Total Battle is the busiest game on our shelf. Open the map and there are creatures everywhere: elves, barbarians, undead, beasts and stranger things, all waiting for an army. Under that crowd sits a familiar city builder, but the constant availability of targets that are not other players changes the mood of the whole game.
We played with a clan that cared more about hunting and tournaments than conquest, and that is a perfectly valid way to enjoy Total Battle. The politics are there if you want them, including a race for the throne, but the game never forces you into the fight. Its biggest weakness is the pressure to spend, which is louder here than anywhere else we tested.
A city that feeds a hungry army
Your city is the engine for everything you do on the map. You construct buildings, grow production, defend your walls and run research through an Academy with many branches of technology. None of this reinvents the genre, but it is cleanly presented, and the game is good at telling you which upgrade matters most for the kind of player you are becoming.
Crafting adds a layer we enjoyed. Materials found in crypts feed a blacksmith system where you make and enchant equipment, which gives every expedition a second purpose beyond the immediate reward. Building toward a specific piece of gear turned our quiet sessions into small projects, and that sense of direction kept us returning on evenings when the map was calm.
Captains and a crowded hunting ground
Captains lead your troops and come with their own abilities, some suited to fighting monsters and others to duels with players. Picking the right captain for the job is one of the first real decisions the game asks of you, and it matters more than raw troop numbers when you start taking on tougher creatures.
Crypts are dangerous dungeons on the map that yield rare crafting materials, and clearing them with a well-chosen army is satisfying in a way pure resource gathering never is. Monster hunting is also how a peaceful player keeps up: you grow, gather materials and contribute to clan goals without ever raiding a neighbour, which makes Total Battle a kinder place for newcomers.
Tournaments every day, and a throne on top
The game runs many tournaments every day, rewarding specific activities such as hunting, building or training, and a weekly contest for the throne sits above them. It is a lot, and the sheer number of goals can feel overwhelming in the first week. Once you learn which ones suit your style, they become a handy daily checklist rather than a source of noise.
Politics happen at kingdom level, with a Senate and voting that decide who sits on the throne, and a king can grant titles to players. A teleporter lets players move to another kingdom, and a portal can place your army almost anywhere for an attack. Most of our hours were spent far from these heights, but it was fun to watch them play out.
Quick to start, slow to master, eager to sell
Total Battle is excellent at short sessions. Log in, send captains after a few monsters, collect materials, check the tournament board, and you are done in ten minutes. That is why its Pace of a session score is among our highest. The game is equally comfortable with longer evenings, especially when clan hunts or kingdom events are under way.
The weak spot is the shop. Offers appear often and loudly, and the strongest accounts are clearly supported by spending. Free players can still enjoy the hunting and contribute to their clan, but the competitive tournaments are hard to place in without investment. We scored Free-player footing lowest here, and we would rather say so than pretend otherwise.
Total Battle: the first week at court
- Follow the starting quests to build the core of your city quickly, then upgrade the Academy before anything decorative.
- Hunt small monsters near your city to learn how captains and troop types interact before tackling tougher creatures.
- Pick one or two tournaments that match your play style each day instead of chasing every board at once.
- Clear easy crypts with a balanced army and save crafting materials for one useful piece of gear.
- Join a clan that hunts together and ask how its members coordinate kingdom events and the weekly throne contest.
What we love
- A map crowded with monsters gives peaceful players a full game to play.
- Crypts and crafting turn quiet evenings into small, satisfying projects.
- Short sessions work very well, and the tournament board gives each one a goal.
- Kingdom politics and the throne contest add drama for those who want it.
What grates
- The shop pressure is the loudest of any game on our shelf.
- Dozens of daily tournaments feel overwhelming until you learn to ignore most.
- Competitive standings lean heavily toward accounts that spend.
The jarl Total Battle rewards
Total Battle is ideal if you would rather hunt monsters and chase daily goals than raid neighbours. Short sessions suit it well, and a hunting clan makes it friendlier still. Players allergic to frequent shop offers should look further up our list.
Total Battle: the saga's end
Total Battle is lively, flexible and generous with things to do, especially for players who prefer monsters to rivals. Captains, crypts and crafting give it a distinct texture, and short sessions work beautifully. The aggressive monetization drags it down our ranking, but as a busy, sociable kingdom with something to hunt every day, it is easy to recommend.
