War of Legends was a massively multiplayer online strategy game set in "a world of ancient Chinese mythology"[1] and was published by Jagex on January 19, 2010.

The aim of the game was to develop the kingdom through the construction and upgrading of buildings in cities, recruit armies with which to defend their cities and attack other players, the research of various skills to perform tasks more effectively and to gather resources with which to pay for these activities.

Gender had a purely cosmetic effect whilst avatar and landscape type altered their abilities in game.

[9] The player started with one city, but with a higher position in the game, they could build 'sub-cities' on flat ground.

Every building was rated by a "level" system, the maximum of which was 30 (Reaching Civic Custodian), but outskirts buildings could go up to the level of 25 with the use of advanced sketches (an in game item), and famous cities (special sub-cities that can't be made by players) could go up to 25 or 30 on both city and outskirts, depending on what type it was.

This protection wore off after the seventh day of play or if their palace (central building) was upgraded to a level of 10 or higher.

War of Legends was released on 19 January 2010 as Jagex's first non-Java based game, and first to feature microtransactions.

[13] While the game was free-to-play, players can choose to purchase a variety of in-game items through the use of the "WoLCash" / Jagex microtransaction system.

For the 2013 anniversary of War of Legends, all old accounts were able to get 1000 WoLCash (or $100) - one of the most significant special event gifts in the game's history.