Brawl Stars

Core Gameplay and Character Systems

Brawl Stars is a team-based action game where players control characters called Brawlers in short, objective-based matches. The core loop involves using a Brawler's normal attack and a more powerful Super attack, which charges by damaging opponents. Players can further customize their Brawler with power-ups like Gadgets for activated abilities, Star Powers for passive effects, Gears for stat modifications, and Hypercharges for enhanced Supers. These upgrades are specific to each Brawler and can be leveled up using Buffies obtained from Claw Machines.

The game features over 100 unlockable Brawlers, categorized into seven classes: Damage Dealers, Marksmen, Tanks, Assassins, Supports, Controllers, and Artillery. Each class denotes a general playstyle, from frontline bruisers to long-range specialists. Brawlers also have a rarity, Rare, Super Rare, Epic, Mythic, Legendary, or Ultra Legendary, which generally corresponds to the complexity of their concept and mechanics.

Permanent and Rotating Game Modes

Brawl Stars offers a wide variety of game modes, most designed for two teams of three players. Gem Grab is a classic mode where gems spawn in the center of the map. A team wins by collecting and holding ten gems for 15 seconds. Brawl Ball is a soccer-style mode where teams aim to score two goals, with variants later added for basketball, volleyball, and ice hockey. In Heist, teams attack the opponent's safe while defending their own, with the safe gaining a temporary shield after certain damage thresholds following an April 2025 update.

Hot Zone is a king of the hill mode requiring teams to control zones for a combined total of 100 seconds. For elimination-focused play, Wipeout tasks teams with defeating 10 or 20 enemies, while Bounty awards points for kills that increase in value. Knockout is a round-based mode with no respawns, where the first team to win two rounds wins the match. Showdown provides a battle royale experience for solo, duo, or trio players, with Power Cube boxes scattered for stat boosts. Other modes include Duels, a 1v1 format where each player has a team of three Brawlers, and the newer Brawl Arena, a lane-pushing mode with turrets and minions added in April 2025.

Progression, Economy, and the Starr Road

Player progression is driven by several key systems. The primary method for unlocking new Brawlers is the Starr Road, introduced in December 2022 to replace loot boxes. Players select a Brawler from a choice of up to four of the same rarity and spend Credits to unlock them. Credits are earned from the Trophy Road, daily login rewards, Starr Drops, Chaos Drops, and the Brawl Pass. Rare and Super Rare Brawlers are unlocked directly through the Trophy Road by reaching certain Trophy counts. Until February 2024, a separate Chromatic Shop used Chroma Credits to unlock Brawlers who debuted with a Brawl Pass season.

The in-game economy uses multiple currencies. Coins and Power Points are used to upgrade a Brawler's stats and power level. Coins also purchase Brawler-specific Gadgets, Star Powers, and Hypercharges. Credits unlock Brawlers. Bling, introduced in April 2023, is used to buy most cosmetics. Gems act as a premium currency for cosmetics and topping up shortages of other currencies. Players also increase individual Brawler Record levels by winning matches, unlocking cosmetics and progression items like Power Points and Coins.

The Brawl Pass and Competitive Ranked Play

The Brawl Pass, added in May 2020, is a seasonal battle pass that rewards players for earning XP through battles. All players have a free track, while a premium track, purchasable only with real money since January 2024, offers greater rewards. Progressing through the tiers yields cosmetics, currency, and sometimes new Brawlers.

For competitive play, Ranked mode, formerly called Power League, is the main ladder. Players queue for a random 3v3 game mode and map. Winning increases a player's Points, raising their rank through tiers from Bronze, Silver, Gold, Diamond, Mythic, Legendary, Masters, to Pro. Advancing past Diamond into Mythic requires having twelve Brawlers at Power Level 11. Ranked play is tied to the Pro Pass, a separate rewards track that resets every four seasons in alignment with major esports events.

The Pro Pass offers 100 tiers of rewards on free and paid tracks. Notable rewards include Pro Skin Upgrades at tiers 10, 30, 60, and 100, which enhance existing skins with exclusive Ranked-themed visual effects. Players earn Pro Pass XP by winning Ranked matches, receiving monthly Rank Promotion bonuses, opening Ranked Starr Drops, and participating in official events. Fans can also earn Pro Pass XP by watching esports tournaments and participating in Pick-ems on the official website.

Community and Esports Ecosystem

Brawl Stars fosters community through features like Clubs and the Map Maker. Players can join Clubs to participate in the monthly Mega Pig event, where members use tickets to win games and collectively earn Starr Drops for the club. The Map Maker allows players to create and submit custom maps, which can be voted on by the community. The most-liked map becomes the 'winner of the day' and is featured in a dedicated slot for all players.

The top competitive level is the Brawl Stars Championship, an annual tournament. The path begins with an in-game challenge where players must win 15 matches without losing three times. Success grants entry to regional Monthly Qualifiers, then Monthly Finals. Introduced in 2025, the Brawl Cup is an in-person event for top teams from six regions, offering qualification spots for the Last Chance Qualifiers or direct entry to the World Finals. This structure creates a year-long circuit culminating in the World Finals to crown a global champion.

Development History and Setting

Supercell developed Brawl Stars as a mobile-first team-based game, aiming to retain strategic depth while simplifying controls. The game underwent a famously long and extensive soft launch of 522 days, beginning in Canada on iOS in June 2017. During this period, the developers changed fundamental aspects like switching from portrait mode with tap controls to landscape mode with virtual joysticks, overhauling the user interface, and updating the game from 2D to 3D graphics. The global release on December 12, 2018, was a major success, grossing 10 million dollars in its first week. The game later launched in mainland China on June 9, 2020, through Tencent Games with necessary regulatory changes.

The game is set in Starr Park, a fictional abandoned amusement park. Lore reveals the park closed in 1995 due to magical purple gems that granted immortality to some but also brought inanimate objects to life and mutated plants and animals, explaining the game's eclectic cast of Brawlers.