League of Legends

League of Legends is the game that made the MOBA genre famous around the world and turned it into a global phenomenon. Two teams of five players fight on the Summoner's Rift map, where at the start of each game they pick champions from an extensive and ever-growing roster with unique abilities. The goal is to destroy the enemy Nexus, which requires advancing through three lanes, fighting over the jungle between them, and making strategic decisions about when to risk a team fight and when instead to farm and wait for an advantage.

The game has been free-to-play from the start and is funded by selling cosmetic skins and other visual content, which has helped it maintain a huge and ever-growing player base. Riot Games has long supported the game with regular updates, champion balancing, and expansion of the Runeterra game world into other media, including the series Arcane. The visual style is colorful and clear, which, together with clearly defined roles (top, jungle, mid, bot, support), makes the game easy both to play and to watch.

League of Legends' competitive scene is among the most developed in the world - regional leagues such as the LEC, LCK, and LCS culminate every year in the World Championship, watched by tens of millions of viewers and filling stadiums around the world. For spectators, the game is easy to follow thanks to the clear structure of a match, visible gold and level counters on screen, and commentators who explain the draft and tactical decisions. League of Legends continues to fundamentally influence the esports industry as a whole, from broadcast production quality to the business models of franchised leagues.

Over the course of its existence, the game has undergone a number of deep transformations - a completely reworked map, new game systems, and visual modernization of older champions - yet it has retained the basic principle that made it famous. Riot Games gradually built the entire Riot Games brand out of League of Legends, encompassing other titles set in the same world, which further strengthened community loyalty. League of Legends still ranks among the most-played games on computers today, even considering its steep learning curve and the large number of champions players need to know.

Why play it: For those seeking one of the most-played computer games ever - it has undergone deep transformations over the years but has retained the principle that made it famous, albeit with a steep learning curve and dozens of champions.