Teamfight Manager
- March 1, 2021
- Team Samoyed
- 10h median play time
"Teamfight Manager" is a strategy game where players build and manage their own esports team. Train champions, hire staff, and compete in thrilling match-3 battles to climb the leaderboards. Navigate the challenges of team management, from scheduling matches to managing finances, to become the ultimate Teamfight Manager.
Reviews
- The game features a rich ban/pick phase that adds depth and strategy, making each match engaging.
- Regular patches and new champion releases keep the gameplay fresh and encourage players to adapt their strategies.
- The game is highly addictive, with many players reporting hours of enjoyment and replayability.
- The management aspects of the game are underdeveloped, with little impact from player training and morale.
- Crafting and equipment systems are poorly explained and feel random, leading to frustration.
- The AI can be inconsistent, often making poor decisions that detract from the overall experience.
- gameplay262 mentions
- 26 % positive mentions
- 67 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "Teamfight Manager" is characterized by a compelling core loop centered around player recruitment, strategic drafting, and engaging match simulations, which many players find addictive and enjoyable. However, the experience is marred by opaque mechanics, repetitive elements, and a lack of depth outside the pick/ban phase, leading to mixed feelings about the overall gameplay experience. While the patch system and champion variety keep the meta fresh, many players express a desire for improved clarity and balance in the game's mechanics to enhance long-term enjoyment.
“From the moment I stepped into the high-stakes world of professional esports, I was hooked by the game's immersive gameplay mechanics, strategic depth, and engaging progression system.”
“Balancing player recruitment, team composition, and strategic gameplay tactics kept me challenged and invested in every match, while the game's dynamic AI and realistic simulation of esports competitions added layers of authenticity and excitement.”
“With its intuitive interface, robust customization options, and addictive gameplay loop, 'Teamfight Manager' offers an immersive and rewarding experience that will keep players coming back for more, whether they're seasoned esports veterans or newcomers to the genre.”
“The rest of the game is just bad, tedious, and grindy RNG mechanics which is what you spend 50+% of the game on.”
“Imagine getting Faker on your roster with a start-up team but then, because of the game mechanics, you need to fire him.”
“The game also isn't very long, and 6 hours of rather repetitive gameplay with little depth and mechanics doesn't warrant the price tag in my opinion.”
- grinding58 mentions
- 2 % positive mentions
- 5 % neutral mentions
- 93 % negative mentions
The reviews highlight that the game involves excessive grinding, often making it feel tedious and repetitive, with players spending over 50% of their time on grind-heavy mechanics. While some find the game addictive and enjoyable in short bursts, many express frustration over the lack of options to speed up battles and the overall grindiness that detracts from the fun. Overall, the grinding aspect is seen as a significant drawback, overshadowing the game's potential enjoyment.
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
“Takes way too much grinding before you can actually do anything or have any fun.”
“The rest of the game is just bad, tedious, and grindy RNG mechanics which is what you spend 50+% of the game on.”
“It's grindy - there's too many games per season and they take too long - and the game strategy tends towards too much repetition.”
- replayability42 mentions
- 52 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
Overall, the game boasts high replayability due to its randomized patch system, diverse champion pools, and the thrill of strategic competition. Players appreciate the depth and complexity that encourage repeated playthroughs, although some express a desire for more customization options and meaningful content beyond the initial experience. While many find the game enjoyable and engaging over time, balance issues and the variability of game modes can impact the overall replay value.
“This simple looking game houses far more complexity than it first appears – and the randomized patch system gives it a huge amount of replayability.”
“There is a good amount of replayability with New Game+ though and beating the game usually doesn't unlock all characters, so replay value is still high.”
“The thrill of climbing the ranks and proving your strategic prowess adds immense replay value.”
“The only problem I have is replayability.”
“I know the nerfs are kind of random to promote replayability, but the point is here that the meta for 2vs2 is inherently different to that of 3vs3, so the nerfs don't translate very well at all in that sense.”
“I think they should try to add some other ways to increase replayability once you finish the first playthrough.”
- story40 mentions
- 15 % positive mentions
- 78 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The game's story is often described as an afterthought, with many players finding it lacking depth and coherence, particularly in its underdog premise. While the character customization allows for personal narratives to emerge, the overall plot feels repetitive and disconnected from the gameplay experience. Despite these criticisms, some players appreciate the interesting character dynamics and the fun of creating their own storylines within the game.
“The game has a great learning curve, the characters are interesting, and the balancing system makes it so that in story mode, no character is ever fully irrelevant.”
“Also, it's a nice touch that since you can customize the players, you get to see their own little esports storylines play out and the different identities you end up morphing them into over time.”
“What an underdog story.”
“A low point is the afterthought 'story.'”
“The whole impetus of the story is to train a team from zero to champions, but you just fire all the noobs and import geniuses.”
“I don't care if I would enter the game without knowing the deeply irrelevant, deeply stupid backstory.”
- graphics38 mentions
- 47 % positive mentions
- 45 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game feature a simple, nostalgic pixel art style that many players find charming and fun, enhancing the overall experience. However, some users criticize the bare-bones visuals, particularly in key areas like the player house, suggesting that the graphics may detract from immersion. Overall, while the art style is appreciated for its vibrancy and retro appeal, it may not meet everyone's expectations in terms of detail and complexity.
“The art style is charming and vibrant, with a clean and intuitive interface that makes managing your team a breeze.”
“The graphics are nice and fit the fun and simple mechanics of the game.”
“Nice game retro graphics and a very understandable HUD to make yourself comfortable in games.”
“I should probably add that I found it especially difficult to get into because of the very bare bones graphics. Just look at the player house in the screenshots - that is the screen you'll spend half the game looking at. It's like the developers didn't even try.”
“Found the game surprisingly complex despite the grainy graphics.”
“Downsides: the item crafting mechanic is opaque, RNG-driven, and completely bonkers broken. A lot of the management outside of the draft phase just isn’t very well tuned, and given their team graphics and player names are either actual IRL esports players or barely distinct team logos, the developers are due several visits from irate copyright lawyers.”
- optimization36 mentions
- 11 % positive mentions
- 72 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's optimization is criticized for its lack of impact from player stats on performance, leading to a repetitive and underwhelming experience. While the management aspect offers a gratifying sense of progression, the user experience is marred by buggy AI and a non-fluid interface, making interactions tedious. Frequent patches do provide some balance and meta shifts, but the core optimization issues remain a significant drawback.
“The learning curve is steep but fair, and the sense of progression as you refine your tactics and improve your team's performance is deeply gratifying.”
“Every decision you make off the battlefield has a tangible impact on your team's performance, making the management aspect just as engaging as the battles themselves.”
“The best part of the game is the 'patches' that occur twice an in-game season that buff and nerf characters based on performance.”
“Boring repetitive optimization, probably because of the topic.”
“Attack and defense stats barely affect the performance of the teams despite the many different ways to increase/improve them (i.e. equipment, traits, etc.).”
“However, the UX/UI isn't optimized to make the experience fluid.”
- humor22 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is highlighted by its clever parodies of real esports teams and characters, which many players find amusing. While some users criticize the game's balancing issues, they also appreciate the funny references and the entertaining chaos that ensues during gameplay. Overall, the humor adds a layer of enjoyment, making it a fun experience despite its flaws.
“Cute, well-done pixel art, addicting management system, satisfyingly funny references.”
“The esport team names are hilarious in that they're parodies of actual esports teams, but the names of characters you hire are actual named players; personally, I have seen a lot of big-name League of Legends players.”
“Streamed it to them and we all started cheering and rooting each other on while laughing at each other when our characters did something stupid.”
- music20 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with some players finding it repetitive and irritating, particularly during battles and management segments. While a few appreciate the upbeat and catchy soundtrack that complements the visuals, many express a preference for listening to other music while playing due to the lackluster base soundtrack. Overall, the sound design is noted to enhance the experience, but the music itself is often seen as a drawback.
“The sound design complements the visuals perfectly, with upbeat music and satisfying sound effects that enhance the overall experience.”
“From player customization to planning who masters what character, this game is full of enjoyable little bits of content served up with an adorable 16-bit style and catchy soundtrack.”
“Music good.”
“The music is very bare-bones, and battle sounds like a random noise spam.”
“Unskippable fights, an unnecessary crafting system, and repetitive music make this a pretty unenjoyable experience for me.”
“Teamfight Manager's base soundtrack is lacking in my opinion; I generally listen to other music while playing.”
- stability4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game's stability is heavily criticized, with players reporting numerous bugs and frustrating AI behavior, such as champions failing to activate their ultimates, units changing targets unexpectedly, and abilities occasionally dealing no damage. These issues significantly impact gameplay, leading to lost matches and a frustrating experience overall.
“Buggy AI will cost you a lot of matches, stuttering and not attacking.”
- emotional4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players find the game to be an emotional rollercoaster, as strategic decisions can lead to exhilarating victories or devastating losses. The tension of last-minute kills amplifies feelings of joy or regret, highlighting the impact of teamwork and individual performance on the overall experience.
“Learning what's strong and weak and using your team's strengths when you can makes this game exciting and heartbreaking to see if your team can win or lose.”
“A last-minute kill either giving you the win or loss is often a massive emotional rollercoaster that either makes you glad you took the tactical gamble or self-pitying that you second-guessed a team member's ability.”
- atmosphere2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Reviewers highlight the game's impressive attention to detail, noting the dynamic animations of champions during battles and the vibrant atmosphere of the esports arenas, which collectively enhance the overall immersive experience.
“The attention to detail is evident, from the animations of champions in battle to the lively atmosphere of the esports arenas.”
- character development2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Character development is heavily influenced by player choices, with a focus on meaningful decisions that impact the progression and training of characters, ensuring a challenging experience without shortcuts to success.
“Many choices matter, from player training to character development; there isn't really a 'loop-hole' for an easy win.”