League's best mechanics (Design)

League of Legends is easily my most played video game. I started playing it back in high school when a few friends got me hooked. And while I don't play it nearly as much anymore, I still follow the general balance changes and pro scene.

That being said, I've never thought and wondered why League resonated with me. For the biggest PC game on the planet, it doesn't have any super obvious strengths that set it apart from other games on the market. In fact, League has a few glaring negatives that are consistently brought up when the game's player base starts to dip.

1. League's infamously toxic player base.

2. The importance of a competent team can be frustrating for lots of players.

3. The League client is notoriously slow and clunky.

And yet, for almost a decade now, League consistently finds itself at the top of the revenue, player count, and viewership leaderboards. Riot must be doing something right, and this week I want to isolate a few things that come to mind.

Before I do, I want to note that a game as successful as League would never be where it is today if the game wasn't inherently fun at its core. It's built on an inherently diverse platform from match to match, and the basic gameplay simply feels good. If that strong base wasn't there, none of the things I'm about to mention would matter at all.

Gangplank's barrels

For years after his initial release back in 2009, Gangplank was an extremely weak champion. He was hardly picked by anyone other than his "mains" (players who identify themselves as "Gangplank" players), and most people would assume you weren't even trying to win if you chose him in a match.

So in 2015, Riot "reworked" Gangplank. They changed his abilities, his 3D model, and his artwork. Today, Gangplank is one of the most skill-expressive champions in the game and is a hotly contested pick in both casual and professional play.

One of the most successful changes to his kit was his new "barrel" mechanic. Here's the basic rundown of the ability.

Gangplank standing next to two of his barrels

1. Gangplank can store up to three barrels, which he can place on the ground.

2. When placed, barrels slowly lose health over time until they are a single hit from death.

3. Gangplank can detonate the barrel to cause a damaging explosion in a small area around the barrel. Enemies can attack the barrels to destroy them without causing the explosion.

4. When Gangplank detonates a barrel, the explosion spreads to nearby barrels, causing a chain reaction.

The barrels have a lot more small interactions with the rest of his abilities, but hopefully that gives you a pretty good idea of how they work. Here's an example of the "chaining" effect in action.

This ability works extremely well for a couple reasons. First, it gives Gangplank players a clear goal to work toward. Hitting a huge barrel combo on the entire enemy team can swing the course of a fight, and the visual and auditory cues that come with the ability give you a sense of "oomph" and impact.

Second, it gives clear counterplay to the enemy. For one, the explosion radius of the barrels is extremely clear (the small circle around each barrel). It's very easy for enemies to tell when they're in the strike zone and when they're not, which is important for the game to feel fair. Additionally, enemies are able to kill the barrels themselves and suffer no damage. It comes down to a split-second game of timing (who can kill the barrel first) that happens dozens of times throughout the game. It's a genius mechanic that feels fair for both sides.

Flash

In League of Legends, players are able to choose two "summoner spells" when they enter a game. From the ten or so available, players almost always pick "Flash" as one of their two options.

The icon for Flash

Flash is extremely simple: it instantaneously teleports your character a short distance. It has an extremely long cooldown (five minutes in the standard mode), and yet is one of the most powerful tools in the entire game.

Flash is a great example of stellar game design for many reasons:

1. It levels the playing field. Each of the 150 champions in the game has completely different abilities, but you can basically guarantee that everyone in the game will have Flash. Now, characters without strong movement abilities are able to keep up with other more movement-centric characters if they utilize their Flash correctly.

2. It's exciting. Flash makes a resounding sound when you activate it, and the potential for exciting gameplay (like dodging enemy abilities) is through the roof. Some of the most exciting highlights in League history only happened because the player had Flash ready during the play.

3. It adds split-second decision making. Because of Flash's hefty cooldown, you can't just use it every time it's available. Thus, players have to be constantly calculating the pros and cons of using flash in a certain moment. "Is this situation worth flashing for?"

However, recently Riot has been changing the game in small ways that affects Flash. For example, certain items might give you shorter cooldowns on your summoner spells, which decreases the cooldown of Flash. I'm not a huge fan of this, because I think one of the best parts about Flash is its uniformity: you can predict exactly when the opponent's Flash will be available if you time it right.

Flash being used in game

That being said, I think Flash is a great example of a simple mechanic that has almost completely changed the game for the better.

Gnar's rage bar

Gnar was released back in 2014, and while his popularity and win rate (a common data point used to gauge a champion's overall strength) have waxed and waned over the years, it has never been because he was poorly designed.

Gnar's has a fairly simple, but unique mechanic. A rage bar.

1. Gnar starts the game as small, relatively weak champion.

2. As he attacks and takes damage, his "rage" grows (up to 100).

3. At 100 rage, Gnar can transform into "Mega Gnar", giving him new abilities, a bunch of health, and access to a game changing ultimate ability that can turn the tide of the fight.

4. After about 30 seconds, Gnar transforms back into "Mini Gnar" to start the cycle again.

Gnar's "splash art" in game. I absolutely adore this picture. You can see the cute "Mini Gnar" in the foreground, with clues scattered around the scene that suggest you aren't quite seeing the whole story.

In a very similar sense to Gangplank's barrels, Gnar's rage bar works well for two reasons: something to work towards and clear counterplay.

From the moment you enter the game as Gnar, you are dreaming of hitting the "perfect ultimate". Gnar's ultimate ability is able to stun and damage the entire enemy team if used correctly. This gives the player a clear goal to reach for, which is especially important to have when players are first picking up a champion.

This clip probably won't make sense unless you've played or watched a lot of League, but it's an example of Gnar's ultimate (the character labeled TSM Hauntzer on the right side of the screen) hitting the entire enemy team against a wall.

Additionally, Gnar being in "Mini Gnar" mode for most of the game gives clear counterplay to the opponents. Gnar is significantly weaker when he's in his miniature mode, which gives enemies clear windows of opportunity to attack. However, if they don't kill Gnar fast enough, he can completely swing the tide of the fight.

Gnar gaining health when he turns into Mega Gnar also adds a small fun mechanic to the game. Gnar players are able to relax at relatively low health when they are close to filling their rage bar, knowing they are able to gain the health whenever they want. However, if enemies are quick enough to kill Gnar before he transforms, they can easily punish a somewhat "greedy" game plan.

Conclusion

League is an incredibly complex game with hundreds of possible interactions between champions in any given match. This means that it can be hard to isolate mechanics as "good" or "bad" as it is possible that a champion's design strengths might come entirely from their environments.

However, I think there are a few pretty clear takeaways from the examples shown:

1. Clear strengths for abilities are important. Gangplank and Gnar both having things to "aspire" to makes them significantly more fun to play.

2. Mechanics don't need to be complex to be interesting. Flash creates some of the most exciting moments in League while being one of the most simple abilities in the game.

3. Clear counterplay is important. What's great about Gnar and Gangplank is that they don't feel oppressive to play against. The enemy knows what they need to do to stop them, which leaves the game feeling fair and fun for both sides.

4. Abilities looking and sounding impactful is important. Part of the reason why these mechanics "feel" so good is because they have satisfying accompanying visual and audial effects. Matching the relative strength of an ability with its sensory impact keeps players' attention centered on the most important aspects of the game.