6 Things I’ve Learned From Clash Of Clans

I’ve never really been a huge gamer.

I know some people take it to the extremes and buy every new console and game release as soon as they become available.

I’ve never actually owned a console and I’ve never really purchased a game in my life.

I have enjoyed dabbling in a few games over the years, such as; Doom, Unreal Tournament, Red Alert 2, Street Fighter, Mortal Combat (Raiden Wins!), Virtua Fighter 4, Angry Birds, and more recently Words With Friends. However, I’ve found my new gaming passion; and that game is Clash of Clans! 😀

Similar to the idea of Red Alert, you build your village, troops and resources and you attack foes. However, on CoC, you join a clan and assist each other by donating troops which can then be used for either defending the honour of your troop mistresses (or at least, that’s what I call all those women wandering in an out of the town hall; like it’s some kind of harem!), or to attack foes to steal their treasures and resources.

I’ve learned so much from this game, for example, goblins are greedy and healers are hot! 😆 But, aside from all the shenanigans, there’s genuine learning to be had from a game like this.

1. Patience

As you progress in the game, upgrades take longer. I’ve had to become ever more patient to wait for those upgrades to complete. Like anything in life, things are rarely instantaneous. They take time. It has taught me to savour the anticipation and excitement for my upgrades to complete.

Any time I get impatient, they always seem to take longer. When I switch on my patience, the upgrades feel like they happen quickly. So any instance where my impatience kicks in, I remember to switch to patience mode and enjoy the anticipation.

2. Saving

Upgrades require resources. So as well as taking the time to wait for them to build, it also takes time to acquire resources to build. I’ve never been the best with money and saving but I am learning and getting better.

You have to learn the wisest investments to make (defences) as well as the best place to keep your savings (resources). It’s just like having real money in many ways; except there we have no gold coins and big treasure storage units. 🙁

3. The art of war

When I first started attacking other clans I was a rather useless at it. I wasn’t getting anything out of it and most of the time, it was costing me resources. Likewise, when being attacked, my defences were poor and I was losing trophy points all the time.

After repeated failure attempts, my attack strategy is now pretty sound. Although not 100% successful, more often than not I end up making a profit by stealing plenty of resources during the attacks.

Also, after months of trial and error, my village has rock solid defences. The last 8 out of 10 attacks (by players higher ranked than me) I’ve managed to successfully defend against. It’s all as a result from the trial and error. I make mistakes, learn, and get better.

4. Enjoying the ride

Whilst waiting, I’ve grown to enjoy that feeling excitement in anticipation of when those upgrades complete. I’ve actually started to pay attention to that feeling and have come to enjoy it, Rather than wanting the instant gratification.

5. Teamwork

It’s almost impossible to make great achievements without a great team behind you. The ‘London’ clan which I joined a couple of months ago, was purely by accident, but I’m so glad I joined it. It has some amazing people who are really helpful and some who are crazy quick at donating troops. That’s the kind of team you need in real life.

And so, in the spirit of things, I’d just like to give a mention to a few of my amazing comrades: CarnaFauna, Teppan, Horace, OmidMokh, NotMe, Mike, King Chutney Daryl, Emma, il Kil, Janek and Goblin Smacker! 😀

6. Progress

It’s sometimes not so obvious to the beholder that progress has been made. In some ways, I don’t feel as if I’ve come very far. Only when I see the villages of beginners do I then fully grasp how much progress I’ve actually made.

In the same way, unless you benchmark, you won’t know how far you’ve come. Have a system, in your own life that allows you to track progress.

There we have it. So if you’re already playing, bring it, come and ‘ave a go if you think you’re hard enough! 😈

If not, download and play. You never know what you might learn along the way! 🙂

Warning: Clash of Clans is highly addictive and may result in the negligence of friends, careers and loved ones! 😆