From A Ginger’s Perspective - Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft

I never got into World of Warcraft. Sure, I tried it, just didn’t get on with it. It just felt too forced and more of a chore than a game, if you catch my drift. After hearing and seeing an awful lot about Hearthstone in recent weeks and months as well as being an avid trading card collector (*cough* Pokemon *cough), I decided to lend Blizzard my hands once again and decide if I enjoyed whatever they left on them once returned. These are my first impressions on Hearthstone.

After a fancy opening set of titles and an endearing set of music I felt ripe and ready to begin the tutorial. Very noticeable is the soul and life Hearthstone has whilst being a mere card game. Upon the start of my first tutorial battle, the fun dialogue and lightheartedness of the game were a clear indication as to why this game is so popular.

The rules seemed relatively straightforward. Drain your enemy’s life to zero first and you win, take it in turns, blah blah blah. Simple, straightforward; yeah, so I thought. The start is fairly standard with your usual turn-based format but it’s the complexity within the attributes of each card and your enemy’s class themselves that make every game a different mental challenge. Each card has a mana price, each attacking card has health and attack points, there are magic cards, secret cards, weapons and the rest. It could have gotten very confusing but all of these details are drip fed to you, not sarcastically but steadily whilst still looking pretty in the meantime, without a flood of information being thrown at you in one go.

Throughout the tutorial I got a sense of progression, moving from simple plays to more advanced defensive tactics and introductions to new card attributes. Of course I know I’m not the strongest of players, but the early matches gave me a sense of accomplishment rather than trial with the game not holding your hand too much, letting you develop your own strategy and discover where you went wrong on your own.

By the end of the tutorial I felt well equipped to advance into the true game - cards in hand, power in heart!

Underwhelmingly, I was advised to start in Practice mode. I sighed knowing what Practice can be like in some games, and begrudgingly entered; yet I was surprised at what I found. Defeating enemy heroes in Practice mode allows you to unlock various cards from their deck. If you choose to play with each hero, you can level up and unlock further base cards for that individual hero. Only certain cards can be used by certain heroes, so unlocking them all gives you the best chance of game variety. If you aren’t having much luck with a specific deck set, you can change your strategy and move onto a new one.

After I defeated my first two enemies in Practice mode, the real fun was due to begin. I was handed my first quest, play a game in Play mode (note that it didn’t say ‘Win’). I wasn’t expecting much, but ventured forwards into the realm of the unknown.

It started well but my confidence didn’t last long as I lost the game almost as quickly as it began. I felt slightly cheated as my opponent had many more powerful cards than me, even though we were apparently matched fairly. In hindsight, I may have been able to do more, but alas my thoughts weren’t in the right place at the right time.

A little downhearted, I pressed on to my card packs screen where I see awaiting an expert deck to unravel. Mystically waving the deck over the opening portal, my eyes widened to find an array of intriguing and powerful cards - some doubles but all the while useful as you are able to wield up to two of the same card in each playing deck unless you have a coveted legendary card - that’s just one per deck.

I decided to stick to Practice mode for the time being, honing my skills and looking forward to taking them into the online battle with a bespoke deck of my own at later venture. After one loss and another (and another), I finally beat all the Normal enemy heroes, unlocking all the base decks.

For now, that’s where my journey paused. What I’d learnt from my first few hours playing Hearthstone may be very basic, but the game has got me thinking and interested in where I can go with it next, with an entirely new Arena mode left to be uncovered. From what seems simple from a casual glance, the complexity of the game doesn’t just stem from the cards you own but the order you play them (and of course the luck of the draw).

Knowing that the game is available on iPad has got me optimistic for an Android version of the game in the near future, not that I'm holding my breath, so I can take the game away from my big desktop, and enhance my tactical and timing abilities on-the-go.

For anyone that hasn’t tried Hearthstone, WoW fans or otherwise, I truly recommend the free-to-play title. If you have the patience to think about your next move and the potential moves of your opponent, then I have no doubt that you too will be able to pick up and get going as swiftly as I have today. As for me, I’ll come back to Hearthstone at a later date and be sure to report my findings from a more professional standpoint (here’s hoping).