CLASH OF CLANS - A CHILDHOOD NOSTALGIA

Back in 2015, when I was in class VI, I used to notice my cousin who seemed to be deeply engaged in his phone. Maybe the company was Xiaomi. While looking at his phone, his emotions used to be changed very frequently. I was very curious then. I asked him several times what the hell he did on his mobile. He did not answer. Later I found there was an app called Clash of Clans with a logo of a bizarre animal. I came to know it was an online game, which means it required mobile data. Sadly, without a SIM, a Micromax AQ5001 model, which was the only smartphone in my house, was unable to provide me the opportunity to play it. So I could not help requesting my brother to show the gameplay. After insisting countless times, he finally agreed with a warning that he would show me the gameplay, but I was strictly prohibited from touching the screen. Days went by. After some days I got the permission to only collect the resources from the collector and to clear the obstacles for gems. I was very addicted to these staff. I became restless when my brother had to leave for Kolkata to pursue his graduation. Internet was a luxury at that time. 1 GB of data would cost you nearly 165 rupees. Being a kid, I had nothing to do but wait for him to come back occasionally so that I could cherish my desire. But fortune smiled on me, and I got access to the internet from an old SIM of my brother. I transferred the game to that Micromax Mobile via Xender. It may sound funny, but I used to recharge 5 rupees for 2G net. But it helped me create my first COC account. One minute, there is another funny thing. I was not aware of Google Play Sign-in or Supercell-connected features. So my 3 months of progress just got lost after uninstalling it. So, before installing it again, I first created my own Gmail account, and no sooner had I installed it again than I connected it to the Supercell ID. New players won't be able to understand how difficult it was that time. The amount of patience a person required to collect gems and resources and wait hours for army training was insane. Some features may sound weird for the newbies, like resources needed for army training and repair of spring traps, bombs, etc. There were multiple barracks. If any building is in update, that means you can't use it. Back then, there were some popular army combinations with respect to every town hall, like Th 8 - Dragon army, Th 9 - Lavaloon or Witch, Th 10 - Miner, and Th 11 - Electro Dragon. Almost all the players dreamt of unlocking Electro Dragon in the barracks and making it level 2 in the laboratory. It was necessary to achieve the champion league to get 2000 gems for unlocking all 5 builders. The lightning spell was for 2 housing spaces. There was a potion called the training potion, which was used to make army training faster. The game was only 63 MB. There was no restriction on building each and every building of the current town hall. One could just reach the 11 with a cannon only. These bases were called engineered bases. It sounds crazy, right? Yes, it is. The evolution of COC is just massive. It can't be denied that this game is replaced by Free Fire, PUBG, etc., online games, but the nostalgia of Clash of Clans hits hard all the time.