Hearthstone

Blizzard Entertainment has offered us some of the best and most popular video games out there, including World of Warcraft, Diablo, StarCraft and WarCraft. Hence, almost everything released by them got to be a huge success immediately, with millions of players in every case. Now, they have released a free-to-play title featuring trading cards, but surprisingly, not even this obscure genre stopped them from gaining massive amounts of fame and attention.

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft is actually quite humorous and self-aware when it comes to the general theme and story, if it can even be called that. In essence, this is a trading card game akin to Magic: The Gathering, but with characters from the WarCraft lore. The rules are a bit changed and it’s a tad more simple to grasp than MTG is, but the complexity is still there and you can squeeze plenty of game hours out of the game without feeling bored.

To begin with, you have to create a hero, which means that you get to choose from a variety of famous characters seen in the WarCraft franchise. As an example, you can play as Jaina Proudmoore, the powerful young wizard who ruled over the Theramore Isle, or any of the other heroes available inside the game. After that, the deck is your next concern, because it can mean the difference between a win and a loss.

The cards are actually units you might have seen throughout Azeroth, if you are a WarCraft fan. Hence, whether it’s an orc raider or a powerful golem, they are designed to provide you with the authentic Blizzard experience, with a humorous twist on top. Each card costs a certain amount of mana, but you only get one point per round. Hence, you are only able to play weak cards in the beginning, which is why you shouldn’t be worried if your deck is not as strong as you wish in the late game.

Since the gameplay takes place in turns, both players get their chance to play a card or a cast a spell, depending on how they want to spend their mana. Although it sounds simple, and it actually is in most regards, the variety of available strategies should keep even the most experienced players engaged for long periods of time. In fact, there are many tournaments out there for gamers, some of which are hosted by the biggest e-sport organizers out there.

As everyone assumed from the beginning, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft couldn’t have failed, because it has a mix of incredibly appealing components. That, coupled with the studio’s spotless reputation when it comes to patches, updates, and the server connection quality make the game yet another fan favorite.