AFK Arena on PC—The Game That Plays Itself
We’ve all been there: wishing we had more time to play our favorite mobile games but, instead, are stuck with the daily grind and obligations. And after a long day of work, all we want to do is rest, relax, and wait until the next day. Some might only have the weekends free to enjoy their favorite activities, while others might not have even that! This is a problem that is further compounded by the fact that games nowadays require a level of commitment that not many of us are willing to invest. Consequently, as we grow up, some of us start to phase out of this wonderful industry, not for lack of interest, but for lack of time to engage with it.
Luckily, the mobile industry always impresses us with new and innovative titles, some of which are even dedicated to those facing this particular predicament. AFK Arena is the newest title of renowned game dev Lilith Games, who is also responsible for other popular games such as Isoland, Soul Hunters, Rise of Kingdoms, and Art of Conquest, among several others. Their most recent game offers awesome automated gameplay, with a system in place that keeps playing for you even while offline. This system is similar to the one in Aurora Legend, which we wrote about a short while ago.
What’s it About?
AFK Arena is an RPG gacha game with, as its name so strongly suggests, a focus on automatic gameplay. It is set in the world of Esperia, a beautiful land full of riches, resources, and natural wonders. However, since its inception, the land has also been plagued by the Hypogeans, an evil force bent on bringing destruction everywhere they tread. However, with the aid of the goddess, the inhabitants of Esperia managed to fend off the evil forces. The goddess, now exhausted, divided the rest of her power into several artifacts. With the goddess gone, the fate of Esperia was now in the hands of its people, who have since acted as its faithful guardians. Now, after many years of peace, evil is rising once again. You must gather your troops and march across the land, fighting against the Hypogeans and bringing back peace to the world.
While the plot of this game is simple and clichéd, the way it’s presented, through high-quality slideshows and small text boxes in some stages, is very cool and is a perfect complement to the game itself. Furthermore, the art style leaves nothing to be desired, involving a combination of western drawing techniques with sprite-based gameplay. The result is an aesthetic reminiscent of the flash games of the early 2000s, but with a more responsive and intuitive UI. The game is a marvel to look at, and its design is one of the main factors as to why we recommend this over other similar titles.
Nevertheless, a game wouldn’t be a game without its gameplay. And in this regard, AFK Arena has a lot to offer.
The Gameplay
AFK Arena is played like a normal RPG with real-time combat. Each fight pits your team against the enemy squad, with both sides attacking automatically. Your characters have two bars that represent their HP and Ultimate Meter. As the fight goes on, your ultimate bar will fill with every attack that your characters unleash. Once full, you can click on their portraits to unleash their ultimate, devastating skills that can turn the tide of battle. You can also use our Keymapping Tool to assign these skills to your mouse or keyboard; read our BlueStacks usage guide for AFK Arena if you wish to learn more about this feature. These skills vary from hero to hero, but usually create effects that can be either very helpful to your team, or very destructive for the opposite squad.
Play AFK Arena on BlueStacks
However, as we mentioned above, this game is meant to be played mostly automatically. In fact, the auto-battle does a great job at clearing stages and defeating enemies, at least for the most part. In this sense, preparation is most important when it comes to succeeding in battle. Your squadron consists of up to 5 heroes arranged in a formation of 2 units in the frontlines and 3 units that stand in the rear.
Formation and positioning are critical not only for defense but also for the offense. AFK Arena offers formation-based combat, which means that your success will rely heavily on your troop arrangement. Some skills affect certain rows that, when the unit is positioned incorrectly, might completely miss their mark. For example, the powerful Mirael can summon a burning phoenix that deals damage to everything in its path. If the unit is positioned in the middle spot of the back row, the flaming bird can hit the entire enemy team. However, if she’s positioned on the sides, it’ll only hit the units in the said side, limiting her usefulness. With that being said, you’ll need to seriously consider your positioning when looking to create optimal teams.
However, your formation is not the only important element in creating a good team since you’ll also need strong, capable fighters to send into the battlefield. In this regard, AFK Arena has around 60 unlockable heroes, which you can obtain from the game’s summoning system. That’s right, this game is also a gacha title. If you enjoy the thrill of a summoning system, and also like to reroll to unlock the very best team right from the beginning, then this game might be right up your alley.
Lastly, one awesome feature of this game is the hero testing system. In the hero gallery, you can choose from any unit—including the ones you haven’t unlocked—to try them out in battle. Through this feature, you can test each and every hero and see which ones would make for a great addition to your team before you even unlock them. This tool is great since it allows you to plan and theorycraft accordingly, and come up with the best compositions for every part of the game from very early on.
AFK Arena has many features in place to keep you entertained for a very long time. It’s gacha summoning system and team formation mechanics, coupled with its auto-battle and AFK grinding systems make for an awesome experience for both casual and hardcore players. Feel free to download it on BlueStacks and to start exploring the lands of Esperia by clicking on the button below!