Best MOBA games

Even people who don't play anything have heard about Dota 2, the main cyber sports discipline on the planet. The phenomenon has become too noticeable, and prizes of millions of dollars are not given for every competition. It was "Dota" set the canons of MOBA - multiplayer arena online, where in equal proportions mixed action and strategy. Map and character abilities are clear to all participants of the match, but what to do with this knowledge - everyone decides for himself. Sometimes this leads to real masterpieces of improvisation, which is not a sin to review a couple of times for fun - as we watch replays of sharp moments in soccer or boxing.

A lot of interesting things have been happening in the genre lately, from the release of new games to the announcement of the next MOBA by Valve, which also owns Dota 2. If you're already tired of defending mid in the second Dota or are planning to get acquainted with such projects, we tell you what else you can play with the same rules and for free.

Let's start with a game that echoes the classics. Here, two teams compete on a symmetrical map with the support of creeps - AI-controlled creatures that run towards the enemy along a predetermined route. But there are a lot of differences from the same Dota 2. If there is a top view, then here - from the third person. No one forces you to destroy your opponent's base - to win the match it's enough to reduce your opponent's score to zero. You can do this in several ways: by eliminating the other team's heroes and allowing allied creeps or siege towers to pass through the portal at the enemy base. Of course, you have to guard your own portal like the apple of your eye. But the main difference between Smite and other MOBAs is that here you control not just anyone, but gods.

Different pantheons are represented - from ancient Greek to Polynesian. You can play as Egyptian Ra, Japanese Amaterasu, Roman Vulcan, Indian Shiva, Celtic Clydon and Mayan Kukulkan. There are even exotics like Cthulhu from Lovecraft's books and Baba Yaga from Russian fairy tales. And each character has the skills that the myths attribute to him: you can burn enemies with lightning in the role of Zeus, turn them into stone with a look Medusa or freeze, playing for the Scandinavian giant Ymir. Nevertheless, the heroes are grouped into five classes by skills, and to strengthen them you can collect items during the match. Battles take place under the shouts of fans in the arenas, decorated in the spirit of the Colosseum - in short, not a game, but a real competition!

It is probably the most popular MOBA after Dota 2. There are also tournaments with millions of dollars in prize money, and a lot of non-game content is released, including the animated series "Arcane". LoL has the same rules as Dota. At the beginning of the game, two teams of five participants disperse to the corners of the map, the axis of symmetry which runs along the diagonal, crossed by three roads - they are the same lines. Gamers need to use the unique skills of their characters to destroy all enemy buildings and eventually demolish the Nexus to the ground. This is the main building, the destruction of which brings victory to some and defeat to others. It is clear that with such simple conditions tactical freedom is limitless.

Characters, or, as they are called here, champions in League of Legends are more than 150. Some of them are familiar to the public from Arkane, such as Jinx, Silko and Wander. The skills of others can be tested in the training mode, before you start fighting with real opponents. All heroes are divided by their role in the team: there are assassins, shooters, warriors, mages, support fighters and tanks. To strengthen them at the start of the match allows you to runes, which are allowed to combine to your liking - one, say, will raise the accuracy, another will make his ward more mobile, and the third pump sorcery. The advantage of LoL was the ease of management and a friendlier attitude to newcomers than in Dota 2.

At some point MOBA games became so popular that all major developers wanted to leave their mark on them. Blizzard was not left behind. Ironically, the amateur modification of its Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne gave rise to the genre, and now the studio employees were forced to catch up with the departed train. So in the summer of 2015 Heroes of the Storm, nicknamed "Hots" by the people, appeared. Its authors acted carefully and did not try to make a revolution. In this game, everyone is divided into two teams of five participants and with the help of various tricks get through to the enemy base to destroy all the buildings there. But we must make allowance for the fact that Blizzard retained all the intellectual property.

This means you're free to take control of familiar characters from the Warcraft universe, including Arthas, Jaina, Diablo, Illidan, and Raynor. Even the best custom Warcraft III modification couldn't boast such a thing. In addition, the designers from Blizzard realized that you can not limit yourself to a single map. Nothing prevents you from making several: let one be classic, with three lines, another with two, and on the third in general full-fledged fortifications - where LoL and Dota 2 with their turrets. Further - more. In the game, all team members have common experience, no one pulls the blanket on himself, and the combat system is organized surprisingly simple - just right for a newcomer who wants to "roll in" the genre.

Shooting fans, you're on your way out. We have already told you about one work of Hi-Rez studio - it was its employees who worked on Smite. But Paladins, which came out later, combined classic multiplayer arena rules and shooter mechanics. Heroes of the game instead of magic prefer guns of different caliber, and gamers look at first-person battles. At the same time, the strategic part with map control and division into roles has not gone anywhere. In the world of this action movie the struggle of two factions - the Magistrate and the Resistance - is unfolding. You need to choose one of the parties and at the same time your hero to join a team of five people and challenge the same party.

In addition to the traditional Paladins mode, you can also play Siege - when one group pushes a cart to the opponents' base, and they get in the way, but in the next round the sides switch places. There is also a classic desmatches - where without it in the online shooter. To achieve their goals, users choose fighters of one of four classes: there are damage specialists, tanks, flank and support heroes. Improvement of heroes happens right during the match - on the virtual currency earned for feats. In short, both shooter fans and MOBA fans will find familiar features here. By the way, the ideas of Paladins are developed by Rogue Company, also available on Steam for free.

Most MOBA-shooters flirt with cartoon graphics, but if you want to see a more serious picture on the screen, created on the Unreal Engine 5, pay attention to Predecessor. The story behind this game is an unusual one. Back in 2016, Epic Games launched the multiplayer arena Paragon, which many people liked. But then the project was closed, and the developments were allowed to be used by third-party studios. Omeda employees grabbed this opportunity - and presented their successor to the legendary "Paragon" in the summer of 2024. The gameplay here is almost the same as in Paladins: you need to control the map and shoot a lot. However, there are some peculiarities.

Although the map looks standard for the genre (three lines, towers and jungle), it has a vertical aspect - the heroes can climb up elevations or take off altogether to gain an advantage in battle. The confrontation between teams of five players is made more poignant by two circumstances - bosses and cores hidden in more frequent areas. Gamers are familiar with the former: by killing a monster instead of an enemy, you can get bonuses. The second act in a similar way, only you need to destroy the structure, not kill the forest monster. For the convenience of beginners - automatic purchase of items at the start of the fight, automatic pumping characters and quick search for matches. Among the minuses noted the lack of chat, but knowing the reigning mores in "Dota", maybe it's for the best.

This is a very unusual MOBA. The view from above is like in the classics of the genre, but the matches are very fast-paced - thanks to small teams. You can create a party of two or three heroes to challenge a similarly sized squad. There are no towers or minions on the map - just you, your friends and your opponents. Each battle lasts two minutes, and the side that scores three points in the rounds first wins. The choice of cards is small, only five, but there are dozens of fighters in the roster - nothing prevents you from choosing the style of play you like. After all, each of the heroes has their own unique techniques. Ezmo, for example, quickly moves out of the attack line with a double jump, while Ruk, on the contrary, attracts his opponent to stun him with his club.

Another interesting feature of the game is the combat rituals, which can be performed before the start of the fight. After them, each champion receives up to five additional reinforcements of the user's choice. For example, there is a ritual that returns health points to the hero after each victory over the enemy - it will come in handy if you are fighting alone against a duo. It won't be hard to figure out all these tricks. If you have never launched Battlerite before, the tutorial mode will help you to get used to it, where everything happens quickly - without half an hour of excursions. But this is the case when they say "easy to learn, hard to master". Since every button press in the game is important, the threshold of entry is quite high.

Entertainment for those who have an old computer and want to play MOBA. All you need to run Awesomenauts is 2 GB of RAM and any processor with a couple of cores, you don't even need a video card. No one will take money for fun either, because the project is available in Steam for free. The essence of the matches is the following: you need to gather a team of three people and oppose the same squad on the level, which is made according to the canons of the genre - with lines and stuff. Only the view will be from the side, as in old platformers. The developers are especially proud of the style inspired by cartoons of the 1980s. Remember how you waited for the next episode of your favorite series on TV?

The game is set in the year 3587 against the backdrop of a grand robot war for power in the galaxy. In an effort to gain an advantage, each side summons the best mercenaries to their service, and they fight each other against the backdrop of ruins and fantastic scenery. Deciding to take part in the battle, you get a choice of hero, reinforcements for him and support turrets with creeps on the map. Everything seems familiar, but Awesomenauts offers something you won't find in other MOBAs. You can play it with friends on the same screen, and there's also a single-player mode - when you control one character and the others are controlled by artificial intelligence.

The selection would be incomplete if we ignored the fans of mobile gaming. And here Mobile Legends: Bang Bang is unrivaled in MOBA genre - according to Google Play store statistics, it has been downloaded more than 500 million times, and there is also iOS-version! In other words, it's a hit. What is its secret? It's simple: the developers didn't get wise and combined Dota 2 and League of Legends in one game. It turned out to be cute, interesting, and most importantly - understandable to the fans of the genre. You are waiting for matches between two 5x5 teams with the aim of destroying the opponents' base, three lines, defense towers and forest, which occupies a significant part of the map.

Depending on your role, you either keep the defense on the line or go into the forest, where you gain experience by killing creeps. The jungle is traditionally home to bosses, the elimination of which brings bonuses to the whole team. Interaction within the squad is in the first place, which you are made aware of right during the training mission. In a word, the matter is familiar. From the features we note the emblems that strengthen characters at the start. That is, you can not only choose a fighter, but also pump up a few of his characteristics in advance, so that victories over opponents were given easier. Not without the typical nuances of mobile "freetupley" - like buying heroes and emblems for real money.

What MOBA games do you like?