By Max Eddy Friends, I have a confession to make: I have never played World of Warcraft. Nor do I have any plans to. That's why I ignored Hearthstone for months, to my shame. This digital fantasy card game (bear with me) set in the Warcraft universe (seriously, stick with me) is fast-paced, lighthearted fun, and it shines as a free iPad game. The rules are simple, the game is gorgeous, and there's enough strategy to keep the geekiest players happy, yet enough actual fun for everyone else. Also, it's free, so you won't regret investing your college savings into collectible card games like some of us did in the nineties.
The Heart of the Cards
Have you partaken in a Blizzard game in the last decade or so? Just log in with your Battle.net account and you drop right into a highly informative, if somewhat long, tutorial. New players will have to create an account with Blizzard before proceeding. I started playing at home on a desktop computer, and then moved to an iPad Air.
You begin each game by selecting one of ten Warcraft heroes, each with their own powers, strategies, and unique cards. Your hero serves as your avatar in each game, which is disappointing since you're locked into Blizzard's very limited options. If you don't want your avatar to be a white man, you can choose to play as a lady from a straight male sexual power fantasy, or barring that, a monster. Given Blizzard's publicly stated views on matters of diversity, this is unlikely to change. And that's too bad, because simply adding a few more options would solve my biggest complaint about the game. Scrolls, the card game from Mojang, also overlooked people of color in their more-nuanced character creation feature.
The goal of the game is simple: Defeat your opponent by depleting his or her supply of 30 life points. You do that by attacking with a variety of creatures—called Minions—and spells. Every action in the game has a cost associated with it, measured in "mana crystals." You start with one mana crystal and gain an additional crystal to spend each turn. All the crystals you spent in a turn refresh the next turn, so choose your cards carefully. If you've ever played Magic: The Gathering, this all sounds pretty familiar. There's even a version of "summoning sickness" which prevents (most) Minions from attacking on their first turn.
The basic format of trading blows with spells and Minions is augmented by other effects. For example: Some minions have Charge, which allows them to attack the same turn they enter combat. Heroes can also equip weapons, which allow the hero to directly attack his or her opponent.
Each hero also has a unique ability that he or she can use for two mana crystals. The Hunter, for instance, can shoot an arrow at the opposing hero for two damage points. The hero's ability, along with its specific cards, help form the strategies for each deck, but more on that later.
Hearthstone games are made to be quick and fun, but that doesn't mean they can't be strategic. The wide-ranging abilities of cards mean that there are lots of different ways to play. Scrolls, by comparison, had more elements—including a game board—which provided more avenues for inventive play.
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