League of Legends often has small games in the launcher that are implemented for specific events. Now, Riot is taking a step further and even introducing a Roguelike with the latest patch. However, those who only want to play the new mini-game will quickly be disappointed.
What kind of game is this? Since the last patch, there is the game The Demon Hand in the LoL launcher. It’s automatically included; you just need to have the latest patch installed. The game is reminiscent in its structure of Steam hits like Balatro or Inscryption.
In The Demon Hand, you have to defeat an enemy card each round by combining cards, playing them, and enhancing them with certain passive abilities. This is similar to Balatro and the jokers. Many players seem to have fun with it, but those who want to progress must play regular League of Legends.
If you want more difficulty levels, you need to dive into the multiplayer of LoL
How does progression work in the game? Basically, the game is turn-based, just like classic roguelikes. If you want to unlock additional difficulty levels beyond the easy one, you have to play the normal LoL modes. With 8 or 16 so-called seals, you unlock the two higher difficulty levels.
As Gamesradar reports, these seals do not seem to drop after a specific number of matches. This is also one of the points of criticism from the community, which generally finds the mode quite good.
What does the community say about The Demon Hand? In a Reddit thread with currently over 1,200 upvotes and more than 200 comments (as of March 21, 2025, 10:20), players are discussing the new game mode. It is generally well received, although there are two major points of criticism.
- bobanobahoba (via Reddit) praises the game and compares it to Balatro:
Honestly, it captures a reasonable portion of the fun (and maybe even more) of crafting in Balatro, even though it has none of that deck-building.
- TheAnnibal (via Reddit) found his first round generally good but criticized the game’s performance:
I loved the first run, but it has SERIOUS performance issues
- Also, Topline1 (via Reddit) likes the game but criticizes the progression:
People like me who play League only occasionally can’t play the other modes because unlocking the seals takes so many games and so much time… That’s the only bad thing about this mini-game.
Overall, the game seems to be well received, although many feel it could have been implemented differently at best.
What do you think of The Demon Hand? Have you played the mini-game and how do you like it? Feel free to share your opinions in the comments. The latest new modes and mini-games seem to be well received by the community. After Swarm, Riot was able to draw a positive conclusion: League of Legends is experiencing a third spring thanks to Arena and Swarm, changing its strategy for the future
