Clash of Clans is a 2012 free-to-play mobile strategy video game developed and published by Supercell. It was released for iOS on 2 August 2012, and Android on 7 October 2013, and later Windows on 23 October 2023.
The game is set in a fantasy-themed persistent world, where the player is the chief of a village. Clash of Clans tasks players to build and upgrade their own village using the resources gained from attacking other players' villages with troops, earning rewards, buying them with medals, or producing them at their own village. Players can create clans with others – up to fifty in a clan – who then can participate in Clan Wars together, donate and receive troops, and chat with each other. Players can also build up a Clan Village called a Clan Capital.
Clash of Clans is regarded as one of the greatest mobile video games of all time and has become a commercial success for Supercell, serving as a foundation of the company's live service mobile games.
Gameplay Clash of Clans is a strategy video game with elements of city-building games. Players build a village from the ground up, collecting and utilizing resources, while also training troops to attack other players' villages to gain resources and trophies. Players can (and usually do) form communities called clans, which are groups of up to 50 people. Clan players can donate troops to each other, try to defeat others bases and can go to war with other clans. There are multiple currencies or resources in the game, including Gold, Elixir, Dark Elixir, Gems and 3 different ores, Shiny Ore, Starry Ore, and Glowy Ore. Gold and Elixir are used to build and upgrade buildings like defenses, resource collectors etc. Elixir and Dark Elixir are also used to upgrade army-related buildings, troops, spells, and heroes. In the past, they were also used to train the troops, but since July 2022, training has been made free. An update, called Clash Anytime, in March 2025, removed training time of troops, spells, and siege machines, as well as the recovery time of heroes.
In February 2026 a major update included the new Dragon Duke hero, the Greedy Raven pet, and Town Hall level 18.
On June 16, 2026 in a major update the developers brought back the most awaited feature: Global Chat
Gems are the premium currency. They can be earned by completing in-game achievements or bought using real money. The 3 ores are all used to upgrade hero equipment, at different levels. Attacks are rated on a three-star scale and have a maximum timed length of three minutes.
The game also features a single-player campaign in which the player can attack a series of villages held hostage by malevolent goblins to earn resources; it is unique for being the only single-player campaign in a fully released game by Supercell.
To perform any upgrade, an unassigned builder is needed. The player initially has one builder, but can have up to six builders. They are bought by using gems (up to 5th) and the sixth is unlocked by completing a series of challenges in the Builder Base (another village).
Buildings To earn and store Gold and Elixir, players must build mines and storage buildings for each resource. Elixir is used to conduct research in the Laboratory to upgrade troops and to construct or upgrade certain buildings, primarily offensive ones. Gold is used to build defensive structures and to upgrade the Town Hall, which unlocks access to more buildings and higher levels for existing ones. At Town Hall 7, Dark Elixir becomes available. This resource is used to upgrade Dark Elixir troops, heroes such as the Barbarian King, and—starting at Town Hall 8—Dark Spells. To earn and store Dark Elixir, players must build Dark Elixir Drills and Dark Elixir Storages.
There are several buildings available to the player to defend their village, including Cannons, Mortars, Archer Towers, Wizard Towers, Inferno Towers, Eagle Artillery, Scattershots, Monoliths, Air Defenses, Spell Towers, Clan Castle, Multi-Archer towers, and Ricochet Cannons. There are also traps, including Hidden Teslas, Bombs, Giant Bombs, Tornado Traps, Air Bombs, and Seeking Air Mines. Players can also build walls, which can be upgraded further as a player's town hall level increases. As the Town Hall level increases, the player gets access to stronger buildings such as the Monolith, Eagle Artillery, and Inferno Towers.
Troops and spells The game has two kinds of barracks and spell factories, a basic version, a "dark" version. Initially, all of the basic versions were used to train troops using elixir, whereas the dark versions used dark elixir, and players would have to wait for troops to be trained and spells to be brewed ("training time"). However, an update in July 2022 made all troops free to train, with the primary limitation being space in the army camps. Later, in March 2025, an update removed all troop training times along with the requirement to heal heroes. Both sets of barracks and spell factories can be upgraded to higher levels to unlock more troops (eighteen total troops for the barracks, and twelve for the dark barracks).
Each of the troops have their own group:
The Elixir Troops consist of Archers, Barbarians, Balloons (piloted by bomb-wielding skeletons), Dragons (as well as baby dragons and electro dragons), Dragon Riders (skeletons riding dragon-shaped airplanes), Electro Titans, Giants, Goblins, Healers, Meteor Golems made up of Meteormites, Miners, P.E.K.K.A.s, Root Riders, Throwers (which resemble helmeted Cyclopes), Wall Breakers (a bomb-wielding skeleton that targets walls), Wizards, and Yetis that spawn Yetimites. The Dark Elixir Troops consist of Apprentice Wardens, Bowlers, Druids, Furnaces that spawn Firemites, Golem, Headhunter, Hog Riders, Ice Golems, Lava Hounds, Minions (which resemble blue gargoyle-like creatures), Valkyries, and Witches. The Heroes consist of Archer Queen, Barbarian King, Dragon Duke, Grand Warden, Minion Prince, and Royal Champion.
At Town Hall 7, the Hero Hall can be built to unlock Heroes, powerful troops with abilities that can be activated during a battle.
At Town Hall 11, Super Troops are unlocked. Super Troops are troops that are more powerful than their elixir counterparts and have special abilities. Players can unlock a Super Troop for 3 days by spending Dark Elixir. Players are only allowed to have two Super Troops unlocked at any given time..
The Super Troops consist of the Super Barbarian, Super Archer, Sneaky Goblin, Super Wall Breaker, Super Giant, Rocket Balloon, Super Wizard, Super Dragon, Inferno Dragon, Super Minion, Super Valkyrie, Super Witch, Ice Hound, Super Bowler, Super Miner, Super Yeti, and Super Hog Rider.
At Town Hall 12, the Workshop can be built to construct siege machines, which are powerful troop-like units that can house troops inside of them.
At Town Hall 14, the Pet House can be built to assign pets to heroes, each serving a different role in assisting a hero.
Clans and Clan Wars Clans are groups of players who join to support each other, either by donating troops or offering advice. Players can join clans once they rebuild the Clan Castle. A major component of Clash of Clans is clans facing off against one another in Clan Wars. Clan leaders and co-leaders can initiate wars against other clans. Each clan is given one Preparation Day and one War Day.
When a player attacks a member of the opposing clan, they earn stars based on the amount of destruction inflicted on the opponent's base: dealing 50% damage or more grants 1 star, destroying the Town Hall grants another, and destroying the base grants the third star. Each player is limited to two attacks per war, and the clan with the most stars at the end of War Day is declared the winner. If both clans earn the same number of stars, the winner is determined by which clan caused the greater percentage of destruction.
Players receive bonus war loot if they participate in the war by using their attacks. This loot varies depending on the base and is determined by Supercell: the top-ranked base receives the most war bonus loot, while the lowest-ranked receives the least. If the clan wins the war, the full bonus loot is awarded to the player. However, in the event of a loss or draw, only one-third of the bonus loot is delivered.
The available war sizes are 50v50, 40v40, 30v30, 25v25, 20v20, 15v15, 10v10, and 5v5. There were previously 35v35 and 45v45 sizes as well, but these were removed in the March 2016 update. In the May 2016 update, Friendly Challenges were introduced to allow clanmates to compete amongst other clanmates - however, these challenges do not provide loot or trophies and do not affect a player's army. In the October 2018 update, Clan War Leagues were introduced. Clans can fight seven other clans to advance to the next league and earn league medals by earning stars in Clan War Leagues. The clans in the group with the most stars will be promoted to a higher league, while the clans in the group with the fewest stars will be demoted to a lower league.
Builder Base
Following an update on 22 May 2017, Supercell released the new "Builder Base" game mode to the game. It allows players to sail to a new island and create a new village with a different set of buildings.
In Clash of Clans' Builder Base 2.0 update, the Builder Base attack system was reworked, where players attack each other's bases sequentially instead of simultaneously. Players now alternate attacks across two stages of the opponent's base, with each stage having its own defenses and layout. The player who earns more stars across the two stages wins the battle. Rewards such as gold and elixir are granted based on getting a certain number of stars in a day (a maximum of 6 in a battle), while additional attacks help players climb the trophy leaderboard.
Players can spend gems to speed up the in-game time (which can be mined in the Gem Mine) or by using the Clock Tower (temporarily speeds up the process in the entire Builder Base). A new hero, the Battle Machine, was also introduced along with this update. In June 2019, Builder Hall level 9 was released. The May 2023 update brought Builder Hall 10, which is currently the highest Builder Hall level. The May 2023 update also brought the long-awaited Builder Base 2.0, with higher Builder Base levels having multiple levels to beat, and introducing many changes to the Builder Base, like new troop abilities and a new troop called the Electrofire Wizard. O.T.T.O, a secondary builder in the Builder Base, was also replaced by B.O.B in this update.
Clan Games and Magic Items In December 2017, Supercell introduced Clan Games, a feature where clan members could work together to complete tasks, which would then earn clan points. When enough points are accumulated, a new reward tier unlocks, and players can select one reward from each unlocked tier. This update also introduced Magic Items, obtainable as rewards from Clan Games and through events. These items can be used, e.g., to get resources, finish upgrades, or briefly add levels to troops or heroes.
Clan Capital The Clan Capital is the central hub where the entire clan contributes to the construction and upgrading of a massive base. Every member of a clan is able to contribute to building a new region to strengthen its defenses and upgrade its troops. A clan will try to defeat other clans' Capitals over the course of a Raid Weekend. Capital Gold is earned during raids to upgrade and improve the Capital, but also Raid Medals that can be used to purchase items for players' villages. Reinforcement troops can be purchased without having to wait for other clanmates to donate. In December 2022, player decorations for their Capital Peak houses were introduced.
Hero Equipments and Ores