Teamfight Tactics' new season introduces an experimental 15-minute mode

Teamfight Tactics reckons with demonic penguins

(Image credit: Riot Games)

Teamfight Tactics is introducing an experimental new gamemode you can fit in a bathroom break, courtesy of next season's new Labs feature.

Riot teased the inclusion of a "simpler, faster" gamemode earlier this year, hinting at a version of TFT that could be played in under 20 minutes. With the reveal of TFT's Reckoning set, the developer has introduced Hyper Roll—a vastly streamlined new mode that arrives as part of a new "Labs" feature for testing new gametypes.

Starting at a meagre 10 health, Hyper Roll will knock you down 1hp (increasing to 2 later on) at the end of every loss. Gold interest has been removed, while sweeping changes have been made to drops, levelling and neutral minion rounds. In short, it sounds very appealing to folks like me, who bounced off autobattlers upon finding they weren't any shorter than a full round of the MOBAs they spun off from.

Reckoning is making some sizeable changes to regular ol' TFT, mind. A new season means new classes, with Reckoning's line-up including Forgotten, Hellion, Nightbringer, Cavalier, Ironclad, Revenant, and Dawnbringer. But the big new feature this time 'round are shadow items—corrupted versions of existing items that promise greater power, at a price.

Shadow Components used to build these items will start appearing in the carousel after round one. But they'll also pop-up in the new Armoury, a shop akin to the existing champion store that'll let you straight-up buy a limited selection of item parts.

Finally, this season's Reckoning Pass introduces new cosmetic booms, little legends and arenas, including two new stages flaunting a live band, beachside grill, and a "win-streak powered spatula". Reckoning begins on April 28th, though the new set will go live on the game's test servers later this week.

20 years ago, Nat played Jet Set Radio Future for the first time, and she's not stopped thinking about games since. Joining PC Gamer in 2020, she comes from three years of freelance reporting at Rock Paper Shotgun, Waypoint, VG247 and more. Embedded in the European indie scene and a part-time game developer herself, Nat is always looking for a new curiosity to scream about—whether it's the next best indie darling, or simply someone modding a Scotmid into Black Mesa. She also unofficially appears in Apex Legends under the pseudonym Horizon.