Gears Pop! Critic Reviews

Gears POP! delivers the exact same formula of Clash Royale with a couple of twists and some nice ideas on how to bring the Funko POP! figures in a mobile game.

Gears Pop! is another great addition to the tower defense genre, offering an unexpectedly good mix of two very different franchises.

Gears POP is without any doubt a fun experience that clearly is not born to overshadow the main series, but simply to expand the shared universe, finding a point of contact between the much more famous Clash Royale and the typical elements of the COG saga. That said, almost all of the elements are identical to the Supercell production formula, and the horde alone, at such an embryonic level, is not enough to give its own identity to the title, assuming that this, one day, may be its goal.

You can have fun with Gears POP, especially in the first few sessions, but the loot boxes and the wait to discover their contents are an unpleasant and tedious mechanism for those who don't want to pay extra money.

Gears POP! is a mixed bag. We appreciate the attempt to change up the Clash Royale formula, but we won’t personally make the transition. Gears POP! is a busier, less balanced, and uglier game with an unsatisfying cover system that doesn’t do enough to change up the formula.

It’s fun to play and early progression is swift and reasonably satisfying. The problem is that it’s nowhere near as good as Clash Royale, with less identifiable units, a clunkier interface, and a slower pace of play.

An honourable attempt to try something new in the genre of mobile strategies, a solid game in every way which guarantees a few hours of fun. But please, no more giant heads next time.

It's such a shame things ended up this way. Gears POP! is actually a lot of fun, and it's a great casual entry in the Gears universe that makes good use of the license as well as the Funko POP! tie-in. But the egregious usage of free-to-play mechanics take what could have been a simple pick-up-and-play game and transform it into a cash grab that almost demands you spend cash to proceed.