Looking for a beginner’s Brawl Stars guide to get you started? Whether you’re wondering how to download the game or are looking for some tips to help you along the way, we’re here to help, diving into all the different game modes, controls and mechanics, how to progress through the Brawl Pass, and more.
Combining elements of all our favorite MOBAs and battle royale games, Brawl Stars revolves around fast-paced, three-minute matches, making it one of the best mobile games to pick up and play on the go. Plus, its vibrant, stylized graphics make it easy to run regardless of whether you’ve got one of the best gaming phones or a more humble budget device. So let’s dive into everything you need to know to kick off the battle in style.
Here’s everything in our Brawl Stars guide:
What is Brawl Stars?
Brawl Stars is a third-person, top-down hero shooter that released worldwide on 12 December, 2018. Developed and published by gaming giant Supercell, Brawl Stars is made for mobile, it offering a variety of PvP MOBA and battle royale game modes that you can dive into solo or with friends. Each match generally lasts less than three minutes, so it’s perfect to pick up and play on the go.
As you progress through the game, you get the opportunity to unlock and upgrade dozens of Brawl Stars brawlers across seven different classes, each with their own super abilities, star powers, and gadgets. You can also customize your favorite brawlers by collecting unique skins along the way.
How to download Brawl Stars
Before you get into the brawl and become a star, you’ve gotta download the game! You can download Brawl Stars on Android via Google Play or iOS via the App Store. Simply hit ‘install’ or ‘get’, boot up the game, and follow the directions on the screen to get started.
Can I install Brawl Stars on PC?
Unfortunately, Brawl Stars is not officially available on PC or Mac. However, you can download a well-known and safe Android emulator like LD Player or Bluestacks, which allows you to access Google Play and download Brawl Stars on your PC.
Please be mindful when downloading APKs or programs from third party sites – some sites claim to offer Brawl Stars PC downloads, but may instead come with malicious files that could infect your PC and steal your information.
Brawl Stars game modes
Brawl Stars features a variety of different game modes that revolve around different team sizes and objectives. Here are all of the main Brawl Stars game modes:
Showdown and Duo Showdown
Fight alone or with a partner as you aim to be the last brawler(s) standing in the Showdown Arena.
Gem Grab
A 3v3 battle where your goal is to collect ten gems and hold out until the end of the timer. The team with the most gems when time runs out wins.
Brawl Ball
A 3v3 match where you must take the ball to the opposing team’s goal to score. The first team to score two goals wins.
Knockout
Defeat the opposing team in a best-of-three Knockout round contest. If you’re defeated, you stay out until the next round. After a set amount of time, poison clouds begin to cover the map – so think fast!
Wipeout
A 3v3 struggle where you collect points by defeating opponents. The first team to reach ten points wins.
Basket Brawl
A 3v3 match where your team must fight for possession of the basketball and shoot for the enemy hoop. Any shot scored from behind the line is worth three points, while any shot scored from inside the line is worth two points. The match ends when a team scores five points or the timer runs out.
Duels
A 1v1 battle where both participants fight with a trio of chosen brawlers. After each round, the victor gets to keep their brawler for the next round, while the loser’s brawler is eliminated. When one participant runs out of brawlers, the other wins.
Bounty
A 3v3 match where teams defeat enemies for stars. The more brawlers you vanquish, the more stars you earn and the greater the bounty on your head. The first team to reach 20 stars wins. If the brawl ends in a tie, a final blue star serves as the tiebreaker.
Hot Zone
A 3v3 battle where your team needs to occupy one or more zones faster than the enemy team in order to win.
Heist
A 3v3 battle where you have to take down the enemy team’s safe before they take down yours.
Paint Brawl
A 3v3 battle where each team must pick up a paint ball or defeat members of the opposing team to paint the ground with their team color. The first team to cover enough area to reach 100% wins.
Ranked
After obtaining 1k trophies, you can unlock ranked mode. Like other competitive PvP games, the ranked season is a high-intensity competition where you battle it out on random maps to increase your rank score. Win ranked matches to climb the ranks and earn exclusive skins and other goodies. You can learn more about Brawl Stars ranked mode on the official website.
Event modes
In addition to the base modes noted above, there are also a variety of different game modes tied to limited-time events. Some allow you to play the base game modes in 5v5 instead of 3v3, while others introduce new modes such as the PvE Robo Rumble, the 1v5 Big Game battle, and more. Be sure to keep an eye on our Brawl Stars events guide to find out more.
Brawl Stars gameplay
Just starting out in Brawl Stars? Here’s a quick rundown of the gameplay and mechanics to help you get off on the right foot.
Controls
In Brawl Stars, you control your brawler by dragging your finger on the left side of the screen to move the virtual joystick. To attack, drag your finger over the red joystick on the right side of the screen to aim, then release to fire your attack. Alternatively, you can tap the attack joystick to perform auto-aimed quick-fire attacks, prompting your brawler to fire at the nearest damageable target.
Outside of the normal attack, each brawler also has a powerful super ability, which you must charge up by hitting enemy brawlers. Once fully charged, you can activate it by using the yellow joystick with a skull icon (located below the attack joystick). Similar to a regular attack, you can tap the yellow joystick to auto-fire, or you can drag it to aim. You don’t lose your super’s charge if your brawler is defeated.
Display
There are two to three status bars located above your brawler’s head. The top is your brawler’s health bar, which drops when your brawler takes damage. If you don’t attack or take damage for three seconds, your brawlers health starts to regenerate over time for up to 13% of their max health.
The second bar is split into segments that show how many attacks that your brawler has ready, with most brawlers having a maximum of three segments. Each attack empties one segment, and the segments recharge over time.
The third bar at the bottom appears on some brawlers as a countdown of the time duration of a gadget or certain star power. It’s yellow when charging, and red when fully charged.
Mechanics
In addition to attacks and super abilities, brawlers also have one or two selectable gadgets, two star powers, and a hypercharge. Here’s a brief rundown of each of them:
- Gadgets – limited-use active abilities that you can unlock for each brawler after they reach power level seven. All gadgets have three uses and a five-second cooldown between uses, and you can activate them by hitting the gadget button. Unless otherwise stated, gadgets don’t charge up a brawler’s super, and they don’t reveal your brawler if they’re hidden in a bush
- Gears – passive abilities unique to each brawler that you can unlock after they reach power level eight. When a brawler gets to level ten, you can equip them with two gears at once
- Star powers – passive abilities that you can unlock for each brawler after they reach power level nine. They have no cooldown, don’t require a button to activate, and you can use them indefinitely. Star powers that actively deal damage to an enemy, heal, or raise the brawler’s max health reveal your brawler if they’re hidden in a bush
- Hypercharges – active abilities that you can unlock for each brawler after they reach power level 11. The main way to charge your hypercharge is by hitting enemy brawlers. Once fully charged, you can activate it by hitting the purple button on the right side of the screen. Hypercharges last for five seconds, have no cooldown (beyond their charge), and you can use them as many times as you want. When you activate a hypercharge, your brawler gains a purple flame visual effect, additional Supers abilities, and additional shield, speed, and damage boosts. Using a hypercharge doesn’t reveal your brawler if they’re hidden in a bush
In addition to all of the above, some brawlers also have a trait, which is a passive ability that is active regardless of the brawler’s power level.
How to Brawl
When you’re ready to jump into a match, you can do so by heading to the Brawl tab. There, you can select which game mode you want to play.
Playing matches earns you XP from your XP bank, which in turn allows you to progress through the Brawl Pass. The XP bank can hold up to 200 XP at a time, with 20 XP regenerating every two hours and 24 minutes. If you earn all 200 XP in the bank, you have to wait for it to regenerate before you can earn more.
What’s the Brawl Stars Brawl Pass?
The Brawl Stars Brawl Pass is a progression system that allows you to earn rewards as you gain XP. It consists of a free track, which is available to all players, and a premium track, which requires a real-money purchase.
The Brawl Pass refreshes each season, and consists of 50 tiers. Each tier rewards you with goodies, including gems, power points, coins, credits, and starr drops. If you purchase the premium Brawl Pass, you can unlock additional rewards including one exclusive skin, pins, profile icons, and sprays, as well as additional standard rewards.
The main way to progress through the Brawl Pass is by playing matches to earn XP, though there are also special Brawl Pass quests for each season. These quests can each reward you with an additional 200 to 1k XP, and generally revolve around targets like winning matches or defeating enemies either in a specific game mode or while using a specific brawler.
Can you download Brawl Stars mods?
We strongly recommend that you don’t download any Brawl Stars mods or hacks. Firstly, modded APKs can be incredibly unsafe, and can come with malicious files or malware that can steal your personal information. Secondly, as it’s an online game, using Brawl Stars hacks or mods can get your account banned. So, unfortunately, it’s much safer to stick with the old fashioned grind.
Can I get free Brawl Stars gems?
Most sites claiming to give you free Brawl Stars gems are scams, and should be avoided. These sites and downloads can infect your device with a virus or malware, and may steal your personal information.
The only way to legitimately get free Brawl Stars gems without whipping out your wallet is by progressing through the Brawl Pass or by using official Brawl Stars QR codes.
Brawl Stars news
If you want to keep on top of all the latest Brawl Stars news, including patch notes, seasons, and events, you can head over to the official website. You can also follow Brawl Stars on:
And that’s everything in our beginner’s Brawl Stars guide. If you want more action on the go, be sure to check out our list of the best FPS games. Or, for some laid-back fun, be sure to snap up some goodies with our Coin Master free spins and Monopoly Go free dice lists.