Riot Games’s Mechs vs. Minions League of Legends Board Game Stirs Up a Storm

News of Riot Games’s Mechs vs. Minions board game based off their League of Legends IP might have been leaked last week, but today’s official announcement has really taken the board game community by storm. I was pretty overwhelmed by all the Youtube videos of folks who’ve gotten a chance to play the game and shared their thoughts on the game. Thankfully for Riot Games, these impressions have been extremely extremely positive.

The main thing that jumped out at me when I saw the leaked pictures was the quality of the all of the components. And of those, it was the minis that stood out most strongly as I found myself dazzled by the paint job and all of the minion poses. I talked to a friend earlier today about Mechs vs. Minions and used Star Wars Imperial Assault as a point of comparison to emphasize just how good the minis looked. From my end, the Imperial Assault minis already look awesome, but Mechs vs. Minions takes it to a whole new level. Surprisingly enough, they managed to work it in a way that they can price this game for $75!

The game itself also looks intriguing since it takes programmable elements (think Roborally), a sense of mechanics continuity between missions (like the Legacy-style games), and variable character powers and throws it all into a cooperative board game where your mission is to kill all of the hostile minions on the board. You can also choose to build up your mechs in whatever way you wish, as long as you do it within the allotted time.

What Mechs vs. Minions will have to win me over on is its mission-based structure. According to the Mechs vs. Minions website, the game features 10 missions that are slated to take somewhere between 60-90 minutes. There’s a chance that some missions will require replaying because of how hard they can be, but what I’m hoping for is that the game will offer a good amount of replayability. Granted, I can see there being some replayability in the way you build up your mechs or the choice of mechs that you use in the battles, so hopefully, there’s enough variability to keep things interesting.

As for the League of Legends IP, that’s not too big of a deal for me. I did play the game for a span of 3 months (mostly as a Caitlyn player who enjoyed harassing people with range just a bit too much), but I never delved into the lore or anything of that sort. Yordle characters like Tristana, Corki, Heimerdinger, and Ziggs, all of which are featured in Mechs vs. Minions, don’t provoke much of a reaction from me (aside from Teemo) but I know other people seem to enjoy them and their personalities fit in with what’s going on in this game.

So although I am excited about the component quality and I’m looking forward to giving it a shot at some point, it’s not a must-buy…. yet. The reviews are making it awfully tempting though and if the game manages to keep people engaged, I might just have to add this to my Christmas list. For those who are looking to buy, the game goes on sale in the Riot Games Merch Store starting on October 13, 2016.