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Clash of Clans is a mobile freemium strategy video game from Supercell, a video game company based in Helsinki, Finland. An interactive game, players can use the chat feature to communicate with others and join clans to aid each other. Clash of Clans is a popular iPad/iPhone/iPod/Android game. It has been available internationally on the iTunes store for free since its initial v1.7 release on 2 August 2012, and on the Google Play Store since 8 October 2013. Clash of Clans is a strategy game where players can construct and expand one's village, unlock successively more powerful warriors and defenses, raid and pillage resources from other villages, create and join Clans and much, much more. Although Clash of Clans is Free-to-Play, additional in-game currency can be purchased for real money from the Apple App Store/Google Play Store in the form of In-App Purchases. However, all features of the game are open to players who choose not to make In-App Purchases.

Purchasing gems via credit card helps players advance faster in the game. The pay-to-advance feature has proved lucrative for Supercell's two iOS applications. Clash of Clans and Hay Day were reportedly generating $2.4 million per day for the company in the first half of 2013. Clash of Clans has been a top 5 download since December, 2012. The success of the game was described as being part of the ushering in of a new era in conjoint gaming.

On September 30, 2013, the game quietly soft-launched on Android in Canada and Finland.

On October 7, 2013, a week after the beta release in Canada and Finland, Supercell quietly released Clash of Clans to all other international Google Play Stores.

Supercell has, in a matter of three years, risen from obscurity to a 3 billion dollar valuation company that now directly competes with Rovio, creator of Angry Bird series, in the Finish gaming market.

Gameplay
Clash of Clans is an online multiplayer strategy game. Players build their village by purchasing items from the in-game shop using currencies such as gold, elixir, dark elixir, and gems.

By upgrading their buildings, they unlock new items and expand their capabilities. Training troops (who can also be upgraded to give more damage and health) and attacking other players villages gains the player additional resources to fund their village upgrades. They can also build and upgrade their village defences to guard against attacks from other players. Clash of Clans is a freemium app; although free to download and play, players can pay real-world money to advance more rapidly.

Players can select how many of each type of troops they wish to train, all for the price of 'elixir' or 'dark elixir'. These troops can then be used to attack other players online to gain more gold, elixir, and dark elixir. They can also be used to attack the goblins in the campaign portion of the game. The campaign mode offers gold and 'elixir' to be raided, however players gain no trophies from destroying villages in this game mode. They will not defend your village. Only the clan castle troops and the heroes are able to protect your village.

Accumulating trophies is the end goal in the game. Although gold and elixirs are important for players to build up their villages, a high trophy count can allow players into more "elite" clans. Higher trophies can also lead to more lucrative rewards after battle.

Troops
Players can train fifteen different troop types and two heroes to use in the multiplayer and campaign modes.

The troops have various training times and 'elixir' costs to have them trained. As a player upgrades troops in the 'Laboratory', both training time and cost rise with every subsequent upgrade.

Along with the normal troops that are trained in the 'Barracks', there are additional troop types that are trained in the 'Dark Barracks' and cost 'dark elixir' to train.

Barracks troops

 * Barbarians
 * Archers
 * Goblins
 * Giants
 * Wall Breakers
 * Balloons
 * Wizards
 * Healers
 * Dragons
 * P.E.K.K.A.

Dark Barracks troops

 * Minions
 * Hog Riders
 * Valkyrie
 * Golem
 * Witch

Heroes
Players can also attain a Barbarian King and Archer Queen once their town hall has been upgraded to the proper level. The Barbarian King and Archer Queen can be used for both attacking an opponent and defending one's village during an attack. These heroes are said to have been merely a Barbarian and an Archer who accidentally absorbed 'dark elixir' and have now turned into heroes with incredible strength and health. They can be upgraded (to a maximum level of 40) with dark elixir, each upgrade costing more each time.

Spells
Spells are also a part of a players arsenal when attacking opponents villages. Like troops, spells take a certain amount of time to create in the 'Spell Factory', depending on the amount of times a spell has been upgraded, as well as which spell it is. Unlike troops, spells are cast in certain areas of an enemy's village and have a limited area of effect. They either cause damage to the enemy defenses or help the attacking player's troops, giving them things such as more health or more strength. Also, spells are created at the cost of a player's gold, not 'elixir'.

Gems
Players can also buy, for real money, an in-game premium currency called gems. Gems enable players to instantly complete building upgrades, as well as to speed up troop-training and resource-collecting. By using gems to buy large amounts of the regular in-game currencies of gold, elixir or dark elixir, the player shortens wait times for their mines to produce sellable product, and eliminates the need to raid other villages to acquire it. It is also possible to earn a limited amount of gems by completing achievements and clearing in-game obstacles such as trees, rocks and mushrooms. Gems cannot be stolen from other players when raiding. Players start out with 500 gems.

Clans
There is also a co-operative element of the game. Once a player has rebuilt the Clan Castle ruins in his or her village, they can choose to establish or join a clan with other players. Once in a clan, the player can chat with and donate troops to other clan members and can be promoted by the clan leader or clan elder. The donated troops may be used either offensively or defensively. Clans have three different categories: Closed, Invite only, and Anyone can join. Closed means players are unable to join the selected clan at the current time. Invite only means players must either be invited to join the clan or they must request to join the clan. In which case the leader or a clan elder will either accept or deny the request. The final clan type of Anyone can join simply involves clicking Join Clan as long as there is open space in the clan and the player fits the requirements. All clans have a 50 member limit and may choose to invoke other regulations as including a minimum amount of trophies to join and a minimum amount of donations per season (two weeks).

Despite being called Clash of Clans, clans cannot actually face off against each other.

Future of Supercell
After the massive success of Clash of Clans and Hay Day, Supercell has been the subject of a majority stake takeover by Japanese telecommunications giant, SoftBank. SoftBank, along with GungHo Online Entertainment, a company it holds a majority stake in, have signed a deal with Finland-based Supercell to acquire 51 percent of the developer for $1.53 billion. According to SoftBank, Supercell will continue to operate independently, but will become a SoftBank subsidiary.