Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes is a free-to-play and pared-down RPG set in the Star Wars universe. The game’s hub is a cantina that different Star Wars characters visit to fight each other through a holotable game, where the actual game is played. Players collect different characters from the universe, both dark and light side, and lead them into battle. The spoils are then used to upgrade the characters, weapons and gear. Light and dark side battles can be selected right away from the main menu as separate campaigns.
New characters are earned through data cards, which can be earned or purchased to introduce them to the game. Each character has a global level of up to eight stars. Characters have basic attacks tied to weapon and classes combined with class-specific abilities. Battles are played in 3D and are turn-based. Each character has an action and a health meter. The game cycles through the characters on both sides based on the action (turn) meter. The player can choose which target to attack. Abilities include healing, targeting all characters, or the Wookiee Rage that can attract all enemy fire to a single character. Special abilities have a cooldown. There are also passive abilities and leader abilities only available to the leader, but affecting the entire squad. Characters are in a fixed position and cannot be moved around the field. Missions usually consist of multiple battles in succession that need to be completed in one go, with a stronger enemy at the end.
Rewards after battles contain player experience to level up, crystals, shards, credits (the basic currency), training droids and other items. Crystals are for instance used to buy data cards, to gain new characters. Each character has a separate experience and leveling system. Characters can be organized into squads with a maximum of five characters, along with an extra ally from time to time. Training droids are used to train and upgrade characters, improving statistics such as strength, agility and intelligence. Gear can be collected and crafted to unlock new abilities. Players can also look up missions to find specific types of gear, directly from the character screen. Character shards are used to promote a character’s star count and increase their stats. Shards can also be used to summon characters. Optional items can be sold on a market.
Other game elements are sim tickets to skip battles, squad cantina battles with PvP multiplayer, a squad arena and shipments. Crystals are the main premium currency that can be bought with real money. Next to characters and items it can also be used to refill the stamina/energy system right away. Battles consume energy and it takes some time for the energy to refill.
