Hearthstone play and developer Q&A

Over the weekend, as I mentioned in WRUP, I was in Paris. What I didn't mention was that I was there for the EU Fansite Community Summit at Blizzard Europe in Versailles. Blizzard's EU team were fantastically generous and wonderful hosts, and it was an excellent weekend altogether. The biggest highlight for me, and almost certainly for everyone else there, was that we got to play Hearthstone!

We had about enough time for three full games, in a relaxed setting, but also with the Blizzard EU Community Team floating around to help us out and give us tips and input on how best to play. It was a fantastic surprise. Even more amazing to a Blizzard geek like me was that, shortly after finishing our game time, we got to sit down for a Q&A about Hearthstone with none other than the lead developers Ben Brode and Eric Dodds. So, what came out of that?

Hearthstone Gameplay

How was Hearthstone? First and foremost, what we got to play was an alpha, which only developers and internal staff had previously accessed. It has not changed a great deal in overall appearance since PAX, but many key gameplay changes have been incorporated. Unfortunately, due to Blizzard policy, we were unable to take pictures or video of the play session or anything else that took place.

Overall, the game felt solid. As we'll get to, they're really pretty happy with balance right now, but some abilities definitely still feel too strong, for example there was one mage-specific card that did six damage in return for five mana, now, without having seen the game yourselves, it's hard to understand exactly, but that is a heavy damage ability. Of course, it's worth remembering that we were only playing with what the devs called the "basic card set", so, none of the cards we could have earned or bought.

Other than that, the UI felt good, fast, stable. Turn systems vary across CCGs, but Hearthstone's, to me at least, seemed a little counter-intuitive. It's worth noting that, although the tutorial is complete, we didn't play through it, as the community team wanted us to have the maximum amount of time in the full game. That would likely have helped with the slightly confusing feel of the game, and the turn system. There were also some abilities and tooltips that didn't quite tie up, but none of these minor criticisms caused huge problems with what was, overall, an entertaining and well-put-together play experience.

We didn't, unfortunately, get to test anything but the main gameplay -- the deck builder, the sandbox-like Forge area, and the crafting were all out of bounds. But we were able to have various questions answered by the development team. Developer Q&A

I was lucky to have a huge number of my questions answered, and as we didn't know about the interview in advance, had to rely on my note-taking skill to get their answers down. Therefore, the below is not presented as, and should not be read as, verbatim quotations.

Earning Cards
I was very curious about the methods the devs had planned for earning cards, how exactly it would work within the game, and whether it was really a case of pay-to-win. This is often an issue with free-to-play games, but the devs assured us that that wasn't the case with Hearthstone. They gave the example of the internal testers -- basically everyone who works at Blizzard -- and said that of those who had reached Master, the highest rank, 40% had not purchased any cards.

I went on to ask how exactly cards were earned, and the devs weren't ready to comment on that just yet, only willing to mention that there were various methods, but that in general, cards were earned through normal gameplay. The cards earned through normal play could also be of any quality, not just basic cards, so Legendary and Gold quality cards could all be earned through basic gameplay.

Every player will start off with a free set of 30 cards, all basic, but strong cards. These will continue to be relevant throughout the game, and they are seeing these cards in regular use even at the highest levels of the game. Earning cards is done through the early matches against AIs, and cards earned at this stage will be specific to your hero class. The cards which are purchased in packs, or earned in packs, will have the potential to be completely random, and may not necessarily be compatible with your hero. The devs estimated that around 50% of cards were specific to one hero class.

Unlocking Heroes
On the topic of heroes, the nine original WoW classes will be available when the game is launched. There are no plans as of yet to introduce the DK or the Monk, but the devs also aren't ruling it out. Heroes are not all open to every player at the very start of the game, rather they are unlocked through gameplay. All players start with the Mage, and the devs told us that pretty much every game played in the initial stages would unlock a further hero until all nine were unlocked. Building Decks
They were also keen to point out, mentioning it several times, that the quality of cards was not indicative of their overall strength. They added that quality was mostly a mark of complexity, rather than of power. There was no limit on the number of a certain quality of cards that a player could have in their deck, only limits on duplication. So, any one card can only appear twice in your deck, and any Legendary card can only appear once. Again, the decks are comprised of thirty cards, and can be created and saved hero by hero in the deck builder.

Crafting Cards
One major element of Hearthstone is the card crafting. The devs clarified that this system was essentially the thing that made them choose a collecting game over a trading game, as it meant that any player could access any card. I pressed them for more details on just how exactly the crafting system worked.

They were happy to explain that players went into the collection manager, found unwanted or excess cards, and disenchanted them into Arcane Dust. Higher qualities of card would give more dust, lower qualities would give less. Once a player had enough dust to create a card, they could simply do so -- there was no discovery, learning, rating, or other requirement to access recipes for cards. The only hurdle is earning enough dust to create a card.

Ben and Eric were keen to point out the advantage of this system over a Trading system: this means that any player can access any card on Blizzard's terms, rather than having to bow to another player's demands to get hold of the rarest or "best" cards. This also means that even the most basic cards maintain a value, as they can all be disenchanted into Arcane Dust and re-purposed into better cards. What's more, the crafting system allows instant gratification, whereas a trading system requires that players seek out the card they are after.

Content
We talked a lot about the content of Hearthstone. One thing I was particularly interested to hear about was whether the devs had any plans for PvE content, such as campaigns in which a player can take on AIs of increased difficulty to provide an alternate route for character advancement. Ben and Eric clarified that, while there are early missions that fall into that category, there will not be a campaign in the game from the outset.

The devs are instead focused on the PvP aspect of the game, which is, for now at least, purely 1v1 duels. You are able to duel friends, setting up specific matches, and the developers are also excited about Hearthstone's potential as an e-sport, after interest in shoutcasted matches has been high.
There's also the Forge mode of play, where players are randomly assigned a deck to play with against another player in the same position. This has great potential for evenly matched games regardless of cards. With any PvP content, there are two key concerns: balance, and matchmaking. Ben and Eric said that, at this stage, they were relatively happy with the balance of the game as it stood. They mentioned recent changes to the Rogue Blade Flurry's interaction with weapons, and the Warlock's Life Tap hero ability, as well as work on how to balance one player having to go first. All of these things have been recently worked on, and they are happy with where it stands for now.

Matchmaking will be done via an MMR system, very similar to the WoW arena system, where players will have a rating and will be matched against players with a similar rating. Success or failure against higher or lower rated players will adjust this rating, and as Ben noted, it should always feel like you are good at the game, even if you're not! Decks are not taken into consideration with this rating. High rating will award achievements, the rewards for this are not yet ready to be announced, but will be something more exciting than just points.

Other
There were a couple of other tidbits from the interview that didn't really fall into any particular category. Every card has its own flavor text and voice element, they were very keen to point that out, but there is no faction-specific segregation in the game. There was no specific plan to integrate Hearthstone into WoW, other than the potential mount link.

It will be region-locked, for now, so that US players can only face US players, EU against EU and so on. They are looking into ways to allow cross-region play, as it is regularly asked for. They may consider battle.net integration for friends lists and the like.

And lastly, Ben and Eric confirmed that, if interest remained high, they would look into getting Hearthstone onto Android! Tags: ben-brode, breaking, eric-dodds, featured, hearthstone, hearthstone-developer-interview, hearthstone-developers, hearthstone-gameplay

Filed under: Hearthstone Insider

View the original article here

Hearthstone play and developer Q&A

Over the weekend, as I mentioned in WRUP, I was in Paris. What I didn't mention was that I was there for the EU Fansite Community Summit at Blizzard Europe in Versailles. Blizzard's EU team were fantastically generous and wonderful hosts, and it was an excellent weekend altogether. The biggest highlight for me, and almost certainly for everyone else there, was that we got to play Hearthstone!

We had about enough time for three full games, in a relaxed setting, but also with the Blizzard EU Community Team floating around to help us out and give us tips and input on how best to play. It was a fantastic surprise. Even more amazing to a Blizzard geek like me was that, shortly after finishing our game time, we got to sit down for a Q&A about Hearthstone with none other than the lead developers Ben Brode and Eric Dodds. So, what came out of that?

Hearthstone Gameplay

How was Hearthstone? First and foremost, what we got to play was an alpha, which only developers and internal staff had previously accessed. It has not changed a great deal in overall appearance since PAX, but many key gameplay changes have been incorporated. Unfortunately, due to Blizzard policy, we were unable to take pictures or video of the play session or anything else that took place.

Overall, the game felt solid. As we'll get to, they're really pretty happy with balance right now, but some abilities definitely still feel too strong, for example there was one mage-specific card that did six damage in return for five mana, now, without having seen the game yourselves, it's hard to understand exactly, but that is a heavy damage ability. Of course, it's worth remembering that we were only playing with what the devs called the "basic card set", so, none of the cards we could have earned or bought.

Other than that, the UI felt good, fast, stable. Turn systems vary across CCGs, but Hearthstone's, to me at least, seemed a little counter-intuitive. It's worth noting that, although the tutorial is complete, we didn't play through it, as the community team wanted us to have the maximum amount of time in the full game. That would likely have helped with the slightly confusing feel of the game, and the turn system. There were also some abilities and tooltips that didn't quite tie up, but none of these minor criticisms caused huge problems with what was, overall, an entertaining and well-put-together play experience.

We didn't, unfortunately, get to test anything but the main gameplay -- the deck builder, the sandbox-like Forge area, and the crafting were all out of bounds. But we were able to have various questions answered by the development team. Developer Q&A

I was lucky to have a huge number of my questions answered, and as we didn't know about the interview in advance, had to rely on my note-taking skill to get their answers down. Therefore, the below is not presented as, and should not be read as, verbatim quotations.

Earning Cards
I was very curious about the methods the devs had planned for earning cards, how exactly it would work within the game, and whether it was really a case of pay-to-win. This is often an issue with free-to-play games, but the devs assured us that that wasn't the case with Hearthstone. They gave the example of the internal testers -- basically everyone who works at Blizzard -- and said that of those who had reached Master, the highest rank, 40% had not purchased any cards.

I went on to ask how exactly cards were earned, and the devs weren't ready to comment on that just yet, only willing to mention that there were various methods, but that in general, cards were earned through normal gameplay. The cards earned through normal play could also be of any quality, not just basic cards, so Legendary and Gold quality cards could all be earned through basic gameplay.

Every player will start off with a free set of 30 cards, all basic, but strong cards. These will continue to be relevant throughout the game, and they are seeing these cards in regular use even at the highest levels of the game. Earning cards is done through the early matches against AIs, and cards earned at this stage will be specific to your hero class. The cards which are purchased in packs, or earned in packs, will have the potential to be completely random, and may not necessarily be compatible with your hero. The devs estimated that around 50% of cards were specific to one hero class.

Unlocking Heroes
On the topic of heroes, the nine original WoW classes will be available when the game is launched. There are no plans as of yet to introduce the DK or the Monk, but the devs also aren't ruling it out. Heroes are not all open to every player at the very start of the game, rather they are unlocked through gameplay. All players start with the Mage, and the devs told us that pretty much every game played in the initial stages would unlock a further hero until all nine were unlocked. Building Decks
They were also keen to point out, mentioning it several times, that the quality of cards was not indicative of their overall strength. They added that quality was mostly a mark of complexity, rather than of power. There was no limit on the number of a certain quality of cards that a player could have in their deck, only limits on duplication. So, any one card can only appear twice in your deck, and any Legendary card can only appear once. Again, the decks are comprised of thirty cards, and can be created and saved hero by hero in the deck builder.

Crafting Cards
One major element of Hearthstone is the card crafting. The devs clarified that this system was essentially the thing that made them choose a collecting game over a trading game, as it meant that any player could access any card. I pressed them for more details on just how exactly the crafting system worked.

They were happy to explain that players went into the collection manager, found unwanted or excess cards, and disenchanted them into Arcane Dust. Higher qualities of card would give more dust, lower qualities would give less. Once a player had enough dust to create a card, they could simply do so -- there was no discovery, learning, rating, or other requirement to access recipes for cards. The only hurdle is earning enough dust to create a card.

Ben and Eric were keen to point out the advantage of this system over a Trading system: this means that any player can access any card on Blizzard's terms, rather than having to bow to another player's demands to get hold of the rarest or "best" cards. This also means that even the most basic cards maintain a value, as they can all be disenchanted into Arcane Dust and re-purposed into better cards. What's more, the crafting system allows instant gratification, whereas a trading system requires that players seek out the card they are after.

Content
We talked a lot about the content of Hearthstone. One thing I was particularly interested to hear about was whether the devs had any plans for PvE content, such as campaigns in which a player can take on AIs of increased difficulty to provide an alternate route for character advancement. Ben and Eric clarified that, while there are early missions that fall into that category, there will not be a campaign in the game from the outset.

The devs are instead focused on the PvP aspect of the game, which is, for now at least, purely 1v1 duels. You are able to duel friends, setting up specific matches, and the developers are also excited about Hearthstone's potential as an e-sport, after interest in shoutcasted matches has been high.
There's also the Forge mode of play, where players are randomly assigned a deck to play with against another player in the same position. This has great potential for evenly matched games regardless of cards. With any PvP content, there are two key concerns: balance, and matchmaking. Ben and Eric said that, at this stage, they were relatively happy with the balance of the game as it stood. They mentioned recent changes to the Rogue Blade Flurry's interaction with weapons, and the Warlock's Life Tap hero ability, as well as work on how to balance one player having to go first. All of these things have been recently worked on, and they are happy with where it stands for now.

Matchmaking will be done via an MMR system, very similar to the WoW arena system, where players will have a rating and will be matched against players with a similar rating. Success or failure against higher or lower rated players will adjust this rating, and as Ben noted, it should always feel like you are good at the game, even if you're not! Decks are not taken into consideration with this rating. High rating will award achievements, the rewards for this are not yet ready to be announced, but will be something more exciting than just points.

Other
There were a couple of other tidbits from the interview that didn't really fall into any particular category. Every card has its own flavor text and voice element, they were very keen to point that out, but there is no faction-specific segregation in the game. There was no specific plan to integrate Hearthstone into WoW, other than the potential mount link.

It will be region-locked, for now, so that US players can only face US players, EU against EU and so on. They are looking into ways to allow cross-region play, as it is regularly asked for. They may consider battle.net integration for friends lists and the like.

And lastly, Ben and Eric confirmed that, if interest remained high, they would look into getting Hearthstone onto Android! Tags: ben-brode, breaking, eric-dodds, featured, hearthstone, hearthstone-developer-interview, hearthstone-developers, hearthstone-gameplay

Filed under: Hearthstone Insider

View the original article here

Blizzard announces HearthStone at PAX East 2013 live blog

We don't have any idea what it's going to be (besides something new), but Blizzard is going to be announcing it at PAX East today. We'll keep run a live blog of the announcement right here! Expect more throughout the day.

The live blog will begin in your timezone at:
10:00 a.m. EDT9:00 a.m. CDT8:00 a.m. MDT7:00 a.m. PDT2:00 p.m. London
9:38AM That's it for the presentation! Thanks for joining us. We'll get screenshots and everything else up soon.
9:36AM They just showed the iPad interface. Go play Duels of the Plainswalker if you want a feel for it. Looked *a lot* like it.
9:35AM There are normal and expert AIs to play again.
9:33AM You'll play as one of nine heroes in the Warcraft universe.
9:33AM They're now showing a little making of video with lots of Blizzard personalities talking about it. Neat to see them, but nothing major.
9:30AM Pardo jokes: "Big experiment for Blizzard, to see if they can announce a game and release it in the same year"
9:30AM Windows version and iPad version playable today.
9:30AM Playable on the PAX show floor today.
9:30AM Beta this summer, release this year.
9:30AM "Released not Blizzard soon, but IRL soon"
9:29AM HearthStone is already playable internally on the iPad.
9:29AM Pardo says "iPad shortly thereafter."
9:29AM HearthStone will launch on Windows and Mac.
9:28AM The druid keeps healing himself in the demo game they're showing. "Typical."
9:26AM Found the answer -- iPad version is coming soon (tm).
9:25AM We've pinged Blizzard to see if they have any comment.
9:25AM Lots of questions about HearthStone being on the iPad. We don't know yet... it sure would fit perfectly though.
9:23AM The animation is a bit better than what's on Duels of the Plainswalker. More Warcraft-style. Look and feel is miles ahead of MTG: Online (not that it's hard to do that).
9:22AM Anyone who plays MT:G will immediately get this.
9:22AM "Demon has taunt right now, so he (the druid) can't attack anybody but that demon right now."
9:21AM Card just played has AoE damage.
9:20AM Looks like a pretty standard play field, discard pile, health (30), mana.
9:18AM Looks like 4 cards in your hand to start off with...
9:18AM They're now giving a demonstration of the game being shoutcasted, a warlock vs. a druid. Very much SC2 style. Very much.

9:17AM "Game built as fun, casual but deeply strategic game."
9:16AM Duel online to boost your medal ranking. Each week you earn medals in the game, and as you get medals, that's how you get booster packs.
9:16AM Uses Battle.net match making

9:16AM You start deck building by picking your character (rogue), then picking rogue cards. As you go through the class specific cards, the game will pop up and give you suggestions. You can have the game fill out the rest of the cards at any time.
9:14AM You can also just let the game itself create the deck for you.
9:13AM Tutorial mode will help you build the right deck, suggest cards.
9:13AM There is a full featured deck builder, easy to create your own decks.
9:12AM With crafting you can disenchant the cards you're not interested in. You get arcane dust in return. Take that arcane dust and craft the exact card you want.
9:11AM You play the game as a hero (like a mage).
9:11AM Card Crafting is going to be something.
9:11AM You will be able to make use of duplicate cards.
9:11AM Blizz wants to capture the exciting of opening a physical pack. They have some great 3D animation when opening up a pack, much more interesting than just seeing cards displayed in order on a screen like in current digital CCGs.
9:09AM There will be different rarities of cards. Common, rare, epics, and legendary cards.
9:09AM Blizz hasn't decided the exact amount of money per pack. They're thinking around $1 right now, but haven't fined tune it. Will be doing so in the alpha and beta.
9:08AM Over 300 cards in the game, 5 per pack, can earn and buy packs, many types of cards.
9:08AM If you're already used to playing a mage, then in this game you'll intuitively understand how to play HearthStone as a mage.
9:07AM Board will be animated. 3D, no flat board.
9:07AM They want to make it more fun than existing card games online, more specialfxs, more exciting gameplay.
9:06AM They want to do with HearthStone as they did with WoW -- make it accessible and make it fun.
9:06AM They want to make it fast to jump in, manage rule complexity, make pack opening awesome, and keep it exciting to watch.
9:05AM Blizz is doing this because of their love of CCG games like Magic: The Gathering. They're making it accessible, and not just for the hard core CCG players.
9:04AM Online CCG. It's free to play.
9:04AM HearthStone. Heroes of Warcraft. A Collectable strategy game set in the Warcraft universe.
9:03AM Looks like... could it be...
9:03AM There are Warcraft characters in the game's new presentation.
9:03AM Cards have just flashed on the screen.
9:02AM New team is 15 developers, experiment more, faster development cycle.
9:01AM This is an entirely new team at Blizzard for this game.
9:01AM WoW has 135 developers now, up from an original 60.
9:00AM Pardo is up giving the announcement now.
8:48AM People are filling in. We should get started here in about 15 minutes. Thanks for joining us! The stream above should work, but if it doesn't (as these popular stream are often wont to do), we've got people on the ground as well.
8:20 AM Zarhym tweets that the line to the announcement was filled by 9 a.m. Sorry to all those that are trying to get in!Tags: breaking, pax, pax-east, pax-east-2013

Filed under: News items, Hearthstone Insider

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Live Hearthstone Stream

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Live Hearthstone Streamby Olivia Grace May 9th 2013 at 1:00PM

Update: The livestream is now over, but you can check out the Video on Demand above! The final game is very much worth sticking around for, really captures the excitement of Hearthstone. We hope to see more of these in future!

If you're as excited about Hearthstone as we are here at WoW Insider, you'll want to check out the above stream, as Hearthstone Fireside Duels go live on Twitch.tv. Lead Designer Eric Dodds and designer and Shoutcaster Ben Brode, who is fast becoming the voice of Hearthstone, are sitting down to several duels, as well as answering viewer questions on Twitch and Twitter.

The duels so far have shown off the mage, shaman, warrior, paladin, warlock and druid, but it's possible that we'll get to see some of the other heroes in action today, as well as the minion cards. It's also a great chance to get more into the game's mechanics, and develop more understanding, thanks to the live nature of the duels, and the Q&A. Community Manager Phenteo is also on hand in the Twitch chatroom to field viewer questions.

The one question they don't seem that keen to answer just yet is this: does this mean a beta is impending? It seems fairly certain that Hearthstone will be at Blizzcon, at the latest, but who knows, it seems quite likely that there might even be a beta at Gamescom, given that Blizzard unveiled the Mists trailer there last year. What do you think?Email ThisTags: breaking, hearthstone, hearthstone-beta, hearthstone-duels, hearthstone-heroes-of-warcraft, hearthstone-tavern, hearthstoneheroesofwarcraft

Filed under: Hearthstone Insider

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What we know so far about Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft

We're going to keep this post updated throughout the day with all the latest HearthStone information. Here's what we know so far.

General Information
HearthStone is a new digital collectible card game (CCG) that takes place in the Warcraft universe.HearthStone is free to play.It's set for release this year. The beta will happen this summer.You can sign up for the beta now over at HearthStone's site.It will initially be playable on the Mac and PC. iPad version to follow soon (and not Blizzard soon, but reality soon).PC and iPad version are playable now at PAX East.Blizzard is looking at the possibility of future platforms (in response to the Android comments), but development is focused on PC, Mac, and iPad right now.

Cards and Decks
Initial launch will contain 300 cards.You'll be able earn booster packs (just like MT:G booster packs). You can also buy them.The price Blizzard is throwing around for the booster packs right now is $1/pack.Each pack comes with five random cards. Guaranteed to get a rare or better in each pack.Chance also to upgrade to a "golden" version of the same card (like MT:G foil cards).You'll be able to build your own decks, but also can let the game build it for you.Two classifications of cards: basic and expert.Multiple rarity levels of expert cards: common, rare, epic, and legendary.You will be able to disenchant cards you don't want into Arcane Dust, then use that Arcane Dust to craft cards you do want.Anything buy in the beta will be credited back to your live version of the game at equal value in the form of an unopened pack.Playing the Game The game is built around 1v1 match.Battle.net is used to set up the matches, you also can play against an AI (normal and expert mode).You earn medals every week for winning matches.You play the game as one of nine "heroes" of the Warcraft universe. Like a mage, druid, rogue, warlock, etc...Anyone who is familiar with MT:G or the WoW TCG should be able to pick this up pretty quickly, it looks like.Some cards demonstrated had AoE damage.Play field looks pretty standard: your hand, discard pile, health, mana, draw pile, battle field.In the screenshots and gameplay footage you start off with 30 health.
Other Notes We don't know yet if cards are going to be tradeable.
Developing... Tags: breaking, hearthstone

Filed under: News items, Hearthstone Insider

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Hearthstone: Thank You PAX East!

PAX East has come to an end, and we’re so thankful to have been able to share this first glimpse of Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft with you! We’re humbled by the overwhelming reaction from those of you excited to try it, and kind words from those who had a chance to actually stop by and play it this weekend.

But we’re just getting started, and we want to know what you think! You can help us test Hearthstone by signing up for the upcoming beta , come talk about the game in the official forums at PlayHearthstone.com , tweet us @PlayHearthstone and come like us at Facebook.com/PlayHearthstone .

Last but not least a shout out to our PAX East booth-mates and Besties in Boston: Diablo III is coming to consoles, and hot damn is it a good time! Follow all the devilishly good news @Diablo , Facebook.com/Diablo , and of course Diablo3.com .

 

“More importantly, it won me over on a genre that, 24 hours earlier, I couldn't have cared less about. That doesn't happen every day.”
-  Eurogamer

Based on appearance alone, this game looks close to being ready for release, and the artists should be proud of their handiwork.
-  MashThoseButtons

My favorite aspect of Hearthstone so far are all of the little touches. For example, you can see which cards your opponent is fiddling with during gameplay. The decorative UI fringe has some light interactivity, such as a launchable catapult, to keep you entertained while your opponent takes their sweet time.
-  Mobile Nations

“So, my first impression after playing? Absolutely positive. Seeing how accessible the game is, I'm most excited to share it with other people. Hearthstone would allow my friends to play something with me without a huge investment of time or demand for skill.”
-  WoW Insider

? “There is playing a card game, and then there is Blizzard's version of that. Everything in the game has an epic feel to it. From ending a deck, to casting spells, the power is in the players hands. Blizzard does spell effects the best and even in a small card game, you feel and see power in every turn. It is what sets them apart from other games.”
-  MMORPG

? “And with the incredible polish of the game’s presentation, and the promise of immediate accessibility to hardcore and casual gamers alike, I fear that no one will be safe from getting sucked into its rich and imaginative world and never wanting to come out.”
-  Gamezebo

Interviews

WoW Insider - Interview Jason Chayes and Eric DoddsCurse - Interview with Jason Chayes and Ben BrodeBlizzPlanet - Interview with Ben Brode and Jason ChayesPolygon - Interview with Rob PardoPolygon - Interview with Eric Dodds and Jason ChayesPenny-Arcade - Interview with Rob Pardo

Hands-on Impressions

PCGamer - "the kind of ‘just one more turn’ game that will keep you going even when it’s three in the morning"Destructoid - " The first thing I noticed when starting a game of Hearthstone was the simplicity. This certainly isn't a bad trait -- in fact, it's very inviting."WoW Insider - "I credit my ability to quickly grasp the mechanics of Hearthstone to the game's animations."

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Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft Revealed at PAX East

We’re excited to announce Blizzard’s newest game today: Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft! It’s a free-to-play strategy card game that’s deceptively simple and insanely fun, coming to Windows, Mac, and the iPad!

Join us over at the new Hearthstone website at PlayHearthstone.com, and follow the game on Twitter @PlayHearthstone , at YouTube.com/Hearthstone , and Facebook.com/PlayHearthstone , where we’ll be sharing news, artwork, videos, and announcements, live from PAX East and beyond!

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