APP STORE AWARDS

iPad Game of the Year

Squad Busters

Multiplayer fun. Party action!

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Archer queens. Hog-riding warriors. Googly-eyed chickens. We loved guiding unlikely battalions to victory in the year’s most inviting multiplayer game.

– App Store Editors

Squad Busters pulls off the rarest of feats: it’s deeply competitive for experienced players, yet instantly fun for beginners. Super-stripped-down controls make it easy for newcomers to join the fray. To attack, simply stop moving!

Strategically evolve your squad from a lone hero to an enemy-busting army.

Featuring familiar characters from Clash Royale, Clash of Clans and other Supercell games, each wild, four-minute brawl has you building tiny armies on the fly. Watching our squads grow bit by bit – a Bandit here, a Barbarian King there – brought the same joy we felt teaming up random action figures as a kid.

The goal might be simple – grab the most gems – but beneath that feel-good fun lies deep, flexible tactics.

You could charge aggressively into the fray, taking out other players with your gang of skeleton-summoning witches, or take a more passive approach, chopping down trees and uprooting carrots to unearth hidden treasure.

Skirting the map’s periphery is yet another option – just dart in to scoop up unclaimed spoils of war. And since you can only attack while standing still, simply moving is risky. Do you flee an imposing foe, knowing you can’t fight back, or do you stand your ground and try to outduel them?

New tactics develop quickly, and the tension ratchets up as the clock ticks down. Few gaming moments are as thrilling as hearing the announcer’s call of 30 seconds remaining – it’s just enough time to zoom from sixth place to first with some late-game heroics.

Granted, you won’t always finish first in Squad Busters. But with battles this frantically fun, you’ll still feel like a winner.

Quick tip

To stay safe in a game’s opening moments, break some bridges! It’ll force pursuers to take the long way around if they really want to fight. Most will give up, leaving you time to pile up coins, gems and characters in peace.

Fun fact

Squad Busters started as a party game. “The idea was to mix all of our Supercell worlds in one single experience for the first time,” says Sergio Castaño, the game’s original creative director. “We were also thinking of ways to combine the drafting with auto-battle in real time – that’s how the original idea of opening chests and building your squad started.”

Meet the creator

Supercell’s App Store blockbusters include Brawl Stars, Clash of Clans and Clash Royale. Since 2010, the Finnish studio has grown from 15 employees to more than 500.