Sophomore Nolan Murray has always been interested in mobile video games. He would play with his friends or by himself to reach his new and improved high score. One of his favorites, Clash Royale, has had a significant impact on his daily schedule.
He would constantly compete against his friends to see who could destroy the most towers. Murray has 5,030 trophies and hundreds of defeats, something he could only obtain by playing Clash Royale for multiple hours a day.
“I would play around 2-3 hours a day,” Murray said. “It would get so intense, I would lose track of time.”
Games like Clash Royale, Baseball 9, Marvel Snap and others have kept people hooked to their phones for hours. Players in the game have become very competitive to achieve number one on the leaderboard.
But gaming statistics aren’t the only thing that can get intense. It’s Nolan’s competitive nature that helps him get to the top, which sometimes leads to the silent treatment or violent crashouts.
“It gets really intense; we would get pretty mad at each other over it.” Murray said. “Sometimes we wouldn’t talk to each other for a solid four hours, and then we get back to where we are.”
From harsh tournaments to long hours, Nolan’s favorite thing about Clash is the character Enraged Knight Killer of Assassins, Mini P.E.K.K.A., a powerful card that unleashes a quick, fast and high-damage attack on your opponent using the phrase, “Pancakes!” It refers to where one troop is placed directly on top of another, causing the first troop to be instantly defeated.
“Mini P.E.K.K.A. is pretty strategic, and it makes me use my brain,” Murray said. “It helps me get smarter and earn more points.”
Baseball 9, another popular mobile game, has been on the rise since its release in 2018. Sophomore Hunter Sharkey has been playing it for years, inviting people like school and baseball friends to play with him. The goal of the game is to develop a baseball team, win championships and improve player stats throughout training and upgrading. The ultimate goal is to dominate all the leagues and achieve the best possible record.
“I’ve been playing it for about six to seven years,” Sharkey said. “I’m not joking, I’ve actually been playing and have a pretty high record.”
Sharkey’s pull to the app came from its popularity, but also Sharkey’s interests. Since Sharkey plays baseball, his instinct was to download the most fun and interactive baseball game there is.
The number of years he has spent in Baseball 9 has helped him master the right techniques and skills needed to win the game, like learning tips and tricks on how to upgrade players and recruit new ones.
“I play it every day for about 30 to 40 minutes when I’m bored and have time,” Sharkey said. “I’d say I’m pretty good at it too, since I’ve had it for so long.”
Sharkey isn’t the only one who enjoys playing the highly interactive game. His friends and some family members enjoy playing as well.
“My dad used to play it, and occasionally does, like on trips,” Sharkey said. “My friends play it as well because most of them play baseball too.”
Whether bored or in the mood, he always finds himself continuing to advance his players, customize their appearance, or improve their athletics in the sport.
“I enjoy it a lot,” Sharkey said, “I like the feeling of winning, knowing that my strategies were the best.”
A more uncommon mobile game is Marvel Snap, one of freshman Will Coleman's most-played games. He would interact by competing against his friends with the fast-paced mobile card game. The objective is to battle opponents in short matches, build a deck of Marvel superheroes, and play them at different locations, attempting to outsmart opponents with secret strategies.
Coleman started playing at 11, when he saw an advertisement on his phone promoting the addictive game, and he hasn’t stopped playing ever since.
“It’s been kind of popular for a long time,” Coleman said. “My friends also had it, so it convinced me even more to download it.”
For a while, it stayed untouched, consuming more and more storage, until it eventually offloaded itself from Coleman’s homepage. However, over the past six months, he saw it again, increasing its popularity, which convinced him to re-download it. Since then, he has stuck with it, playing multiple times a week.
“I noticed my friends playing it, so I decided to re-download it and join in on the fun.” Coleman said.
Since then, he’s won many battles, leading him to the top of the leaderboard in the game. But the only way he would be able to maintain his score is by playing three to four hours a week.
“There’s always more to achieve,” Coleman said. “You always have another thing to try to strive towards.”
Leave a Reply