Game Review: Hearthstone Has Made it to iPhone and Android Devices!
After the iPad release which has been around since last April, Hearthstone now officially supports iPhone and Android devices as well! It's required that the game is installed at least in an iPhone 4S, iPod touch 5th generation or iPad 2 (it cannot be installed in devices older than those). The game features an all-new intuitive interface hand-crafted for the mobile experience. These news filled me with great joy because I couldn't enjoy Hearthstone anywhere else except for my laptop, and being a long-time fan of the game, I always wished for such a release.
To be perfectly honest, I wasn't sure if this was a good idea and if it could really work out on mobile devices, because of how “heavy” the game is in terms of content and visuals. My fears were true at first, since the iPad release had a few bugs (which mainly caused it to crash and lag), but these were addressed and were taken care of in later updates.
In the case of iPhone/Android devices, things went smooth right from the beginning and I didn't notice any of these issues. However, it takes a lot of space and heats up the device when you play a lot, which was kind of expected.
For those who are unfamiliar with the game, allow me to explain a few things about it. Hearthstone is developed by Blizzard Entertainment, known for World of Warcraft (WoW), Diablo, and other popular games, which are not free to play. Hearthstone, on the other hand, is free for everyone to download and enjoy, even though it does include some features which ask you to pay (with game currency or real money) to get unlocked. But we’ll get to that later on.
Hearthstone is a turn-based collectible card game featuring WoW characters, whom you can pick and use as your warriors. Before proceeding I would like to point out that you do not need to be familiar with WoW in order to play Hearthstone, as it is a spin-off that stands on its own and only takes place in the WoW universe. Therefore, you shouldn't have any doubts about playing it. Also, you don’t need to be familiar with turn-based strategy card games to enjoy Hearthstone. The game has an easy to grasp gameplay and a tutorial will accompany you during your newbie steps. Slowly but steadily you’ll learn new tricks and climb levels like a pro.
Gameplay
Since there isn't really a plot for Hearthstone, and it is basically one character against the other, we’re going straight to the gameplay mechanics.
First of all, as I mentioned earlier, Hearthstone is free to play and as a result you don’t need to pay to unlock cards or to level up. These features are available to everyone, and can be obtained by winning your matches. There are 9 classes in Hearthstone: Warrior, Shaman, Rogue, Paladin, Hunter, Druid, Warlock, Mage, and Priest. Each class has its own exclusive cards, and new ones are unlocked every time you level up. Leveling up is not achieved only by winning, but also by holding up well against a strong enemy even if you lose at the end.
There are also neutral cards available, and can be used by all classes. At first you get new cards almost after every round, but the higher your level, the harder it gets to unlock them. Each card can perform a different action and have different Attack and Health points, as well as mana points, which means that the more mana required to spend to use them, the stronger they are.
Speaking of mana, it doubles and triples in every turn so you don’t have to worry about running out of it. You must, however, use it wisely because by using it all at once, you’re leaving your character exposed to enemy attacks.
In the arena, both players start with 30 Health points and the first to reach zero loses. There are several arenas chosen based on the classes fighting each time, but they don’t look too much different from one another.
The deck has 30 cards and you can create your own deck using your unlocked cards. When you choose a card, it is placed on the arena, and when you finish your turn you tap on the “End Turn” button located at the right side of the screen. If you take too long to finish your turn, a timer shows up to warn you. If you don’t make it, the opponent’s turn starts.
When a game begins, a coin is flipped to decide who goes first. If you go second, you get 4 cards instead of 3 that your opponent has, plus a coin card that allows you to increase your mana by one. The set of cards given to you on the 1st turn can be changed with another set, if you’re not satisfied with its cards (e.g. cards that require a lot of mana and thus are not useful on the 1st few turns).
The cards have a variety of attributes. For instance, there are “Taunt” cards which act as shields, which protect your characters by absorbing enemy attacks. There are also “Charge” cards that have the ability to attack on the same turn you summon them, because the rest cards can only be activated on the turn that follows the turn of their summoning. Of course there are “Spell” cards as well, which can restore Health, cause damage to enemy minions and hold many more secrets. The wide spectrum of card types make the game even more enjoyable and offer many surprises for the players.
In Hearthstone, there are 3 different game modes:
- Solo Adventures, in which you play against AI and is a mode where you unlock new characters. When you play for the 1st time the game provides you with a character and then you choose a character from the list to fight against. When you defeat one, you can then use them. This mode offers more than that, with new adventure stories being updated from time to time and you fight against even stronger characters. To be able to play in some of these, you are required to pay with in-game currency or through IAP.
- Matchmaking games against players with skills equal to yours, or against friends through invites. By playing against random players you can earn gold. For example, you can play 3 games against random players and earn 100 gold. So don’t just stick to AI and friendly matches!
Last but not least is the Arena mode which is the most interesting out of the 3. Players who enter the Arena (you are asked to pay with gold or IAP to be able to participate) take part in special matches and are allowed to play until they lose 3 rounds. When you lose you must change your deck and form a new one from scratch. After you lose all 3 times, you are rewarded with packs of cards based on how well you did. It is a really tense mode, and a great experience but I don’t recommend it to players who are still new to Hearthstone.
Controls
One more thing that worried me about the mobile version of Hearthstone was how supportive would the controls be. Luckily, I didn't notice any flaws or difficulties while playing. All you have to do is tap a card to select it, drag it to play it or move it, and hover over it to read its abilities.
Graphics & Sounds
The visuals are stunning and lack nothing compared to the PC/Mac versions. The art is gorgeous and apart from the graphics, the cards themselves are all different from one another with beautiful designs from various artists.
The BG music could easily be part of an “epic” medieval movie soundtrack, and each character has unique dubbed lines. The cards also have special sounds (or animations) when they are activated.
In all aspects, the attention to detail is something to be impressed about.
Conclusion
Hearthstone is a must for anyone who grew up with Yu-Gi-Oh cards or other card games, but also for anyone that wants a quality game, with no traps behind its freemium title, and by an established developer as is Blizzard Entertainment. I have nothing negative to say about Hearthstone as whole, or its mobile version. You will be addicted, mark my words!
Download Hearthstone Heroes of Warcraft for iOS here.
Download Hearthstone Heroes of Warcraft for Android here.
Hearthstone Screenshots
