''Gears Pop!'' was a mobile

real-time strategy Real-time strategy (RTS) is a Video game genre, subgenre of strategy video games that do not progress incrementally in turn-based game, turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time". By contrast, in Turn-based strategy, turn ...

video game in which two players battle using

Funko Pop! Funko Inc. is an American company that manufactures licensed and limited pop culture collectibles, best known for its licensed vinyl figurines and bobbleheads. In addition, the company produces licensed plush, action figures, apparel, accessories ...

-stylized characters from the ''

Gears A gear is a rotating circular machine part having cut teeth or, in the case of a cogwheel or gearwheel, inserted teeth (called ''cogs''), which mesh with another (compatible) toothed part to transmit (convert) torque and speed. The basic p ...

'' fictional universe. Its gameplay was modeled on that of ''

Clash Royale ''Clash Royale'' is a free-to-play real-time strategy video game developed and published by Supercell. The game combines elements from collectible card games, tower defense, and multiplayer online battle arena. The game was released globally ...

''. The game released in August 2019 on

Android Android may refer to: Science and technology * Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system ** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

, and

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

platforms, about a month in advance of the next major entry in the series, ''

Gears 5 ''Gears 5'' is a 2019 third-person shooter video game developed by The Coalition and published by Xbox Game Studios for Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X, Xbox Series X/S. It is the fifth main installment of the ''Gears of War'' series and t ...

''. The game was developed by UK-based developer

Mediatonic Mediatonic Limited is a British video game developer based in London. The company was founded in September 2005 by Brunel University students Dave Bailey and Paul Croft, releasing their first game, ''Snowman Salvage'' in December that year. Ini ...

along with The Coalition.

Gameplay

In ''Gears Pop'', two players battle by playing tokens on a playfield, which spawned

Funko Pop Funko Inc. is an American company that manufactures licensed and limited pop culture collectibles, best known for its licensed vinyl figurines and bobbleheads. In addition, the company produces licensed plush, action figures, apparel, accessori ...

-stylized characters from the ''

Gears of War ''Gears of War'' is a media franchise centered on a series of video games created by Epic Games, developed and managed by The Coalition, and owned and published by Xbox Game Studios. The franchise is best known for its third-person shooter vide ...

'' fictional universe. The characters used cover points to advance on the enemy's two defense turrets and home base before the opponent accomplishes the same. Apart from its cover mechanics, its gameplay heavily resembled that of ''

''. The game was

free-to-play Free-to-play (F2P or FtP) video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content without paying or do not require paying to continue playing. Free-to-play is distinct from traditional commercial software, which ...

and used

microtransactions Microtransactions, often abbreviated as mtx, are a business model where users can purchase virtual goods with micropayments. Microtransactions are often used in free-to-play games to provide a revenue source for the developers. While microtransact ...

. It was one of the few mobile games to feature Xbox achievement compatibility.

Development

The game was announced at

E3 2018 The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2018 (E3 2018) was the 24th E3, during which hardware manufacturers, software developers, and publishers from the video game industry presented new and upcoming products to the attendees, primarily retailers a ...

and was released on August 22, 2019, on

, and

platforms, about a month prior to the next major release in the series, ''

''. The servers for the game were shut down in April 2021.

Reception

''Gears Pop'' received "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

. ''

Pocket Gamer ''Pocket Gamer'' is a video game website that focuses on mobile, portable and handheld games. The site launched in 2005 and is published and owned by UK company Steel Media Ltd. The site covers all major portable and mobile gaming formats, incl ...

'' gave the game three stars out of five, writing, "Gears POP! is a decent mobile strategy game, one which can keep your attention for hours thanks to online play, but it's not the best in its genre either." Within a week of launch, ''Gears Pop'' had over one million users.

References

External links

* 2019 video games Products and services discontinued in 2021 Android (operating system) games IOS games Windows games Gears of War Real-time strategy video games Multiplayer video games Sentient toys in fiction Video games about toys Video game spin-offs Video games developed in the United Kingdom Video games set on fictional planets Delisted digital-only games Inactive multiplayer online games {{videogame-stub