Horrible wars are a thing of the past. Disputes among nations are now settled by the Institute of War in a series of matches known as the League of Legends.

While not a particularly new game, it’s a constantly changing game that seems to keep those of us in the newsroom who play completely enthralled, much to the chagrin of our adviser. “League of Legends” is for Windows and Macintosh computers and falls under the category of a multiplayer online battle arena, which you may be familiar with if you’ve played games like “Bloodline Champions,” “Heroes of Newerth” or the infamous “Defense of the Ancients.” People in the newsroom have seen us get frustrated, and they wonder why on Earth we keep playing a game that can make us so angry.

The fact of the matter is that a game making people angry is a pretty good sign that the game is good or has the potential to be good. “League of Legends” is a good game that works hard at maintaining balance and fresh content. Think about it: if you were getting frustrated with something but kept doing it, deep down you must really see something worthwhile there.

League of Legends is not just a game of personal skill. It’s a game of strategy, awareness and knowledge of your opponents. Knowing your opponents can be overwhelming for a new player, as at the time of writing this, there are 62 characters available for play, and each character has four abilities and a passive ability. Composing a good team is a must if you intend to play competitively, as five squishy characters aren’t going to do well against a better-composed team of equally skilled players.

While it may seem overwhelming to learn the game, there’s a ridiculous amount of resources out there to help you get started. I got my start on the League of Legends Wiki, searching through it until I found a character I thought looked really cool. Once I bought him and learned him well, I was hooked on the game, and I just kept getting better as I fought more and more players and learned what characters could do what. Then I found a site called www.leaguecraft.com, which has all sorts of resources about all the characters you can play as.

Getting demolished in a game is absolutely frustrating, and even when you get good at the game, you can have bad matches or even bad days. But then there are games in which you’re at your best, and it shows when you have intense battles over and over until one team eventually caves. There’s nothing quite like snatching a victory out of the jaws of certain defeat because the other team just couldn’t account for and adjust to your strategy.

If you’ve walked by the newsroom later in the day on a non-production night, you might have heard swearing or maniacal laughter. I assure you, we’re not completely insane. It’s just we’ve found a gem of a game that’s providing us with fresh, constantly evolving entertainment. The developers are obviously people who love their game and interact with fans of the game through various outlets, Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and live video streams to name a few.

The best part of all: the game is free! You can spend real money, but it’s only to speed things up or for cosmetic changes. People who pay money have no real advantage over those who do not. As such, I’ve had no problem ponying up some serious cash on this game because I like their business model.

It’s a game I definitely recommend to my friends, so if you’re bored one day and need something to do, download it, and give it a try. Or if you don’t know for sure, there are hundreds of live streams up of people playing the game on any given day.