The appeal of games like League of Legends is indisputable nowadays, with eSports leagues and international tournaments popping up around the world. League of Legends now ranks among some of the world’s most popular and most lucrative eSports alongside titles like Street Fighter, Starcraft II, and Counter-Strike. With annual total prizes adding up to around $7.3 million in 2021 alone, it is no wonder people want to get into the League of Legends scene. Whether you want to try it out for the money or for fun, you would find that all these games are mainly PC and Mac games. So, what can mobile players do? There are a lot of games like League of Legends for iPhones and Androids, and this list will help you sift through them!
Inside This Article
What Makes Games Similar to League of Legends?
So, what makes games similar to League of Legends? For this list, the first thing we will consider is if they are Multiplayer Online Battle Arena or MOBA games or at least have features similar to them. This means that they must have similar game mechanics first perfected by the Warcraft III mod DotA, five going along three routes to destroy the enemy’s base.
The second point, and probably most important for those wanting to become professional players, is the game’s potential for eSports. While a bit subjective, we will try to include games that already have an eSports circuit or have the potential for it.
Also Read: Best Multiplayer Games on Mobile
Best Games Like League Of Legends
To help guide you through our choices, we added a few interesting points about each game, including the developer and its price. We also added the games’ suggested age rating for the parents reading this. Without further ado, here’s our list of the best games like League of Legends for mobile!
1. League of Legends: Wild Rift
Developer: Riot Games Inc.
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Age Rating: Teen 12+
The top game like League of Legends for mobile is its mobile version, League of Legends: Wild Rift. After the success of their original game, Riot Games first announced its mobile counterpart in 2019 during LOL’s 10th anniversary. By 2020, Wild Rift has officially released worldwide, with the Americas server opening on March 29 the following year.
Game-wise, Wild Rift is a lot like the original LOL with a few choice ease of use changes to it for mobile players. If you want to learn more about the game, we have a League Of Legends: Wild Rift review that gives you most of the ins and outs you would need to know.
Get League of Legends: Wild Rift on the Apple App Store
Get League of Legends: Wild Rift on the Google Play Store
2. Arena of Valor
Developer: TiMi Studio Group
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Age Rating: Teen 12+
Just after Tencent acquired League of Legends creator Riot Games in 2015, they had already seen the potential of MOBA games on smartphones. After Riot refused to create a LOL game on the platform, Tencent had one of its studios create one for the local Chinese market to prove their ideas. This game turned out to be Honor of Kings. Now known as Arena of Valor for the international market, this game is considered the Asian equivalent of LOL.
The game plays similarly to the original LOL and actually has an even bigger player base than the latecomer, Wild Rift. In terms of popularity, Arena of Valor brought in $13.4 billion by 2017 and is still played by over 100 million active users worldwide.
Get Arena of Valor on the Apple App Store
Get Arena of Valor on the Google Play Store
3. Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
Developer: Shanghai Moonton Technology Co.
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Age Rating: Teen 12+
The third game like League of Legends is Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. Aside from the similarities in the title, the game also follows the same mechanics LoL started with its 5v5 hero matches. ML:BB’s similarities to the original League of Legends were so near that Riot Games filed a case against Moonton in 2017. While the case went nowhere, ML:BB has since further developed its unique identity with a deepening of its lore and collaborations with other franchises like King of Fighters and Star Wars. First released in 2016, ML:BB dominates the eSports regions in Southeast Asian, Latin American, and Middle East markets.
Get Mobile Legends: Bang Bang on the Apple App Store
Get Mobile Legends: Bang Bang on the Google Play Store
4. Pokemon Unite
Developer: The Pokémon Company
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Age Rating: Everyone 10+
A surprising foray from The Pokémon Company, Pokémon Unite is their take to create a game like League of Legends. Pokémon Unite uses the world, setting, and of course, pokémon of the series and translates them into a MOBA game. While it may not have all the 600+ pokémon available in the mainline series of games, Unite is pretty well balanced with the pokémon it does have. Due to only being released last 2021, the game is relatively new and continues to be vigorously updated.
Get Pokemon Unite on the Apple App Store
Get Pokemon Unite on the Google Play Store
Also read: Pokémon Unite Tier List
5. Onmyoji Arena
Developer: NetEase Games
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Age Rating: Everyone 10+
Another game like League of Legends for mobile is Onmyoji Arena. This NetEase title has a few unique quirks up its sleeve. Besides the usual MOBA trope of 5v5 combat, the game also has 3v3 and Battle Royale modes that give players a lot of versatility when choosing their favorites.
While Onmyoji Arena’s main player base is in the East and South-East Asian regions, it does also have a few “World” servers. These world servers are for North America, Europe, South America, and a non-regional one. Do note that the Asian servers can not share data between them so choose wisely. If you want to learn more about this fun game, we have a complete beginner’s guide to Onmyoji Arena available.
Get Onmyoji Arena on the Apple App Store
Get Onmyoji Arena on the Google Play Store
6. Heroes Evolved
Developer: NetDragon Websoft Inc.
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Age Rating: Teen 12+
A MOBA from NetDragon, Heroes Evolved has a good following behind it. Heroes Evolved is a game with more than 120 playable heroes, tons of skins, and three different player versus player modes (5v5, 3v3, and 1v1). This game also has solid in-game clan management and chat system.
Other advantages the game has is its beautiful HD graphics, its responsive and intuitive touch screen controls, and challenging AI bots. While it may not be as big as the previous games on this list, Heroes Evolved has a lot of eSports potential due to its in-game ranking system.
Get Heroes Evolved on the Apple App Store
Get Heroes Evolved on the Google Play Store
7. Heroes of Order and Chaos
Developer: Gameloft SE
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Age Rating: Teen 12+
A bit of an older MOBA, Gameloft’s Heroes of Order and Chaos has been available on mobiles since 2012. While now past its prime and its mainstream popularity in the past, the game still has a lot to offer. This is due to its good interpretation of the MOBA genre with solid hero balancing and PVP mechanics.
Some of its features are standard in newer games nowadays, including its different themed 3v3 and 5v5 maps and the introduction of 57 unique heroes. Overall, Heroes of Order and Chaos is a good game, if a bit aged compared to its competitors.
Get Heroes of Order and Chaos on the Apple App Store
Get Heroes of Order and Chaos on the Google Play Store
8. Vainglory
Developer: Super Evil Megacorp
Price: Free with in-game purchases
Age Rating: Teen 12+
Another early bird in the genre’s mobile market, Vainglory is one of the best games like League of Legends. First released to iOS in 2014 as a demonstration of the iPhone 6’s graphics capabilities, Vainglory plays and feels like your classic MOBA.
The unique quirk this game has is its cross-platform capabilities. Not only do iOS and Android players get to go toe-to-toe with each other, but they also play against Windows and Mac players. The best part about this is how Super Evil Megacorp managed to balance gameplay for all players, regardless of platform.
Get Vainglory on the Apple App Store
Get Vainglory on the Google Play Store
9. Legend of Ace
Developer: Still Gaming
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Age Rating: Everyone 10+
Legend of Ace is another game like League of Legends with its take on things. Instead of having the usual item creation and build-up to it, it has a card-based system instead. With more than 100 different cards to equip and strengthen your characters, Legend of Ace is pretty unique in the genre. Aside from this, the game is also fast-paced with 10-minute limits on most games. This limit forces players to get creative and focus on their teamwork to survive and win.
Get Legend of Ace on the Apple App Store
Get Legend of Ace on the Google Play Store
10. Heroes of Soulcraft
Developer: MobileBits GmbH
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Age Rating: Teen 12+
A game that actually works better on mobiles than on PC, Heroes of Soulcraft is quite obviously based on classic DotA gameplay with a few tweaks. A decent game, it has two main playing modes: 3v3 and 5v5 modes. Both games are also time-based with 3 and 15 minute match times, respectively. While not that popular, it is easy to understand and is a good platform to learn the basics of the MOBA genre.
Get Heroes of Soulcraft on the Google Play Store
11. Heroes Arena
Developer: uCool
Price: Free with in-game purchases
Age Rating: Everyone 10+
Heroes Arena is a simple game in comparison to the others on this list. With only 20 heroes and a modest amount of unique maps, Heroes Arena would not be getting any awards. What this game does have, though, is its versatile hero ability mechanics. Compared to other games where heroes only get five abilities, Heroes Arena gives them five normal abilities, one ultimate ability, and another three leader abilities. If you want to play around with techniques and powers, Heroes Arena is a good way to hone your skills.
Get Heroes Arena on the Apple App Store
Get Heroes Arena on the Google Play Store
12. Marvel Super War
Developer: NetEase Games
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Age Rating: Teen 12+
Marvel Super War is NetEase Games’ second entry on this list of games like League of Legends. A MOBA game built on the characters and superheroes of the Marvel franchise, Marvel Super War lets you lead characters like Iron Man, Captain America, Deadpool, and Spiderman in 5v5 battles.
While the game has good foundations with its MOBA mechanics, the game does have a few very glaring flaws for the average US gamer. This game is exclusively available for South-East Asia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, and Australia. Sadly, if you want this MOBA superhero game on Mobile, you would need a VPN for Mobile to play it.
Get Marvel Super War on the Apple App Store
Get Marvel Super War on the Google Play Store
13. One Piece Bounty Rush
Developer: Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc.
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Age Rating: Teen 12+
With anime famous throughout the world, who has not heard of the Straw Hat Pirates? One Piece Bounty Rush is Bandai Namco’s attempt to get into the MOBA market by making a game like League of Legends. While it may seem like a cash grab trying to use the One Piece IP, the game actually has some good depth to it.
Aside from playing as characters like Luffy, Zoro, Chopper, and Robin, the game has a unique third-person perspective that lets you see the action close up. This lets you play the game like a third-person shooter while still having the mechanics of a MOBA game.
Get One Piece Bounty Rush on the Apple App Store
Get One Piece Bounty Rush on the Google Play Store
14. Extraordinary Ones
Developer: NetEase Games
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Age Rating: Teen 12+
While yet another NetEase game, Extraordinary Ones is the most visually different among the bunch. This game has a distinct visual style which we feel is a combination of several animes namely: Persona, My Hero Academia, and One Punch Man. Aside from the MOBA mechanics, the game is pretty fun and wacky without the competitive seriousness of most games in the genre.
Get Extraordinary Ones on the Apple App Store
Get Extraordinary Ones on the Google Play Store
15. ShellFire
Developer: PT Telekomunikasi Selular (iOS)/ Dunia Games (Android)
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Age Rating: Teen 12+
Now for something completely different, well, almost completely. Compared to other games like League of Legends, ShellFire is an FPS shooter game with MOBA mechanics. This means that its gameplay is closer to games like Valorant than LOL. That said, ShellFire does have similar 5v5 matches, predetermined fighting lanes, and base capture objectives. If you want something different from the usual MOBA game, give ShellFire a try!
Get ShellFire on the Apple App Store
Get ShellFire on the Google Play Store
Time to Play Games Like LoL
There you have it — 15 rock-solid LOL alternatives to choose from. While all of them may not be as popular and big as LOL, they all have their own fun and engaging gameplay. That said, your phone may not be able to handle the newer games on this list. If you want to upgrade your system, you may take a peek 0f our best gaming phones list. Those that want a bigger screen, however, might want to look at the best gaming tablets instead.
