Champions Arena is a mobile-first role-playing game (RPG) from Gala Games and OneUniverse that incorporates trading card game and gacha elements—and optional NFTs, too. The game is available for iOS, Android, and Windows PC users.

We recently reviewed Champions Arena and came away largely impressed by the addictive fantasy battle game—and if you’re looking to jump into the game, we’ve put together a guide below with a few key things to know.

Here’s how to get started with Champions Arena.

How to download Champions Arena

The download and install process for Champions Arena is pretty similar regardless of whether you’ll be gaming on iOS, Android, or a PC computer. First, you’ll have to log into Gala Games’ website or make an account. Once you log in, you’ll have the option to connect a crypto wallet if desired—but this is not required to create a Gala account or play the game. Only a Gala Games account is required to access the game.

Once you’ve made a Gala account, PC users can download Champions Arena directly from Gala’s official website. iOS users can download the game from Apple’s App Store on their phones, and Android users can download the game from Google’s Play Store. 

Gamers will have to make sure that they’ve logged into their Gala account recently from the same device they’ll be using to play—otherwise, the login process won’t work. This means mobile users will have to log into their Gala accounts from a mobile web browser, like Safari on iOS or Chrome on Android.

How to buy gems with crypto

Gala Games offers gamers the ability to buy Champions Arena “gems,” one of the game’s synthetic in-game currencies, with crypto or fiat currency via its official website. Players can’t buy gems with crypto inside of the game itself, so mobile and PC users will have to switch to a web browser to make crypto transactions. 

Once on Gala Games’ official website, navigate to the “Games” tab and find the Champions Arena title. Beneath it, there’s a variety of different gem packages that players can buy with many different types of cryptocurrency, including Ethereum (ETH) and GALA tokens. 

Unfortunately, Gala only offers crypto users the option to buy gems as of September 2023. Players looking to purchase other types of in-game bundles—like “summoning tickets” that spawn new characters or “Soulstones” which can upgrade existing characters—will have to buy those using fiat currency within the mobile version of the game. 

How to play Champions Arena

Champions Arena offers three primary game modes: Mayhem, Challenge, and Campaign. The game also has a lot of idle features that allow you to “earn” synthetic currencies, like “gold” and experience (XP), just by logging into the game. 

The primary goal of Champions Arena is to collect playable characters, or Champions, and level them up as much as possible so that you can use four Champions at a time in various team battles.

Champions Arena’s core gameplay centers around a 4v4 battle, where you control 4 characters of your own choosing and select their attacks, defensive moves, or magic spells by combining and playing cards. The Champions and cards come in three colors or factions: yellow (Harmony), red (Destruction), and blue (Prosperity). In most cases, playing a card color that matches that character when it’s their turn will maximize their power.

Champions Arena's synthetic currencies

Paid gems, unpaid gems, gold, Lapis, Mileage Points, Soulstones, multiple rarities of Upgrade Stones, XP points, Essence, and Condition Potions are the game’s many currencies which can be used to purchase or unlock various items or boosts. None of these are cryptocurrencies.

How to get new characters

Players can get new characters in Champions Arena in a few different ways. The game gives new players anywhere from four to eight characters for free pretty quickly after installing the game and reaching different activity achievements.

“Premium Summoning Tickets” are one way to get new characters. These are occasionally gifted to players for free via their inboxes, but can also be purchased in the mobile version’s cash shop in limited quantities per account for about $0.99 each. Premium Summoning Tickets can also be obtained for 30,000 Mileage Points each, which can be earned for free through the Tower of Trial or Mayhem mode. 

Premium summoning guarantees that a Champion will be spawned, but players can’t choose which Champion they’ll get. This is the game’s core gacha mechanic, or randomized loot box-style mechanic. One Premium summon costs one Premium Summoning Ticket or 1,000 gems, which costs about $10.66. However, joining someone’s “Estate,” Champions Arena’s version of guilds, can cut that summoning cost by nearly 50% to 550 gems for a single Premium summon, or 5,500 gems for 10.

Ten Premium Summons will cost 10,000 gems (about $100) if not in someone’s Estate guild. Because gems can be purchased with crypto on Gala’s website, it is therefore possible to effectively buy Champions with crypto.

Normal summoning does not guarantee that a Champion will be spawned, but there is a chance. Normal summoning, which costs fewer gems than Premium or accepts “Normal Summoning Tickets” or 5,000 Mileage Points, will spawn a Champion’s Soulstone 90% of the time and a Champion 10% of the time.

Champion Soulstones are character-specific stones which are required in varying amounts to “Promote” characters, or increase their star level. If a part of an Estate guild, normal summoning costs 110 gems each.

How to level up Champions

There are two “level” measurements that increase a Champion’s power: numerical level and star level. A character’s numerical level can be increased by paying a specified amount of gold in the Champions menu. A character’s star level is increased with a certain amount of character-specific Soulstones as well as a specific amount of Lapis.

Duplicate Champions can be “dismantled” for Soulstones, which can then be used to level up the main character. It’s worth noting that while there is “XP” in Champions Arena, gold, Soulstones, and Lapis are the main items players will need the most to level up and increase the star level of their Champions.

How to upgrade Champions' gear

Upgrading gear in Champions Arena can be done through the Champions menu or the “Equipment” tab in the backpack icon inventory using a varying combination of gold and Upgrade Stones. Excess gear can be dismantled for Upgrade Stones, which can then be used to level up the gear you want to keep. There is a rarity scale for gear and weapons, meaning that rarer gear is more powerful and can only be used by higher-level characters.

How to mint a Champions Arena NFT

Champions Arena characters are not NFTs by default. In fact, it can be pricey to turn your character into an NFT. The cost to turn any character into an NFT varies, as some Champions require just two “Minting Scrolls,” while others require as many as 11. Minting Scrolls are the only in-game currency required to convert a character into an NFT. 

A pack of five Minting Scrolls will cost 20,000 gems, which is about $189-$200 depending on which gem package is purchased. This means that it could cost you anywhere from about $94 to over $400 to mint one Champion as an NFT.  

Overall, Champions Arena is a mobile RPG with lots of idle rewards, “farming” mechanics, and opportunities for both casual and competitive players. While it’s possible to enjoy the game for free, players will find that acquiring characters will take significantly longer. And while Champions Arena offers the ability to convert characters into NFTs, the process is pricey but entirely optional.