In April 2021, Supercell announced a huge expansion of its Clash universe with the reveal of three new games: Clash Quest, Clash Mini and Clash Heroes.
It went on to kill Clash Quest in August 2022, and announced that development is ending on Clash Mini in March 2024, though it said the game will live on in some form within Clash Royale.
The last of that trio to survive, Clash Heroes, was rebooted as Project Rise last month, a game Supercell now describes as “social action RPG roguelite”. And the Finnish firm recently invited selected players, creators and industry watchers to take part in a pre-alpha test in an effort to gather feedback.
Naavik consultant Devin Becker was part of that group, and describes Project Rise as “an intriguing blend of Gauntlet-style co-op gameplay with roguelike elements.” But it’s clear the game is still in its early stages, he said. “The core loop shows promise, but several key issues need addressing before it’s ready for prime time”.
“The co-op experience with strangers is currently a mixed bag,” he continues. “The random team matchmaking, while theoretically promoting variety, often leads to frustration. The upgrade drafting system, which pauses gameplay for all players, feels particularly disruptive.”
“This issue is exacerbated by the per-level matchmaking, which can result in players losing their carefully chosen upgrades when teamed with new allies in subsequent levels. The shared lives system, while potentially lucrative from a monetisation standpoint, currently adds to the unpredictability of the experience.”
While of course the game is still in a pre-alpha state, Becker says that the character progression is also in need of a tweak. “The limited ability pool and lack of meaningful upgrades result in a repetitive gameplay loop. While grinding for permanent character upgrades provides some sense of progression, it’s not enough to maintain long-term engagement in its current state.”
There’s also the question of where it fits into the Supercell portfolio. Like Squad Busters, Project Rise leans on familiar characters from the Clash universe, but it also looks similar to another in-development Supercell game, fellow top-down dungeon crawler Mo.co.
Consultant and one part the Two and a Half Gamers crew Matej Lancaric was also part of the pre-alpha test. He says that while on the surface the game looks a lot like Mo.co, Project Rise has “way more features borrowed from extraction games…you are transferring perks from floor to floor which are usable across all the characters.”
Lancaric also suggested that Project Rise shows Supercell once more attempting to condense and simplify popular mechanics from other platforms to make them work on mobile. But the onboarding needs work: “Early gameplay looked quite confusing since there was no tutorial or anything,” he said. “But after I played multiple floors things started to make sense.”
Looking across the Supercell portfolio, Naavik’s Becker says that Mo.co “offers a more polished, consistent MMO-like experience with its unique IP,” and that Mo.co’s “gameplay loop feels more refined and engaging at this stage.”
“The inclusion of Supercell characters in Project Rise is a nice touch, reminiscent of Squad Busters. However, the fantasy setting, while thematically cohesive, limits the potential for crossovers with popular IPs like Brawl Stars or Boom Beach. This could be a missed opportunity for leveraging Supercell’s existing fan base.”
“Both Project Rise and Mo.co may face challenges in the endgame content, given their focus on linear co-op experiences,” Becker continues. “This deviates from Supercell’s traditional strength in PvP content, which has historically provided more sustainable long-term engagement.”
Supercell’s army of creators have also been offering their views on the pre-alpha test. Most were very enthusiastic about the game – as you’d perhaps expect – but YouTuber Chicken Clash (above) was gently critical of the game’s rhythms, combat and controls.
“It didn’t feel like I was doing much with certain characters other than just walking around spamming the attack button, which I think would be a problem,” he said. “The progression was a bit weird, especially the perks. Every so often the screen just stops abruptly and it’s kinda strange…they would just pop up and block the screen.”
“It got kind of exhausting after a little bit,” he added later. “It’s just one level with hordes of enemies and the next level and the next level…I would like to see a hub world where once you complete a level you get the choice to either go to the next level to keep moving or go back to a hub world…it’d be cool if there was an area where you could go to shops and stuff and level up your character – the typical stuff you’d see in an RPG.”
As for what’s next for the game, Lancaric questioned what exactly Supercell learns from these limited-time tests versus a more typical soft launch. “It was quite fun and would definitely play another build if they move forward with this game,” he told us. “What I don’t understand is the Supercell approach with the pre-alpha. What are they measuring? How would they make a decision to continue developing the game? Based on what exactly?”
Naavik’s Becker concludes that there’s a long way to go if Supercell is going to take this game forwards. “In its current state, I’d be surprised to see Project Rise progress to soft launch without significant overhauls,” he told us.
“The game shows potential, but needs substantial refinement in its co-op mechanics, character progression, and overall gameplay loop to meet the high standards set by Supercell’s previous successes. With the right adjustments, however, it could evolve into a compelling addition to the mobile co-op landscape.”
