League of Legends ensures that there’s far more than just the basic Summoner’s Rift game mode available for its players to enjoy, and that includes special maps and modes with unique win conditions.
The iconic five-on-five base game mode that takes place on Summoner’s Rift may be the core of League of Legends, but that doesn’t mean developer Riot Games hasn’t added more variety over the years. From the long-standing ARAM mode to the relatively new mode called Brawl, League of Legends has introduced much in the way of variety since it launched back in 2009. And that’s before even mentioning the game’s many champions.
Players interested in diversifying their experience should check out all the alternate modes and maps that League of Legends has to offer.
In addition to the staple Summoner’s Rift mode, League of Legends has introduced a handful of other maps and modes to the game throughout the years.
Most of the non-Summoner’s Rift modes and maps were introduced for a limited time and aren’t reliably playable throughout the year, though they’re sometimes brought back by Riot developers. Summoner’s Rift and ARAM are playable whenever, thanks to their status as permanent game modes.
Aside from these maps, there’s also the Arena game mode that features a handful of maps that are entirely unique to it. These maps include:
League of Legends has released various game modes throughout the year, with most of them being available for only a limited time.
Not every game mode is equally beloved by the LoL community. While players absolutely love some modes like Arena and URF, the same can’t be said for Brawl, which didn’t see nearly as much traction after its release. Riot usually rotates a handful of popular game modes, ensuring that poorly-received modes of play don’t stick around overly long.
There are a variety of game modes available for LoL players to jump into, and all of them bring something different to the table.
Summoner’s Rift is the classic League of Legends MOBA experience. Two teams of five players match up across three lanes and a broad jungle to battle it out for experience and gold. These resources enable players to level up their champions and purchase valuable items that improve their fighting potential. The goal is to tear down defensive turrets that protect the enemy’s base and then invade to destroy the enemy nexus. Various neutral objectives on Summoner’s Rift help with achieving this.
In addition to being the staple map for the unrated and ranked game modes, Summoner’s Rift also has a relatively new swiftplay mode that cuts down the time it takes to end a match. With faster gold acquisition and no strict requirement to get the last hit on minions, swiftplay is ideal for those who don’t have the time to sit through a complete Summoner’s Rift game.
ARAM is a more straightforward game mode. Five players on each team march their way down a single unified lane without the need to allocate specific roles to players. It essentially removed the jungle and side lanes in exchange for having players just continuously fight in the middle lane, complete with the turrets and inhibitor that come with it.
One major twist is the draft, where players are randomly assigned champions from their pool. Although it’s possible to swap champions with other players, the traditional drafting mechanics are completely absent here. While this mode is usually played on the Howling Abyss map, the map is occasionally swapped out for limited-time event maps like the Bridge of Progress.
Unlike the other staple game modes, which pit teams of five against each other, Arena sees eight teams of two players each battling it out in a tournament format. Matches are randomly assigned, and while there’s a proper drafting process complete with a pick-and-ban phase, any champion in the game has the potential to become overpowered thanks to the number of augments and items available in Arena.
Each team has a starting amount of team health, and that amount drops every time a team loses. Teams that lose all of their points are eliminated, while the last team standing wins the match. From having unique terrain types to introducing features like Power Flowers and the Bloom Bridge, Arena is significantly different compared to the other game modes League of Legends is known for.
As the LoL universe continues to develop, Riot will likely introduce new maps or game modes in the future.
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