32 Best Free MOBA Games to Play Right Now (2023)

“MOBA” stands for “Multiplayer Online Battle Arena” and usually describes a competitive game where teams of players compete to either destroy the opposing team or destroy structures on the map that are held by the opposing team. Typically, each player controls one specific character with unique skills and abilities and use these abilities to assist their team in winning a match.

MOBA titles commonly have similar features like “lanes” (or paths that go from one side of the match map to the other), structures that each team controls that need to be destroyed, and “creeps” which are AI controlled minions that assist with pushing the match forward and assist players in taking objectives on the map.

An interesting fact about the MOBA genre is that it was created by players. Starting as player created modifications in both Starcraft and Warcraft III maps, this style of gameplay then exploded as developers picked up the modes and started creating their own full versions of the genre.

There is also a spinoff of MOBA games usually referred to as “auto-battlers.” These games often have lanes like MOBAs and similar objectives, but instead of team-based play, these games usually feature 1-on-1 battles where players spawn AI-controlled units that then walk their lane and perform dedicated functions. The strategy element in these games usually comes down to players pre-constructing loadouts of units that will give them the best winning setup.