A real-time card battler by the original Angry Birds artist. The salt of the cards is there, mana and counter-timing do the rest, and zero microtransactions. The Clash Royale we were waiting for?
Alexandrosse
InsertCoins.press Score
7/10
Verdict
Recommended
Clash Royale, we all loved it before hating it. The principle was brilliant, the cards added exactly that little salt that makes a game addictive, and then the microtransaction machine ended up ruining everything. So when a real-time card battler shows up promising the same immediacy with real cards and zero cash trap, you want to believe. Warena keeps that promise, and the salt we hoped for is well and truly there.
Warena is a real-time strategy card battler developed by Part Time Monkey and published by Coyote Time Publishing, available since 14 July 2026 on PC for ten euros. A tasty detail: it's signed by Tuomas Erikoinen, the artist behind the original Angry Birds characters, which explains the immediate personality of its cards. The pitch owns its influences without complex: the speed and immediacy of Clash Royale on one side, the strategic thinking of the classic RTS on the other. Two players clash in real time, deploy troops, cast spells and push toward the enemy base. Familiar, but familiar that we love.
Let's get to what matters, what you said yourself: the cards are what add the salt of a game, and that's where we were waiting for Warena. Good news, the salt is there. You draft your deck, you manage your mana economy, and each clash plays out on resource management and counter-timing. Both players act simultaneously, in fast, nervy matches where laying the right card at the right moment, in response to the opponent's, makes all the difference. It's that dance of anticipation and reaction, that constant reading of the opponent's play, that gives the cards their flavor and Warena its bite.
The game adds on top two ideas that beef up the formula. A rune system unlocks cards, units and abilities mid-combat, so your arsenal evolves over the course of the match rather than being fixed from the start. And above all, before each match, you choose a hero ability that defines your approach and that the opponent will have to learn to play around. These two layers add a welcome tactical depth, turning each game into a little supercharged chess match where you adapt your strategy to the one across from you. The cards aren't a gadget, they're the beating heart of the game, and they keep their promises.
But the real difference from its model, the one that makes everything, isn't in the mechanics: it's in the ethics. Warena proudly displays zero microtransactions. All content is available from day one, no chest to open, no card to level up with your wallet, no paywall forcing you to pay to stay competitive. It's the head-on answer to the poison that ended up killing the fun of so many games in the genre, and it changes absolutely everything. Here, victory depends on your skill and your choices, never on your credit card, and we'd almost forgotten how restful that was.
The game also offers a full single-player campaign to learn the mechanics before diving into PvP, which is a rare and welcome touch. Too many card battlers drop you straight into the competitive arena with no safety net; Warena takes the time to train you, which softens a learning curve that remains, it must be said, demanding. Between the honest business model and that solo on-ramp, the game gives itself the means to be what Clash Royale could have stayed if it hadn't given in to greed.
You have to stay lucid about the limits of an independent production facing the genre's giants. Warena bets everything on 1v1 PvP, and its future will therefore depend entirely on the health of its community: a competitive game with no players across from you loses the essence of its interest, and a small ten-euro title doesn't have the firepower of a mobile mastodon to guarantee an always-lively matchmaking. It's the risky bet of any niche multiplayer game, and we'll have to see whether the community follows over time.
The game also demands real investment to be appreciated. The richness of its rune, mana and hero-ability systems imposes a learning curve that will put off the player seeking the immediate, effortless fun of its mobile inspiration. Warena is more demanding, deeper, and thus less accessible on first contact. It's an owned and rather praiseworthy choice, but you should know it: here, you don't win by tapping, you win by understanding.
Warena is an excellent surprise for everyone who loved Clash Royale before its model devoured it. It recovers its immediacy and tension, adds the depth of the RTS and real tactical layers with its runes and hero abilities, and above all it answers the question we were asking: yes, the cards do add the hoped-for salt, and they're the heart of a nervy, clever game. All of it signed with an immediately endearing visual touch, inherited from Angry Birds. For ten euros, it's a frankly appealing proposition.
But its greatest merit remains its integrity. In a genre gangrened by microtransactions, Warena makes the radical, brave choice of decency: you buy the game, you get the whole game, and you win by talent. That gesture alone deserves support. There remains the great unknown of its community, on which its whole competitive future will depend. If the players show up, Warena could well be the card battler we've been demanding since the genre sold its soul.
A real-time card battler where the cards finally add the promised salt, served without a single microtransaction: the Clash Royale we hoped for, provided the community follows.
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Tested on PC.
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