“Hop on Brawl” is a phrase heard commonly at Berkeley High School. Emerging from the popular video game Brawl Stars, it’s a way for friends to tell each other that they want to play. Brawl Stars was designed by the Finnish video mobile game company Supercell, who has raised our generation on their games. Creating popular games such as Clash of Clans, Hayday, and Clash Royale, they have amassed a total of 200 million monthly players across all of their platforms. In 2018, they released the mobile game Brawl Stars, which has slowly taken the mobile game platform by storm.
“It’s just really portable, you know, wherever I am, I’ve got my phone. I can just get it out and I can say to my friends ‘boys, let’s brawl,’” Max Zoidis, a junior at BHS said.
At BHS, the game is very popular among all students, due to its simplicity, availability, and ability to play with friends. “Last year and the beginning of this year, almost everyone I knew played Brawl Stars,” Will Herndon, a BHS junior, said.
The game requires little effort to learn due to its simplistic controls and self explanatory game modes. As a result, it appeals to a wide range of students and people, of all ages and genders. When walking into classes or down the halls at BHS, it’s almost a guarantee you will see someone playing the game.
The gameplay consists of a multiplayer battle royale, with many different game modes and ways to play. “Basically, it’s a combat game with different characters you can unlock. These characters have different abilities, and overall just a really fun game,” Herndon said.
“You’re controlling a character, and a bunch of characters go into a map, and the object of the game is to eliminate the other characters and be the last one standing,” Zoidis said.
However, the game is also extremely popular because of the community it creates. With one click of a button you can invite friends to your party and play together, whether or not you are next to each other, or across the world. “I enjoy playing Brawl Stars because of the camaraderie of course, playing with my friends is a fun way to bond,” Zoidis said. The game’s features also allow for up to 10 friends to play together all at once in a competitive match.
On the other hand, Brawl Stars has been known to negatively impact student’s ability to focus in class, as well as to cause disruptions. “Probably every single time I’ve worked with my friend in class, he spends the entire time playing Brawl Stars. That’s been a pretty bad experience because then I have to do double the work,” BHS junior Sophia Nishioka said. This can lead to a decline in grades, and affect players’ academics.
Nishioka is also co-president of the Berkeley Community Works club at BHS. While clubs have more casual meetings, interruptions can still be irritating.
“People are on their phones in clubs. That’s just a reality. I don’t have a problem with that as long as you’re quiet. However, the people in my club that play Brawl Stars will scream periodically and get up from their seats and cause a disruption. And that’s really a problem for me because when I’m trying to tell people what to do, they’re screaming, they’re getting all mad and I have to take the phones away just so everyone can focus,” Nishioka said.
With its ups and downs, Brawl Stars has been a prominent part of the BHS community. Its fun, addictive, and easy nature has attracted countless players and helped form many friendships. However, with finals on the horizon, it may be time to stop brawling and start studying.