Most games either engage the player’s physical assertions and neural coordination, while some other strategy games simply exercise your mental acumen. DOTA Underlords is designed to stretch your mind with a very limited need for physical assertion. Released in early 2020 by Valve, DOTA UNDERLORDS was designed as an improvement to the predecessor mod: the DOTA 2 Auto Chess. The DOTA 2 Auto Chess, which was a total craze when it was released in January 2019, was based off on the DOTA 2, which was also a sequel to DOTA. DOTA, meaning Defense of the Ancients (DOTA), was a community-created modification of the Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos. This goes to show that the game, DOTA UNDERLORDS comes from a great line of ancestry, it is an improvement of an improvement, based on an improvement. DOTA is built as an amalgam of the Auto Chess and DOTA 2.

Quite unlike its predecessors, DOTA is reasonably easy and straightforward. DOTA Underlords is multi online Battle Arena (MOBA) auto-battle strategy game, based on the chess 8 x 8 grid-shaped battlefield. The concept of the game is pretty simple. You are given a variety of game characters, called heroes, with different powers and abilities. You are expected to choose from these set of heroes in building your team of heroes for your battle against seven other people for several rounds. As a gamer, you have little influence on the fighting, as the heroes battle automatically. The goal, however, is for you to be the last man standing.

If you have ever played the auto-battle craze, DOTA 2, you will find the heroes in this game very familiar since the mod done in the Underlords doesn’t alter the heroes. Just as in DOTA 2 also, the heroes try to kill each other as fast as they can within the time lapse given. While all of this unfolds, all you can do is hope your strategy works. Literally, the man with the best strategy wins.

As earlier mentioned, in each match, there are eight online players who take turns fighting against one another in a free for all. The heroes come in five tiers which have to be bought. Underlords contain no in-game purchases, so the heroes would be purchased using the in-game gold. Gold is accumulated by playing. For each round, regardless of the outcome, you earn five gold, a win earns you one gold, a winning or losing streak also earns you gold. It gets more interesting because gold can also be accumulated through interest. The game offers a 10 percent interest on every ten gold you get. It is with this accumulated gold that you use to purchase heroes. The better the heroes, the more expensive they are. But in this game, team strategy is almost as important as money.

The beauty of this game also comes from the fact that it is very engrossing. The mere fact that it is automated doesn’t take away the thrill of the action. Faster than you can say “Jack Robinson,” you will start to acclimatize to the point of having the ability to anticipate not just your arbitrary hero pool, but also that of the other players. You know to pick certain heroes to limit your opponents’ chances of getting the required number needed for a level up. You may also refuse to pick certain heroes because you know that three other teams are trying to pick such a hero; instead, you might opt for a hero that can be easier to upgrade and made more powerful.

The truth remains that because of the random selection of opponents, you are bound to meet different kinds of opponents with different strategies and levels. Some opponents have strong heroes and would definitely clinch a winning streak. While some other enemies employ a losing streak strategy in a bid to accumulate gold and rerolls at the expense of their health. The kind of player you are pitted against may very well determine your strategy. For instance, if you are pitted against a strong opponent, you might want to sacrifice your health to gain gold and rerolls. 

In a bid to spice things up, the game comes in four modes. The first and marquee mode is the ‘Standard mode.’ This is the mode that I have been describing the entire time. An equally exciting mode is the ‘Duo’ mode, which is everything Standard is just that, as the name goes, it only involves two teams. 

If the timing of the Standard mode, 25minutes for a match, is too long for you, then you might want to try out the Knockout mode. This mode is designed to be faster, and it lasts for a maximum of 15 minutes. Speed isn’t the only thing that sets the Knockout mode apart. In this mode, the cost of leveling up your heroes is much cheaper, thus matches in this mode pan out faster and are hotter. In this mode, due to the reduced cost of level up, there is little or no need for gold management. As interesting as it seems, the Knockout stage can’t help you harness skills for the Standard match, but it definitely meets your need for entertainment.

The final mode came as an addition to the first update. This is the City Crawl mode; it adds a narrative spice to the entire game. In this mode, we are told the story of how that due to the passing of the head of the criminal syndicate in the city, all the other crime lords are in a contest for who would succeed Momma Eeb. You are tasked to see your crime Underlord through a series of challenges, including a puzzle. In general, this mode tasks your aforementioned mental acumen more than any other mode.

DOTA Underlord truly provides a captivating gaming experience. For a strategy game, it is so captivating it becomes increasingly easy to get lost while playing it. Strategy gaming has never been more fun.