You’ve probably started hearing a lot about Auto Chess games recently, as they’ve skyrocketed in popularity for their ease of access and absolutely tons of fun. Unfortunately, being a pretty new genre, there’s a lot of confusion out there on what it is exactly, how to play it, and what’s the best Auto Chess game to play. You yourself might have seen popular streamers and YouTubers playing it recently, and want to get in on the action.
Thankfully, it’s one of those games that is easy to get into but requires a lot to master, and there are lots of options to pick when first getting started. You don’t even need the best gaming PC out there to get started, and there’s even an option to play on mobile if you prefer!
What is Auto Chess?
The premise of Auto Chess games is relatively simple; you and an opponent are given a chess-like board where you can place your units before each round starts. Once the round begins, the battle resolves itself automatically, with both your units fighting it out. That’s why you might also see auto-chess games referred to as auto-battlers.
All Auto Chess matches are held with 10 different players, and who each person fights is chosen at random. Whenever a player loses a match, they lose points from their health bar, and when that reaches zero, their units are taken out of the game. The last person alive wins!
There are also a few different quirks depending on the auto chess game, mostly revolving around items that you can collect. For the most part, every x number of rounds (usually either 3 or 5) the player fights against NPCs, with a win giving them a choice of different items they can equip.
#1 Dota Auto Chess
The game that started it all, Dota Auto Chess was created as a mod to Valve’s popular Dota 2 MOBA. If you don’t know much about Dota, that’s ok, just know that it’s based off Warcraft III, one of the best RTS games out there. Actually, the development of the game is pretty interesting, so check out this Dota Auto Chess interview with Drodo Studio, the makers of the game.
As is the case with genre-defining games, Dota Auto Chess established the mechanics and rules for the auto chess genre.
Of course, there’s a ton of complexity here, with a range of 63 units in Dota Auto Chess, all offering different attacks and defenses. There’s also a whopping 51 different items you can pick up and add to your units which can help tip the balance in your favor. Balancing is relatively good, all things considered, so it’s still a ton of fun to play.
If you manage to place in the top 3, you get candy, an in-game currency, which then allows you to purchase cosmetics for the courier.
The community is still pretty active, and the game does get updates, even though the original makers have moved on to their own thing. It’s also considered one of the best Auto Chess games, even with all the other competitors out. That being said, it’s certainly worth checking out the competition.
#2 Dota Underlords
As you’d expect from any major company, Valve decided to get into the genre as well, and with a blessing from Drodo, the makers of Dota Auto Chess, they created their own version of the game; Dota Underlords.
One big positive of Valve’s entry is that it doesn’t require you to download Dota 2 and install a mod. Instead, you can just download it directly from steam for free. You can also get it on iOS and Android if you’d prefer to go the mobile route.
Probably the biggest one is that you can play the game against bots, which means you can also play the game offline. This is great if you want to learn how to play auto chess games without dealing with the active PvP part of the genre. It’s also somewhat easier to learn, as there are only 60 units and no item combinations for you to figure out and strategize around.
That being said, it’s not a shallow game by any means, at least not so much that it doesn’t offer a strategic challenge. There are also many more items in this game, and there’s an additional ‘alliance’ mechanic bonus for items that acts as a sort of affinity when paired with certain units. You also get to pick between three items whenever you win an NPC battle, instead of the random drops in Dota Auto Chess, which means you’re much less beholden to RNG.
All in all, Underloards is probably the auto chess game to go for if you’re a new player and you want to get into the genre.
#3 Teamfight Tactics
You probably wouldn’t be surprised to hear that Riot Games also decided to throw their hat into the ring of Auto Chess games. Drawing from their huge list of champions from League of Legends, Teamfight Tactics brings in 49 champions in 10 different classes to play around with. There are also 44 different items you can pick from, with an additional interesting little twist to the Auto Chess formula.
You see, a new ‘draft round’ has been added to the game, before the first round and after every three rounds, which allows you to pick a champion with a preselected item. This can help establish a specific strategy earlier on, with the added chance of grabbing a champion you’ve been looking for to complete your strategy. For the most part, this addition is similar to the item choice in Underlords, in that it helps avoid an overreliance on RNG.
Interestingly enough, Teamfight Tactics uses a hex grid, rather than a square one, although I’m not sure that it offers any major changes to the actual mechanics. That being said, it does an extra layer of strategy when considering what units you want to put next to each other, as well as the overall placement on the grid.
Unlike Underlords, Teamfight Tactics comes as part of the LoL game, so you’ll have to download that here to play it. Of course, if you prefer mobile, it’s also available on iOS and Android.
#4 Chess Rush
Originally I was between adding Auto Chess: Origin and Chess Rush, simply because they’re both pretty similar, but I ended up going with Chess Rush because it has a higher production value. Made by Tencent, the Chinese conglomerate, they have deep pockets to draw from, so the game is really polished.
They’re also working with Drodo Studio on the game, which is also pretty interesting, but I won’t go into video game politics/diplomacy here (also, I have no idea why).
Now, the first thing you should know about Chess Rush is that it’s mobile only, so if you’re a PC-only gamer, then you’re a bit out of luck. In terms of gameplay though, it’s very similar to other Auto Chess games, with the main difference being that it can’t draw from the established lore. That’s not to say that they don’t have anything new to offer, as they’ve added a co-op mode, and are even thinking about adding a 4×4 mode as well.
There is certainly a free-to-play monetization scheme here, but it’s not too intrusive so you don’t have to worry about that, and it’s certainly not pay-to-win.
If Chess Rush looks interesting, you can get it on iOS and Android.
#5 Special Mention: Hearthstone Battlegrounds
Blizzard’s Hearthstone is an interesting entry into the genre since it sorta uses the auto-chess formula, but it doesn’t use a grid. Instead, you can put down up to 10 different units on a line, so there are no tactics revolving around map placement, which is interesting. Also, the game only involves 8 players, rather than the usual 10.
Another interesting difference is that there’s no economy, so there are no purchasing units. Instead, you are giving a selection to choose from, and a certain capacity that you can draw from.
Otherwise, it’s pretty similar to other autobattlers. For example, you can combine units to make a higher-level one, except with Battlegrounds you can only level up once, as opposed to the 2-3 times of other Auto Chess games. Battles are automatically resolved once the round starts, except of course there’s no real movement around the board.
It’s an interesting entry into the genre, and if you’re already a fan of Hearthstone, this is a great game to jump into.How to Play Auto Chess
There are certain key things you need to be aware of whenever you’re playing an Auto Chess game.
For starters, placement on the grid plays a very important part in whether you win a battle or not. You’ll always want to place your tanks and your heavy hitters in the front and to the sides, with your ranged people to the back of the pack. Use the actual map to your advantage for this by placing your units in a corner or against the back of the map. You can also use this offensively by creating gaps where enemy units can jump in and be overwhelmed.
Another thing to keep in mind is how the other person is placing their units, and how your AOE attacks are going to land. Take a look every so often at other people’s maps and fights to get an idea of how they’re distributing their units so you can match or stay ahead of them. While you’re doing that, it’s also a good opportunity to take stock of what units they have, not only to know what you’re up against but to be aware of the units that are still available in the pool.
Sometimes you don’t always have to be winning, especially with games like Underlords where you get coins for losing streaks. Taking a loss so you can win later is a valid strategy, especially if you’re having difficulty building synergies and leveling units up in the mid-game. Therefore, don’t feel bad for pulling a unit or two out if it’s going to ensure the loss.
One of the most important things in Auto Chess games is your economy meaning how much money you have and how much money you make every turn. Make sure to take advantage of win/loss streaks, and if you want to sell off a unit or two in the mid-to-late game because you aren’t finding any more of them, do it. Most importantly, be smart about how you’re spending your coin, nothing hurts more than being offered a unit you can’t possibly buy.
Finally, keep in mind there really is no best Auto Chess game for learning the ropes. Some are easier than others but ultimately it will depend on your playstyle and what you feel most comfortable with.
Top 5 Auto Chess Tips
#1 Combos and Synergies are King
Probably the most important thing you can do for your strategy is to keep on top of your combos and synergies. A level 3 unit can easily be outclassed by a few level 2 units if they have combos and synergies going.
While I don’t have any specific guides for games, especially since each game varies differently and patches can change things, you can’t have a top 5 Auto Chess tips section without this single most important one.
#2 Be Flexible When Picking Your Strategy
Since you have very little choice in what units you can buy, you must be flexible when it comes to your overall strategy. If you go into the game wanting to load up on X unit but never get offered it, then you’ve lost before you’ve even started. Go with the flow as much as possible, and pick-up units as the opportunity arises.
Don’t get stuck in a specific mentality either, there’s no reason you can’t change up your strategy completely in the mid-to-late game.
#3 Stay Up-to-Date on Patch Information
This might seem like a weird tip for playing Auto Chess games, but you really need to be aware of the current meta. The best place for that is looking at patch notes and seeing which units are under or overpowered. This will help you a lot in selecting your units in-game.
Similarly, each patch can add or remove combos and synergies, and there’s nothing worse than building a combo or synergy just to find out that it’s been removed from the game.
Keep yourself informed.
#4 Unit Refreshing? Not As Useful As You Think
A mistake that a lot of players make is to refresh their selection of units often. This is a bad move because not only are you wasting coin, you’re also ignoring the fact that you get new picks between each round. It’s a much better idea to refresh once, maximum twice, before waiting for the next set of picks.
Only spend that coin to refresh more than once or twice when it won’t affect your income in the coming rounds.
#5 You Don’t Always Need to Finish in the Top 3 to Win
The truth is, RNG still plays a large part in Auto Chess games, and you really can’t beat it. While it’s true that some games have tried to account for RNG, it’s still a significant problem. As such, don’t feel bad if you don’t end in the top 3, you might have just had bad luck that match.
Honestly, being 4th place is just as much of a win as being 1st, 2nd, or 3rd.
Final Thoughts
Auto Chess games can be a ton of fun and very frustrating at the same time. They’re a completely new genre, so people are still learning what works best in terms of strategy and meta. Not only that, but developers themselves are still figuring out the kinks and balance while still maintaining the fun of the genre.
Either way, this is a great time to get into Auto Chess games, especially if you’re into autobattlers and deep strategy.