Strategic free-to-play Warcraft card battler with evolving expansions and deep, collection-based deckbuilding
Strategic free-to-play Warcraft card battler with evolving expansions and deep, collection-based deckbuilding
Pros
- Digital collectible card game
- Free to play
- Well-balanced card game
- Expansions keeps things fresh
Cons
- No trading
- Same 2014 tutorial
Hearthstone is a free-to-play online multiplayer collectible card game.
Hearthstone is a collectible card game. You begin with a small collection of cards and add to it through rewards and by purchasing card packs. Games are played against other players using a deck—a focused subset of your card collection. A player with a bigger collection may be at an advantage. So, the goal is not just to create the best deck you can but expand your collection to make the best deck possible.
Hearthstone is a one-versus-one turn-based game. Each player selects a hero, which introduces its own mechanics to the game. Each player draws a hand from a preassembled deck. Randomness determines who goes first. You take turns drawing a card from your decks. You earn a resource each turn, which limits which and how many cards you can play onto the battlefield. Cards include spells, minions and weapons, which you can equip on your minions. There is great strategy involved. The core goal is to break through your opponent’s defenses and deplete their health, but winning strategies often involve controlling the board so that you have many effective options while your opponent has few.
Prospective players often ask if it is really viable to play this game without paying for cards, and the answer is yes. Daily quests allow you to earn premium currency. There are also rewards, including free cards and card packs, that you can earn for certain milestones or just for participating. Of course, the non-playing player may be excluded from the meta and have a lot less versatility in deck options.
Expansions keep things fresh by introducing entirely new card sets with new mechanics, heroes, spells and so forth. An expansion will often shift the meta. This helps to ensure the game does not go stale, but it can put of a lot of pressure on the F2P player. Of course, F2P players can get really lucky too.
Critics often frame Hearthstone as a simple CCG, but such naysayers are often experienced players who have become accustomed to game mechanics that are shared across many CCGs. From the perspective of the neophyte, the game is by no means simplistic. Blizzard offers a tutorial that was adequate when the game released in 2014. But the game has gotten a lot more complex since then. The learning curve is steep for newbies, and the barebones tutorial does them no favors.
Hearthstone lacks trading. This may seem like a petty complaint when even the latest digital iteration of Magic lacks trading. But for those who fell in love with CCGs back when they were played in person, trading was an engaging and important aspect of deck and collection building. The only reason trading does not exist in Hearthstone and games like it is that it would weaken the publishers grip on your wallet.
Pros
- Digital collectible card game
- Free to play
- Well-balanced card game
- Expansions keeps things fresh
Cons
- No trading
- Same 2014 tutorial
Pros
- Free to play
- Easy to learn
- Suitable for both casual and serious players
- Appealing graphics
- Also available for Android and iOS
- Family friendly
Cons
- Can become repetitive
- Will have to spend cash to get a hold of the best cards
- Not available for Windows phones
- Internet connection needed, even for single player
Hearthstone is an online collectible card game by Blizzard Entertainment.
Hearthstoe: Heroes of Warcraft is based on the characters and events of the Warcraft franchise. An online collectible card game, it follows other successful games of the genre such as Magic Online, based on Magic: The Gathering. Released in 2014, Hearthstone was instantly adopted by fans of the Warcraft lore, as well as more casual gamers around the world.
The game is free to play, but players can purchase decks to unlock more cards, including rarer and potentially stronger ones. Moreover, new content to the game, currently the first adventure, Curse of Naxxramas, the expansion pack Goblins vs. Gnomes, and then the second adventure, Blackrock Mountain, are purchasable. Before jumping into multiplayer, beginners should learn the ropes by playing practice games against the computer AI. Multiplayer games against other players include an unranked mode as well as a ranked mode.
Players have to choose between the following classes: Druid, Mage, Warrior, Warlock, Shaman, Hunter, Paladin or Rogue, each represented by an important figure in Warcraft lore. Players start with three cards, although the player who is second to take their turn receives a joker card. The objective is to bring the opponents hero's life down from 30 to zero. Each hero has a unique ability which can also be used in the game at the cost of mana points. Players start with 1 mana, which increases each turn up to 10. Players start with 3 cards out of their total of 30 in their deck. Cards can have different mana costs, which forces players to choose a mixture of cards in order to ideally always have at least one card to place, given the limitation of mana, especially at the beginning, throughout the game. Cards can be units which one can place on the table, which can then in the following turn, or even in the current turn, depending on their abilities, attack opposing cards or the enemy hero. Other cards include spells, which can quickly wipe out or hinder opposing units, or for some classes, unique passive hero 'secrets'.
Other game modes include arena, for which one pays in-game gold to enter. Players have to choose the cards for their deck by a somewhat random selection given by the game and one can play so long until one has suffered three losses. The more wins one achieved, the greater the potential spoils. A recent addition to the game is the tavern brawl, which pits players against either someone on their friends list or a random opponent. Players face various challenges or have to use pre-set decks - the specifics change on a weekly basis.
Overall, the game is very enjoyable and is something for both the serious player, as evident of its prominence in esports, and the more casual type. The game is also available on Android and iOS devices, bringing the game to a wider range of players.
Pros
- Free to play
- Easy to learn
- Suitable for both casual and serious players
- Appealing graphics
- Also available for Android and iOS
- Family friendly
Cons
- Can become repetitive
- Will have to spend cash to get a hold of the best cards
- Not available for Windows phones
- Internet connection needed, even for single player
