Hearthstone Beta

Aaaaargh! I have become addicted to this game, help me, it might be worse than this. Seriously though, Hearthstone might only be in beta but it is a great game. It's an online trading card game (TCG) developed by the folks at Blizzard and set in the world of Warcraft (pun not intended). It's free to play and to get into the beta all you need to do is register for it in your Battlenet account.

The game starts you out in a tutorial, which is perhaps a little longwinded and currently unskippable, at least users are reporting errors when they try to. Here you'll learn the basics like hero powers, what cards to play and when. There are 9 different heroes to choose from, each with a unique set of cards and hero power. All hero powers cost 2 mana to play and they really add to making each character distinct. Some examples of hero powers are the Warlock, who loses 2 life and draws a card or the Mage, who gets to deal one damage to any character on the board.

Cards are broken up into 3 types, spells, weapons and minions. Whilst there are cards of all types that are unique to heroes, there is a pool of neutral minions that anyone can select from. Decks are comprised of 30 cards and in Constructed mode you are limited to 2 of the same card. Constructed mode allows you to select cards from your collection, to battle it out in either casual or ranked play. You can also enter Arena mode by paying in-game gold, or real money. In Arena mode you select a hero and then a deck of 30 cards from cards randomly presented to you. There are no restrictions on how many of one card you have in this mode, which can make for some interesting decks. Playing in the Arena gives you rewards such as cards, gold and dust.

Like all TCGs a large part of the addiction factor is collecting the cards. Cards can be crafted by using dust and cards you don't need anymore can be disenchanted into dust, to make the cards you want. You can also buy packs of cards with gold and real money. I think this is a major factor in what got me hooked. There are a lot of cards to collect and creating a new deck with the shiny card you just won can be a lot of fun. And yes there are shiny cards; cards can either be standard or gold and the gold ones are animated and just look cool. The other factor is that you are given a quest everyday, which when you complete gives you gold, plus you can earn 10 gold for every 3 matches that you win. The combination of the addiction to collect and free rewards, has really sucked me in and makes me want to login everyday.

Now, onto the gameplay. It is very similar to Magic the Gathering and those sorts of card games, except it has a much better flow. There is no possibility to play a card on someone else's turn, instead you can play secrets, that are triggered when the other player meets the conditions. For example, the Counterspell secret card that Mages have, will be played on the Mages turn as an undisclosed secret. Then as soon as an opponent plays a spell, it will trigger, countering the spell. This actually speeds up gameplay a lot, as you no longer have to pause constantly and wait for someone to decide if they want to make an action. It is definitely a card game that is designed to be played on a computer and not the other way around. For me the constant flow of the game is what makes it so fun, it even has clever elements such as timed turns that get faster if someone doesn't complete their turn, i.e. goes AFK.

There are numerous glitches in the game as it is only still in the beta stage. Cards will go flying around the screen, there are flickers and odd graphical errors. Sometimes the music will stop, or the sound will appear distant, or distorted. However, the core engine is very solid and these errors rarely get in the way of the gameplay. It's always difficult to judge a game whilst it is still in beta but with the open beta already being pushed back by Blizzard I think they are going to take the time to get this right. Of course Blizzard are notorious for taking a long time with releasing their games, so it will be interesting to see how their first big foray into the world of free-to-play unfolds.

If you are looking for a fast paced action game this is not for you, however, if you want a tactical card game that your are going to end up addicted to look no further. Apply for the closed beta now, or wait for the open beta, which surely is just around the corner. Either way you better start building your card collection now and abandoning friends and family 8.8/10.