Exclusive Trailer: Clash Royale: The Grand Arena Board Game and Kickstarter Reveal

Maestro Media has just announced a new board game adaptation of the popular mobile game Clash Royale. Now, IGN can exclusively reveal that Maestro Media will launch a Kickstarter campaign this month to support the final product: Clash Royale: The Grand Arena.

Set to launch on October 20, the Kickstarter follows the successful funding of Maestro's previous collaboration with Supercell, Clash of Clans: The Epic Raid. Ahead of the campaign, we had the chance to speak with board game director David Gordon about how the team approached bringing mobile to the table.

First, we learned a little more about what to expect from the board game itself, which you can preview in this exclusive trailer:

Grand Arena generally adapts the deck and strategy elements of the mobile app into a board game. Yes, that means fans can finally build Clash Royale decks with real cardboard.

The board game is designed for two to four players. Each player controls their own forces, which consist of eight-card decks built around a chosen champion. The cards are based on the mobile game's card roster, many of which feature characters and items that harken back to the original Clash of Clans era.

In the game, players take turns trying to destroy other players' towers while protecting their own. The board has two lanes, and players must determine exactly where to play cards to attack, set up defensive units, and use items, nor can players endlessly rotate through their cards, as moves are limited by Clash's classic resource, Elixir.

Destroying another player's tower earns you a crown, and the player with the most crowns at the end wins.

Sound familiar? It should at least be for Clash Royale fans. Maestro Media put serious thought into the translation of mobile gameplay.

The important thing was that a strategy game fan who had never played the video game would find the tabletop version fun

We asked the game's director, David Gordon, how the team approached game design and found that it was a process of trial and error: “We tried mechanisms like real-time real-time play, multiple cube placement and simultaneous reveal, as well as various strategies to minimize admin for players. Ultimately, we found that focusing on spending elixir in a turn-based card game system made for a fun experience that felt more like a video game experience.

That being said, the team behind The Grand Arena was tired of designing a game that would only appeal to die-hard Clash fans. During the game's development, they tested the Grand Arena with both Clash veterans and those new to the Supercell franchise. In Gordon's words, "It was important that a strategy game fan who had never played the video game would find the tabletop version fun - and hopefully even encourage them to give the video game a try!"

Grand Arena will join Maestro Media's previous release, Clash of Clans: The Epic Raid, which was successfully backed on Kickstarter in 2025 and is now available from retailers such as Amazon and Target.

Blythe (She) is an Audience Development Coordinator at IGN who spends a lot of time on character customization screens and tracking collectibles.