Heroes of Dragon Age

Premise

Heroes of Dragon Age explores alternative outcomes to pivotal moments from the series' plot lines, serving as the backdrop for up to 16 single-player quests. These self-contained maps revisit events such as the Fifth Blight or the fall of the ancient elven capital of Arlathan, drawing from the main games, novels, and codex entries. Players collect 3D figurines of characters—ranging from common soldiers to unique figures like Alistair and Morrigan—and form squads to battle AI or player-controlled enemies. Post-launch updates added characters from Dragon Age: Inquisition and other recent media.

Development

EA announced Heroes of Dragon Age for mobile platforms in August 2013. Producer Tim Lander led a 30-person team at EA Capital Games, developing the game for about a year before launch. He described the freemium model as a time-versus-money trade-off, stating that money only accelerates access to rewards and that all content is accessible through play alone. Executive Producer Jeferson Valadares emphasized fairness, noting that spending money only increases the odds of obtaining rare characters. The developers chose not to include original story content or a tie-in to Dragon Age: Inquisition, leaving such material to BioWare, though Lander did not rule out future story additions if they made sense and involved close collaboration with BioWare. The team committed to ongoing support with new characters, features, and community engagement.

Reception

Heroes of Dragon Age received mixed reviews, with a Metacritic score of 59/100 based on nine reviews. Dan Whitehead of Eurogamer noted that while the mechanics suggest depth and strategy, the lack of player input in battlefield tactics makes engagement difficult, and the game walks an awkward middle ground between free-to-play and pay-to-win. He compared it favorably to Dungeon Keeper Mobile, saying it does not get it as wrong, but opined that more faith in players' strategic abilities could have made it genuinely good.

Scott Nichols of Digital Spy highlighted the focus on collecting character figurines, finding it addictive for dedicated fans but advising them to set expectations accordingly. Leif Johnson of MacLife praised the visuals, music, and lore-rich campaigns, as well as the consume-and-combine mechanic, but criticized the lack of battle interaction and an overly limiting stamina bar.