Garena (AKA League of Legends' SEA distributor) has recently entered the mobile market with House of Heroes, a fun little Trading Card title that also happens to feature the cast of Warcraft 3: DotA in doe-eyed trading card form. Strangely enough, the game has more plot than the title it's based on, with Lina calling her "Buddies" to help fight off Lich, Pudge and other baddies that kicked her precious sheep for no apparent reason. That's literally what happens, I swear I'm not making that up.
Gameplay-wise, it's your typical Rage of Bahamut-style collect-n-crash mobile title, and not a Hearthstone or Magic: The Gathering-esque affair. That being said, it's got more polish and personality than your average mobile TCG, and I happened to enjoy the silliness of it all quite a bit. I could never get behind most of these "super srs" mobile card games that promise "Epic Titan Action" or whatever and never end up delivering. And while most mobile card games constantly spam requests to "share the legend on facebook and twitter," House of Heroes is mercifully silent in this regard. In fact, translation issues aside, it's probably the best Bahamut clone out there, though admittedly that's not really saying much.
While it may seem a bit shaky from a US legal perspective, It's worth noting that this card game is essentially a parody, and while people might laugh at "these foreign games ripping off DotA," I can list of plenty of games made here in good 'ol 'Murica that essentially do the same. It's cute, harmless and certainly worth a play for anyone interested in DotA and all things kawaii. And at the very least, it didn't pressure me to buy pointless "Canadough" or "play now, my lord". And any mobile title that doesn't instantly remind me of The Canadian Devil is worthy of at least a pat on the back for the effort.
"House of Heroes" is available for download on iOS and Android.
