carved out niches, with Super Auto Pets hosting community-driven tournaments like the Full Belly Laughs Competitive Series and National Student Esports Community Cups, attracting hundreds of participants and prizes up to $300 since 2022.^[77]^[78] In terms of legacy, auto battlers have reshaped strategy gaming by emphasizing spectator-friendly formats that prioritize clear visual storytelling and predictable turn-based clashes, making them ideal for live broadcasts and increasing average viewership by 30% in esports titles post-2019 compared to traditional strategy games. This shift has deepened crossovers with streaming culture, where platforms like Twitch saw auto battler streams surge during the 2019 boom, blending player agency with communal hype and influencing hybrid content creation in broader gaming media.^[79] Recent events like the Into the Arcane Tactician's Crown in 2025, with a $470,000 prize pool, underscore ongoing growth in competitive auto battlers.^[80]

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What is Dota Auto Chess: a beginner's guide - Polygon
May 3, 2019 · Units move around the field differently. Assassins jump into the back line, ranged units attack from afar, and melee units hop toward enemies.Dota Auto Chess Beginners... · Auto Chess Basics · Buying Units
[12]
Step By Step Beginner Guide to Teamfight Tactics (TFT) Mobalytics
Aug 7, 2025 · In this Teamfight Tactics guide for an absolute beginner, we cover the basics of playing your first TFT match and all major game concepts.
[13]
https://newzoo.com/resources/blog/auto-chess-deep-dive-the-new-subgenre-solidifies-its-position-in-the-games-market-attracting-players-and-viewers-alike
[14]
Dota Auto Chess guide: How to play and win - PC Gamer
Feb 7, 2019 · Dota Auto Chess is complicated fun—here's a guide to getting started, combos, and early through late-game tactics.
[15]
Teamfight Tactics guide: Strategies for how to play ... - Eurogamer
Jan 12, 2021 · This Teamfight Tactics guide will explain both the basics and complexities of Teamfight Tactics - from early to late game strategies, as well as delve in deep ...
[16]
How Long Does a Typical TFT Game Last? - Turboboost
Jan 20, 2025 · A typical game lasts about 30 minutes. It includes player vs player battles and rounds against AI. This length makes games intense and strategic.
[17]
https://www.polygon.com/2019/6/27/18759592/auto-battler-teamfight-tactics-underlords-dota-2-auto-chess-differences
[18]
Auto Chess Mod Boosts Dota 2's Core PC Player Base by 23% in ...
Apr 1, 2019 · In this article, we will use data from our Game Streaming Tracker and PC Game Tracker to learn more about Dota Auto Chess' performance so far, ...
[19]
A Guide To Auto Chess, 2019's Most Popular New Game Genre
Jun 25, 2019 · It began with Dota Auto Chess, a Dota 2 mod that came out on January 3. Less than two weeks later, it was one of the single most popular games ...
[20]
Dota Auto Chess player count tops eight million - PCGamesN
Apr 30, 2019 · Dota Auto Chess now boasts more than eight million subscribers, on top of a concurrent player count that would make it one of Steam's most-played games in its ...Missing: May | Show results with:May
[21]
Auto Chess: The custom game mod taking over Dota 2 & Twitch
Feb 5, 2019 · DOTA Auto Chess (DAC) is a custom mod developed within DOTA 2's Arcade system, however, it has very little to do with DOTA or Chess itself.
[22]
Custom games constantly crashing since update :: Dota 2 General ...
Jun 9, 2019 · Why are valve not doing anything more then 24 hours and auto chess is still loosing server connections for EVERYONE? wheres the support?
[23]
Auto Chess proves again that it's modders who know what we really ...
Jul 8, 2019 · Just like Blizzard - but rather more timely - Valve has moved to keep Auto Chess players in the family with an official version called Dota ...
[24]
Dota 2 Announces Auto Chess Game, Dota Underlords - IGN
Jun 13, 2019 · A new game from Dota 2 called Dota Underlords has been announced, which is a standalone game of Auto Chess, inspired by the Dota 2 custom mod by Drodo Studio.
[25]
Dota Underlords' player count tops 200,000 in its opening weekend
Jun 24, 2019 · June 23, 2019 Dota Underlords has now surpassed 200,000 concurrent players. Dota Underlords has got off to a flying start.
[26]
Auto Chess - Apps on Google Play
Rating 4.3 (229,754) · Free · AndroidThe Dota Auto Chess, which has been sweeping over the world since 2019, released its indie game! Auto Chess, introduced by Drodo Studio and Dragonest Co.Ltd ...Missing: April | Show results with:April
[27]
Auto Chess became the first mobile autobattler to earn more than $1 ...
Aug 5, 2019 · The custom Dota Auto Chess mod has returned a quarter of the audience to Dota 2. Now they will make a mobile game out of itRound table: Why ...Missing: battler | Show results with:battler
[28]
Introducing Hearthstone Battlegrounds - Blizzard Entertainment
Nov 1, 2019 · Battlegrounds will go live at 10 a.m. PDT on November 5 for a week of Early Access where only players who have acquired the Descent of Dragons ...
[29]
Riot Games' Teamfight Tactics is live in North America - Polygon
Jun 26, 2019 · Riot will release its take on Auto Chess, Teamfight Tactics, on its servers for all players Wednesday as part of League of Legends next patch. ...
[30]
2019 started as the year of the autobattler. But did it end that way too?
Dec 29, 2019 · By the end of March 2019, closing in on three months since it was released, Dota Auto Chess had been downloaded over seven million times. Drodo ...
[31]
About Mods: Dota 2 Auto Chess. It's 2003. Warcraft III - NYC - Medium
Mar 8, 2019 · A few months prior, a custom game mod for Warcraft III called Defense of the Ancients (or DotA) was released.
[32]
https://app2top.com/money/auto-chess-became-the-first-mobile-autobattler-to-earn-more-than-1-million-146582.html
[33]
Steam Workshop::DOTA AUTO CHESS
Jan 3, 2019 · You can pick dota heros as your chesses and they will automatically fight for you on a 8*8 chessboard. ○ A guide '?' on topleft is for beginners ...Change Notes · Comments · Discussions
[34]
Dota Auto Chess: Synergies - Gamepressure.com
Feb 1, 2019 · Synergies in Dota Auto Chess are special passive and active skills that the heroes receive if they are in one army with other heroes of the same class or race.
[35]
'Auto Chess' is going back to its roots with a MOBA spinoff - Engadget
Jan 19, 2021 · Developer Drodo Studio released the Dota Auto Chess mod in January 2019 before creating a renamed standalone version later that year. Its ...
[36]
Dota 2 cutom map "Dota Auto Chess" has over 100k ... - ResetEra
Jan 13, 2019 · A @DOTA2 custom game built by Drodo Studio (a group of Chinese developers) that broke 100k concurrent users earlier today and has over 672k ...<|control11|><|separator|>
[37]
Dota Underlords is a streamlined Auto Chess with some nice tweaks
Jun 19, 2019 · Dota Underlords, Valve's standalone Auto Chess game and the heir to mod Dota Auto Chess, is in closed beta for those who have a Dota 2 battle pass.
[38]
Genre-Defining Video Games That Started As Mods - Nerdist
Sep 3, 2020 · Just as Warcraft III mods created a new genre with Dota, Dota 2 mods created a new genre as well. Dota Auto Chess looks something like the ...
[39]
Teamfight Tactics
Be there! HOW TO PLAY TEAMFIGHT TACTICS. Learn to play Teamfight Tactics in ... How to Play Teamfight Tactics - By Nero Wolf. Teamfight Tactics. Search.Teamfight Tactics Download · News · Team Up for Double Up!
[40]
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1613886175
[41]
Patch Schedule - Teamfight Tactics Support - Riot Games
Oct 14, 2025 · Below is our planned patch schedule for TFT for 2025. Patches release on a Wednesday (PT) unless otherwise indicated.
[42]
Dota Underlords on Steam
Rating 4.5 (33,449) · 14-day returnsJun 20, 2019 · Franchise: Dota. Release Date: Jun 20, 2019. Early Access Release Date: Jun 20, 2019. READ MORE. Is this game relevant to you? Sign in to see ...
[43]
33.6.2 Patch Notes — Hearthstone - Blizzard News
Oct 9, 2025 · This patch also brings Anomalies back to the game! There are six brand-new Anomalies that interact with the Buddy system in different ways. In ...Battlegrounds Updates · Minion And Spell Updates · Buddy ChangesMissing: 2022-2025 | Show results with:2022-2025
[44]
Auto Chess | Download and Play for Free - Epic Games Store
In stock 14-day returnsDeveloper. Dragonest Games. Publisher. Dragonest Games. Release Date. 08/23/19. Initial Release. 04/17/19. Platform. Windows. See All Editions and Add-Ons.<|separator|>
[45]
Auto Chess—Official website - Dragonest
Nov 3, 2020 · 1. Season 9 will start on December 21st 2. New Race Chess Player: The Sheriff 3. Chess Player in the Senior Pass: Reindeer Girl
[46]
Auto Chess on Steam
Rating 3.0 (876) · 14-day returnsRelease Date: Dec 7, 2022. READ MORE. Is this game relevant to you? Sign in to ... The Dota Auto Chess, which has been sweeping over the world since 2019, ...
[47]
Super Auto Pets
A chill auto-battler.Missing: 2021 | Show results with:2021
[48]
Super Auto Pets on Steam
Rating 9/10 (24,478) Sep 24, 2021 · Build a team of cute pets with unique abilities. Battle against other players. Everything is at your own pace in this chill free-to-play auto ...
[49]
Despot's Game: The Dystopian Army Builder Official Site
Rogue-like tactics with turbo-charged battles. Build a team of puny humans and guide them through Despot's Game.
[50]
Save 75% on Despot's Game - Dystopian Battle Simulator - Steam
In stock Rating 4.5 (1,251) Guide puny humans through Despot's Game - a rogue-like tactics army battler. Equip your team and sacrifice them through procedural dungeons as you fight ...
[51]
Mechabellum on Steam
Rating 4.5 (8,885) · 14-day returnsMechabellum is an infinitely replayable, turn-based tactical auto battler in which you gain victory by adapting your strategy and outhinking your opponents.Auto Battler · Mechabellum: Premium Edition · Dreamhaven · Out Of Hands
[52]
Dreamhaven and Game River Team Up for Mechabellum
Mar 25, 2025 · Standard and Premium Edition available now; free-play weekend coming April 4!
[53]
Overlooting on Steam
Rating 4.5 (1,027) · 14-day returnsReleased. Sep 1, 2025 ; OS: Windows 10 or newer ; Processor: Intel Core i3-3220 ; Memory: 2 GB RAM ; Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT 730 or AMD Radeon R7 240
[54]
https://teamwoodgames.com/
[55]
Save 67% on Gladiator Guild Manager on Steam
Rating 4.5 (1,492) · 14-day returnsGladiator Guild Manager is a strategic autobattler sim where you build a team of gladiators, compete in arenas, plan fight tactics, and form alliances.Missing: 2023 | Show results with:2023
[56]
Illuvium
Illuvium is a franchise of interconnected games developed by Illuvium Labs. Each title (including Illuvium: Arena, Illuvium: Overworld, Illuvium: Zero, ...Illuvium Labs Contributors · Staking · Zero · Fuel PurchaseMissing: 2022-2025 | Show results with:2022-2025
[57]
Illuvium | Download and Play for Free - Epic Games Store
Nov 28, 2023 · Master the Auto-Battler. Outplay the Competition! Step into a competitive, strategic battleground where mastering team composition, adapting to ...
[58]
AutoChess Hero (Early Access) Review: An auto-battler that reminds ...
Sep 22, 2025 · Hook: Easy to understand, depth strategies, tons of combos and synergies, some new adjustments added to the well-known auto-battler genre like ...
[59]
Teamfight Tactics Reviews - Metacritic
Teamfight Tactics is an addictive auto-battler that combines strategy and quick thinking into a thrilling experience.TFT: Teamfight Tactics3.8Critic ReviewsTeamfight Tactics detailsTeamfight Tactics user reviews
[60]
Were Auto Battlers The First Video Game Fad? - TheGamer
Jan 2, 2021 · The first auto battler was a mod for Dota created by Drodo Studio in January 2019. By May 2019, the game had over eight million players.
[61]
The Bazaar could be the future of autobattlers, if it stops strangling ...
Mar 14, 2025 · Aggressive monetisation has made the existing community furious—but it also makes the new player experience miserable.
[62]
Lineup Mining and Balance Analysis of Auto Battler
Dec 21, 2020 · In such type of games, players set up their own lineup of characters which combat automatically with other competitors. There are numerous kinds ...<|control11|><|separator|>
[63]
Teamfight Tactics - Twitch statistics, channels & viewers - SullyGnome
Teamfight Tactics viewers, in 2019 ... Peak viewers 358,190 (Wednesday 17th 00:00).
[64]
Teamfight Tactics - Reddit
May 8, 2019 · r/TeamfightTactics: The number one subreddit for all things TeamFight tactics!A new player's review on... · Teamfight Tactics patch 14.1... · New · TFT patch 14.7
[65]
The most viewed Twitch newcomers of 2019 | Esports Charts
Jan 28, 2020 · The genre was started by the Dota 2 mod known as Dota Auto Chess. It became the audience's favorite almost immediately, but not for too long.
[66]
From competitive inventory rearranging with cheese-eating slimes to ...
Jul 4, 2024 · Here's the traditional autobattler experience: in real-time, you compete against 7 other players in a series of rounds where your army gets ...Missing: definition | Show results with:definition
[67]
How E-sports Will Become the Future of Entertainment | BCG
Sep 28, 2023 · Mobile can create new genres promising for esports. For example, the new genre of “auto battler” was created in 2020, with leading IP quickly ...<|separator|>
[68]
Teamfight Tactics World Championship :: Esports Earnings
Sep 3, 2020 · Home » TFT World Championship. Teamfight Tactics World Championship. Prize Money Awarded: $3,741,000.00 From 10 Tournaments. Recorded Date ...
[69]
Competitive Rules for Super Auto Pets Events - Full Belly Laughs
Super Auto Pets (SAP) is a digital auto battler developed by Team Wood Games (TWG). Full Belly Laughs (FBL) is the tournament organizer.
[70]
Super Auto Pets Community Cup | National Student Esports - NSE
Super Auto Pets. Platform. Discord. Day. Wednesday 16th November. Time. 19:00. Format. Four games of Super Auto Pets. Each winner gets a prize! Location. Online ...
[71]
https://subredditstats.com/r/TeamfightTactics