Valve releases its first mobile game: Dota Underlords

It's an event in itself, Valve is signing its first iOS game at the end of June, with the release ofDota Underlords. It is more precisely an adaptation of a mod originally created for the game Dota 2. This mod was called Dota Auto Chess and was developed by the independent Drodo studios. For information, a mod is a kind of expansion of a game, often developed by third-party developers, and taking advantage of the same engine, however generally with mechanical changes. Counter-Strike is, for example, a mod of the original Half Life game.

Quickly after its release, this Dota Auto Chess mod became one of the gamesmost played on Steam, the PC gaming platform, which obviously caught the eye of Valve studios.

They then proposed to the original creators the creation of an official title based on their mod. Drodo did not want to participate in the development of this adaptation, so Valve took care of it. Thus was born Dota Underlords, playable on PC for several days.

This new Valve game therefore benefits from the basis of the famous arena fighting game Dota 2, with similar graphics, interfaces and design. But the principle changes completely.

In Dota Underlords, battles areautomatic. The player's task is actually to choose the right heroes, place them in strategic places on the field, and thus plan everything in advance to see his team defeat the opposing team. Heroes obviously have special abilities. It is better to know them all well in order to create the best synergies between them and form the most powerful associations possible.

This type of game is nicknamed Autochess, “Auto” for the automatic side of the combat, “Chess” for the strategic side with a gridded board and unique abilities of the different fighters.

The duels are obviously done in multiplayer mode, against other players online.

In any case, the genre has particularly appealed to gamers. Dota Underlords is notably noted9/10on Steam with over 2,600 reviews to date, which is rarely seen on the PC games store.

Dota Underlords has been available for a few hours on the iOS App Store. He isfree. And we can only advise you to try it. It could be one of the big mobile successes of 2019, if the port is quality.

• Dota Underlords is available here on the App Store

For those who have already tried it, what are your impressions?

Editor-in-chief for iPhon.fr. Pierre is like Indiana Jones, looking for the lost iOS trick. Also a long-time Mac user, Apple devices hold no secrets for him. Contact: pierre[a]iphon.fr.