On February 6, Riot Games unveiled more information about TFT mobile, giving players a glimpse into what expect from the game’s handheld version.
We’ve known Teamfight Tactics is releasing in March for several weeks now, but outside of that, fans didn’t really have much information about how the game would work once it was folded down into a pocket-sized version.
Obviously, the essence of the game would work fine on mobile, but players weren’t sure how Riot were going to handle things like game chat, the Champion shop, and things of that nature. As it turns out, some lucky players will get a chance to play the game in its beta period before the official launch.
Riot revealed in a blog post how the game will look and feel on mobile. For the most part, it should play like the game players know and love.
How will TFT look on mobile?
First-look images confirm the client will support lobbies, friends, and invites, as well as the ranked system and the progression pass. Riot say they will be adding more functionality over time, but that’s what will be available at launch. Game chat will not be available, but they are open to bringing it back in the future.
One major change the team made to it more accessible on mobile is brightening up the menus and make them more inviting for new handheld players.
Something they had to make sure worked well is the Champion selection screen, where players will purchase more units to add to their army. Instead of always being open, players will instead have to do it themselves to buy someone new.
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It’s a minor inconvenience, but it’s a necessary evil as you don’t want it taking up the entire screen, and cluttering what is a small amount of space.
The shop will automatically open at the beginning of every round, appearing near the top of the screen so you’ll still be able to move your units around and also keep an eye out for new additions.
It doesn’t sound like things will be too complicated, but it’ll be interesting to see how mobile players can compete with PC players when it comes to moments in the game like the carousel where you have to have rapid-fire movement.
Outside of these changes, it sounds like TFT will run mostly the same as its PC counterpart, which is great news for fans of the game.
The timetable for release is still March, and Riot say they will provide more information on that end as we approach the launch.
Upon launch, you won’t have to worry about losing any of the cosmetics you’ve collected as the game will be fully compatible with the PC version.