League of Legends: Wild Rift

League of Legends: Wild Rift came about as Riot Games' answer to the success of rival mobile MOBA games, which had been courting players for years before League of Legends itself finally looked at phones. Riot didn't port the PC game one to one, but rebuilt it from the ground up – a smaller map, shorter matches of around fifteen to twenty minutes, and a narrower, gradually growing hero pool compared to the hundreds of characters in the PC version, yet the core of tactics, roles, and ability synergy remains faithful to the original.

Controls are handled by a combination of a virtual joystick and ability buttons, supplemented by a smart auto-targeting system that helps players aim exactly where they want on a small display, and the game also offers an alternative tap-to-move control scheme closer to the style of older PC MOBA games. Wild Rift runs on the same free-to-play model as the PC version – heroes unlock via in-game currency earned by playing or through direct purchase, while cosmetic skins are sold separately and have no effect on a character's in-game power. Thanks to the established brand and the massive player base of its parent game, Wild Rift quickly built its own esports scene and became one of the few titles to push the MOBA genre on mobile beyond Southeast Asia, where other titles had previously dominated.

Why play it: for League of Legends players who want the same game in a shorter, more portable form, as well as newcomers to the MOBA genre who will appreciate the simpler controls compared to the PC version.