Gears Pop combines characters from the Gears of War games with the vinyl stylings of Funko Pop models. Really, though, its main influence lies elsewhere, with Supercell’s magnificent Clash Royale.
Clash Royale is a game in which you build a deck of eight cards, each representing a unit or a building or a spell of some kind. Then you battle against another player with their own deck. Each player has three towers at their end of the symmetrical map. Bring the most towers down within a short playtime of real-time action in order to win.
It’s truly wonderful stuff – pacy, intricate, beautifully balanced and extremely charismatic. Almost every game is a nail-biter. All of which means I’ve enjoyed Gears Pop quite a bit despite myself, because I know the underlying game so intimately already and because it sticks to the formula so closely.
Honestly, Gears Pop cleaves very close to its inspiration. The basic game design is the same, crucial systems work the same, the feel of the game in motion is pretty much the same. Even the levelling feels the same.
It’s easier to actually talk about the points where things diverge. Okay. Gears Pop handles unlocking of the chests you win in battles a little differently: they all start to unlock immediately, so you don’t have to queue them up one at a time. Also, its clans, called crews, are a little more bare-bones at present, which is understandable as the game has just launched.