Hearthstone: Card Game Secrets from Blizzard. The success of Hearthstone: the secrets of the card game from Blizzard

Could anyone imagine that in 2014 Blizzard will release a new game in the Warcraft universe, and it will be card and collectible. You can scold the modern gaming industry for as long as you like, but the fact remains that a new game from eminent developers is distributed according to the free-to-play model and is doomed to incredible success. Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft has already seen the light on Mac and PC, and last Thursday opened the doors to players in the App Store. Let's take a look at the new Warcraft version of Blizzard, which all platforms are submissive.

Down with bloody battles and base building. Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft will again clash implacable enemies, but it will do it at the playing table with cards in hand and paws. Perhaps this is the most peaceful game from Blizzard of all that have come out so far. Launching Hearthstone for the first time, you will be pleasantly surprised by the Russian speech already in the opening video, and then throughout the game. First of all, you will be offered to undergo training if you entered the light for the first time. Then you will need to create a new Battle.net account or connect an existing one. Nothing more is needed to start the game.

The choice will be given nine classes of characters that have yet to be opened. This is done in training mode, where in order to get a new hero in your hands, you just need to defeat him in a one-on-one duel. Each hero has a set of their own unique cards, of which there are few, and, of course, can use the entire range of cards that do not belong to any class. Players receive new cards along with new levels, having accumulated enough experience, as well as for completing tasks. The latest game throws up every day and they are pretty simple.

Also, sets of cards can be bought for virtual coins and quite real money. Purchased packs have expert status and contain five unique cards. They are more powerful than usual in every sense. To say that there are a lot of cards in the game is to say nothing. There are a lot of them, they differ in effect and strength, and they are also divided into two large groups: creature cards and spell cards. The player is free to collect his own deck for each hero in the game menu, if this is not done, then the character will go to battle with a standard set. Since you cannot trade cards with other players, extra cards can be disenchanted if they belong to the expert's set. Disenchanting earns the player Arcane Dust, which can be used to create a new card. The more dust, the better the map, it's simple.

It's time to sit down at the table. Two players, two heroes and two decks. First, the one who goes first is determined, and the loser in this small competition receives at his disposal an additional, fourth, card from the deck. Each card requires mana to use. At the beginning of the game, each hero has only one, but then with each move it increases by one division, and so on up to ten. Accordingly, at first, some cards cannot be used due to lack of mana. Each turn, the player receives a new card, randomly selected from the deck.

Creature cards are used to call them to the game board. The summoned creature can attack enemy creatures and the enemy hero himself. The game goes on until one of the heroes loses all health points. Spell cards are used by the hero to deal damage, improve the characteristics of creatures, or gain some other advantage. You can use as many cards as you like per turn, as long as you have enough mana. It is also worth noting that each hero has his own unique spell. It also requires mana, but is used without any cards at least every turn. Heroes can also use cards that give them weapons, allowing them to attack.

Battles in Hearthstone are dynamic, although sometimes opponents think about it. But in a network game, the time for a move is limited, which is what the burning fuse reminds them of. There is no full chat in the game, but you can use one of several preset expressions to convey the whole gamut of your feelings. There are several online game modes. Firstly, this is a regular game, as well as a rating game. Everything is serious here, because this is the main game mode. We choose a hero and a deck and go ahead, fight with a randomly selected opponent. Hearthstone always chooses the player's opponent by looking at the stats of both to ensure the most even match possible. The second game mode is Arena. There are slightly different rules and paid entrance. The arena is suitable for experienced players and will bring substantial prizes if you win, but losing will also cost a lot.

Returning to the cards, it should be noted that their effect is different. For example, creatures have their own health and damage, and often bonus stats. Little things like that can often turn the tide of a battle. Spell cards are a little easier because they are easy to use, but the question of building a strong and balanced deck is very, very difficult. It is unlikely that it will be possible to do this quickly and without several dozen attempts.

Graphically, Hearthstone is very similar to other Blizzard creations, and this is a big plus. Everything is drawn and executed with soul: starting from the gaming table and ending with each individual card. The interface is also very good. Caring developers have not forgotten to build a clock and an indicator of the device's battery level into the game so that the players do not get carried away too much, but who can stop this. The sound, perhaps, can be called the best among games in Russian from Western developers. Full Russification of the text and sound is unlikely to leave the players indifferent, given that many slogans migrated directly from the previous parts of Warcraft.

Perhaps, absolutely all the details of the game were not disclosed in this review, but you now know the main points regarding the gameplay and the meaning of what is happening. There is no doubt that Heartstone: Heroes of Warcraft will become hugely popular, and the many platforms supported will only increase this effect. Surely Blizzard disappointed someone by releasing Warcraft not as a strategy, but as a collectible card game it is very, very good. Quite possibly the best card game there is for iOS. So, we have a high-quality and well-thought-out project from all sides, as well as a lot of players from all over the world. Simply put, we have a new mega-hit and a great debut for Blizzard on mobile platforms.

In my blog post about Hearthstone. Gupta starts with the basics, talking about the nature of collectible card games (CCGs), breaking down game modes, monetization, and Hearthstone cycles.

The author highlights the components that contribute to the success of the new game from Blizzard: the rendering of classic CCG mechanics, a low entry threshold, and more. The material itself belongs to the Deconstruction series - this is how the foreign specialized press calls analytical and semi-analytical materials devoted to a detailed analysis of a particular project or one of its components (monetization, virality, gameplay).

Blizzard, located in the US city of Irvine, has become one of the most successful companies in the development of computer games in 15 years. The worlds of World of Warcraft, Diablo and Starcraft have millions of active players around the world. However, despite the widespread use of mobile devices and tablets, it took Blizzard quite a long time to develop a product for mobile platforms.

Many predicted that there would be a heavy version of World of Warcraft that could be played on a tablet, but Blizzard made a completely new decision by releasing an online collectible card game (ECG) based on the Warcraft universe. This, of course, is about Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft.

Introduction to the world of collectible card games

The progenitor of all board games is Magic: The Gathering. At its core, Hearthstone is a collectible card game, only in digital form. Its gameplay and business model are very similar to other famous TCGs such as Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh, and Pokemon.

Before analyzing Hearthstone, it would be good to remember the predecessor of all modern TCGs - Magic: The Gathering, which is still a phenomenally popular product to this day. It has influenced, if not dictated the design of, nearly every such game since 1993. Developed by Richard Garfield, Magic: The Gathering is a game between two Planeswalkers who fight to the death.

Planeswalkers could summon strange creatures and utter unheard-of curses to hit their opponent, resulting in a turn-based strategy with depth, extending the game universe beyond the game itself, and a tactical strategy that is still incredibly addictive to this day, and which is very fun to play.

Magic cards are sold in two different configurations: a starter set and a booster set. The starter set costs approximately three times as much as the booster set, but provides more components to start the game, though only at a very limited level. The booster set contains additional cards that can be added to the deck, which later give more options for developing a strategy and allow you to change the style of play in the right direction. Typically, the starting set was formed from more than 250 cards, that is, when a player started playing, he became the owner of a very small percentage of the cards from the total card pool. That is, despite the fact that it was possible to play without having a full set of cards, the players still had an incentive to collect all the cards in a collection, such as collecting stickers for a Panini album dedicated to the next World Cup.

Live Championship Magic: The Gathering

The genius of Magic was its varied design and business model choices. First of all, the game was (and still is) very fun to play. The games themselves usually take 10-12 minutes and require a lot of thought, bluffing, planning and strategy, much like chess or poker. Anyone who is a fan of these games should give it a try at least once, even if you don't plan to immerse yourself in its world.

In terms of the business model, the original idea was to sell cards in sets half randomly. Imagine what it's like to play chess when there are not enough pieces, for example, if you don't have a queen. If you also play with the best players, you will be at a huge disadvantage. In TCG, you cannot start the game with the entire set of cards in hand. Cards must be collected (or bought).

Magic also allows you to have multiple cards of the same type, so if you have a powerful card like Necropotency in your set (I'll talk more about that card in a moment), you might need four of these cards to get strong enough to start compete with other players.

When you buy a set of cards, you are guaranteed to get one rare and two uncommons, but it's impossible to guess which ones you will get, each time it's a matter of chance. Sometimes you are lucky, and you find exactly the card that you have been waiting for a long time, while opening only a couple of boosters. But it also happens that the desired card will appear when you open more than 30 sets.

In my blog, I often talk about Gacha and why it is extremely well suited for shareware online games. Card-collectible games like Magic used Gacha for monetization as early as 20 years ago. They have long proven that they can become a successful business model.

When I was a teenager, every few weeks I would go to the local store that sold card games and buy booster packs there. I remember how I felt every time I opened another set: excitement, intrigue, anticipation and, finally, joy or despair. It was (and still is) a very exciting process, and, thanks to the fact that the game itself was great, all these feelings in the aggregate were indescribable, however, they were not cheap.

To top it all off, the Magic developers pulled off another great trick. Even if you had four copies of each card in your set of cards, it still didn't make you a better player. Of course, this meant that you had all the pieces of the puzzle at your disposal, but to play Magic well required certain skills, so a beginner had every chance of beating an experienced player if he had a good set of cards and skills to play.

In the game of Magic, decks are usually formed from 60 cards, but not all cards can be formed into one deck. In addition, not all cards can interact with each other. For example, it will be extremely difficult to go from a card that requires a lot of resources of one color against cards of another color. In this way, the game's ecosystem was constantly maintained in a harmonious balance that was welcomed by all players, but it also meant that the individual player had to spend a lot before reaching the top echelon of players.

It's clear from Hearthstone that the developers at Blizzard are big fans of the CCG, and they've tried to take the game core and some of the business elements from successful card games and apply them to the digital world. It seems to me that they did their job very well and created a competitive KKI - this is a serious achievement.

Hearthstone Review

Hearthstone virtual gaming table and its key components.

The game itself is based on one-on-one turn-based battles between two opponents playing in sync. Players choose a hero, build a deck of 30 cards, and try to reduce the opponent's life to zero. At the beginning of the game, each opponent has 30 lives. If you've played Magic: The Gathering before, then you'll feel right at home in Hearthstone because it feels like a stripped down version of Magic.

But there are the following key differences. Players automatically gain one mana crystal each turn (no need for land or resource cards). Players draw a new card each turn, but do not die if the cards run out. Instead, they take one extra point of damage each time they fail to draw a new card. Players can have no more than two of the same card, unless it is a legendary card. Legendary cards cannot be paired in a play deck. Players can attack enemy creatures directly (called minions in Hearthstone). Each hero has their own unique power that can be activated for two mana crystals once per turn.

An example of activating a secret card in Hearthstone.

In the game, you cannot react to the opponent's action until the opponent's turn is completed. For example, in Magic you make your move and your opponent can react with some kind of "immediate card" such as a counterspell, which always keeps you on your toes. This is not possible in Hearthstone, which makes the game simpler - easier to understand. However, this removes the element of bluffing from the game, which is common at high levels of most CCGs.

In Hearthstone, there are so-called "secret" cards that are played face down, their ability is hidden from the opponent until the condition for triggering this card is met. Thus, the game maintains the intrigue and bluff factor, although because of this, from my point of view, there is not enough interaction between the players at the highest levels of the game.

All in all, this means that Hearthstone often comes down to a battle for control of the central game board, and the player with the stronger game board in the championship tends to win.

Hearthstone also uses the mechanics and meta settings of other games that have been incredibly successful over the years. Players cannot use any cards in the deck because cards are divided into 9 classes of heroes and many cards can only be used by individual characters. This means, for example, that a player cannot use an Eviscerate card from the Rogue deck and a Soulfire card from the Warlock deck in the same deck. There is also a subtle difference between each of the heroes - each has a unique "hero power" that affects gameplay.

Luck

Like it or not, the random number generator plays a role in Hearthstone.

The luck factor, which has long been a touchy subject at Game Developers Conferences, of course plays a huge role in all card games, and in Hearthstone it has taken on even more predominance than usual. For example, in poker, it often happens that a player decides to do something that, from the point of view of logic, would be a bad decision, for example, going all-in if a bad card is in hand. Luck suggests that even these crazy decisions pay off when, by luck, you get exactly what you need to win.

In Hearthstone, the immediate order of the cards and the order in which they appear during the course of the game is due to a random sequence, so sometimes you can get exactly what you need, when you need it. It also happens that no matter how good a player you are, you can lose because the wrong cards fall out at all. The problem is that although it is possible to create systems in which the element of luck will be completely absent, such games quickly become uninteresting and boring.

Luck means that players can sometimes arrange moments when they want to sing "Ave Maria".

Luck means that players can sometimes arrange moments when they want to sing "Ave Maria", after which the mood is lifted and the game becomes even more exciting. This applies to any point in the game, and I personally believe that's why Candy Crush has become so successful. Because when you pass a very difficult level that is definitely designed to make you pay, there is a chance (even if extremely small) that luck will turn on your face and you will be able to pass the level.

Since Hearthstone is a digital CCG, Blizzard has introduced several cards into it, the loss of which is very dependent on a random number generator (RNG). Sometimes fate shows favor to you, other times it will turn its back on you. Personally, it seems to me that there are too many RNG-dependent cards in this game, and this in turn reduces the influence of the tactical aspect in the game. Although, for the sake of experiment, it is interesting to see how it works, because in a real game it is very difficult to correctly organize the random number effect, since it is quite difficult to keep track of everything that happens at any given point in time, this requires counters and markers. Since Hearthstone does this automatically for the player, it helps to resolve these effects quickly.

Cycle design and monetization

Cycle Design in Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft.

If we consider Hearthstone from a higher level, then the cycle design scheme shown in the figure above is used here. When the player starts playing and progresses through the tutorial levels, he is given the opportunity to practice on the innkeeper or immediately fight with real opponents. At the beginning of the game, some basic cards are given out for free, and after completing quests or defeating heroes whose class can be pre-selected, players earn new cards.

By completing quests or winning three games in a row in casual or ranked mode, the player earns 10 gold coins - this is such a non-convertible currency in the game. For 100 gold coins, players can purchase booster packs that will give them more cards and options for deck building. This means that, theoretically, a player can earn any card in the game simply by playing it ad infinitum and constantly honing their skills. Of course, the player can speed up this process by purchasing booster packs in order to earn cards much faster, and this is the main issue of monetizing the game according to the Free-to-Play model.

Like traditional collectible cards, virtual ones are also distributed randomly in each set, along with cards of various rarities. One rare card is guaranteed to be included in each set, but the player does not know which card they will receive, making the process of opening boosters a fun and exhilarating experience. Some cards are extremely difficult to obtain (legendary rarity), appear once every twenty sets, and are exceptionally powerful in their impact on the entire metagame. When you start taking down higher ranked opponents in PvP, you will soon run into opponents with decks that use a lot of legendary cards. So, in order to compete with the best Hearthstone players, you need a large enough number of the strongest cards to significantly help the cause. This means that you either have to play for a very long time in order to use the gold you receive to buy booster packs for free, or be willing to pay for boosters to speed up the deckbuilding process.

Players simply can't buy the exact card they want. The total amount of their expenses is thus maximized. And if they buy a lot of boosters, then sooner or later they will collect cards of every hero in the game, which means they will have more motivation to try new strategies, and this will draw them into the game even more.

The key difference between Hearthstone and traditional CCGs is that game cards are given out for free at the beginning of the game. Usually, players have to buy a starter set of cards, which creates a greater barrier to inclusion in the game. Hearthstone gives players some cards and some boosters, making the game more accessible to newcomers.

Obviously, this "accessibility" was one of the "pillars" of this version of the game, because it is very easy to get into the game. I tried this game with my friends who have never played CCGs other than Magic, and I must say they got used to the game pretty quickly. Probably it was the “Player vs. Player” mode that was made quite easy. During the opponent's turn, there is no way to intervene or interrupt his actions, and although there are some key cards in the game mechanics such as "Deathrattle", the ability "Combo and Cunning", they are all pretty easy to understand, and they are not as complex as abilities "Copy" or "Flicker" in Magic: The Gathering.

In terms of convenience and ease of use, the game belongs to the "master class" system. Real CCGs tend to get very confusing as signs, spells, and rank effects litter the game board. In Hearthstone, you can clearly see when minions are affected by a spell. I take my hat off to the developers, because it's quite difficult to bring such abstract concepts into the game for the general audience.

Quests

An example of some of the quests available to players in Hearthstone.

The quest system is used to guide and reward players towards functionality and features of the game that may have been overlooked. In Hearthstone, players have the opportunity to complete three quests a day to earn gold, which can then be used to buy booster packs.

There are often quests in quests that require the player to use a variety of heroes, not just the "Mage" (the hero with which you start playing Hearthstone). This pushes you to learn the rest of the game and eventually leads to buying additional booster packs for new cards.

Blizzard is carefully rationing quests to three per day so that players can't exceed their daily free gold quota without investing real money. Although the developers have made it possible to replace quests, in the case when the proposed set is too complicated.

For example, if a quest involves defeating a "Paladin" or "Priest" three times, and the player has no cards or interest in this hero, then he has the opportunity to replace the quest once in the hope that the other will be more doable. However, the quest can only be replaced once a day, which means players' earnings are carefully rationed in terms of free in-game gold.

Arena Mode

Card selection for a Hearthstone player in Arena mode.

The Arena mode is a little different from the regular game mode. It is available to all players after depositing 150 gold coins (the first time is allowed to play for free to try this mode). The Arena mode is essentially a very simplified version of the real Booster Draft, a popular tournament in real CCGs.

Booster Draft requires a different set of skills for a traditional PvP match, as you have to build a deck with a limited number of cards that are drawn randomly. Here you need to make decisions quickly, without prior deliberation, and you also need to bring the cards and abilities of each hero to the required level.

Players choose one of three decks. They can then use this deck in PvP Arena until they lose three matches or win 14 matches. Depending on how many times players win before losing, prizes await them, which can be either booster packs or special cards.

The further they advance in the tournament, the more powerful cards they can get, maybe even legendary cards. However, the Arena mode is very carefully balanced so that the average player wins a maximum of 5 games (although if the player is lucky and has the right skills, they have a good chance of winning all matches).

The Arena mode is very interesting and presents a completely different challenge from the usual mode. In addition, this is the second of two possible in-game purchases - you can play the Arena mode instead of buying boosters. This is how players get used to buying packs of cards, even though the final prize is not entirely certain in terms of cards received and their rarity.

Creating new maps

The mode of creating new cards in the game Hearthstone.

There are actually two types of currencies used in Hearthstone, although they are quite hidden. Gold is needed to buy booster packs or enter Arena, but players can also disenchant their cards to get Arcane Dust, which can be used to create new cards if the player requires it.

Card crafting was introduced to the game to make up for the intentional omission of not being able to sell cards. In real CCGs, the metagame is that some cards become more powerful, and therefore more in demand, than others. If you're a serious player and you know there's one particular card that you really need, it's better to buy or trade that card instead of endlessly buying booster packs in the hope that one day it will end up in one of them.

This leads to the fact that people in real life begin to exchange or sell cards to each other. It also happens that players, or even card shops, start selling special cards at a special price. For example, if you want to buy the Angel Serra card in Magic: The Gathering, you can do so for eight dollars. That's 2.5x the cost of a booster pack, but since it guarantees you a card, it can be more profitable than buying a booster pack and hoping.

Blizzard has decided not to introduce an auction system to Hearthstone. My guess is that they didn't want to help create a secondary market where they couldn't control prices. It also contributes to ambiguities, such as understanding who technically owns the card when it was purchased electronically.

However, not allowing players to get special cards at all would be a bad decision on the part of the game developers, because advanced players know exactly what card they want to get into their deck. If I have to buy 72 booster packs in order to get one single card, it will obviously upset me and possibly discourage me from playing. Players can disenchant non-base cards to get Arcane Dust, which can then be spent to create the card they really need.

Economic data for creating cards in Hearthstone. Image from Gamepedia.com.

True, there is one trap in this system - the benefit received from disintegrating a card is not directly proportional to the cost of creating a new card. For example, if I reveal "Lorewalker Cho" in a booster pack (a legendary and extremely rare card), I can disenchant it for 400 Arcane Dust.

But, if I want to create the same card, it would cost me 1600 Arcane Dust. This was intended purely to keep players buying boosters, as disenchanting cards would result in lower rewards for players. So if they keep crafting cards, they will soon have nothing to disenchant, and if disenchanting and crafting were a one-to-one ratio, there would be no point in buying boosters.

Hey Blizzard, I've unlocked this map three times already. Just toss me the Golden Edwin Van Cleef and we'll be done with that, okay?

However, this creates some problems in the game, and this is one of the reasons for criticizing this game. Let's pretend I already have Lorewalker Cho and open another one. And here I find myself at a disadvantage, because if I have one such card, I can already use it in my deck (because this card is legendary), but the second such card no longer gives anything. I'll have to disenchant the card, but I'll only get one-fourth the cost it would take to craft it.

In real life CCGs, I would most likely trade it for any other legendary card, depending on the real life estimate of its value. In the virtual game, however, I will need four legendary cards so that after disenchanting them I will be able to create exactly the card that I need. I think this is too strict a rule, and this is one of the factors that repels the player.

On the other hand, in terms of economic benefits, I can understand why such a decision was made. So players are encouraged to buy boosters, and those who paid for a booster once are likely to pay a second time.

There is only one thing about the map creation system that definitely needs to be improved. It's a way of presenting this gaming opportunity to the players. The creation of maps is presented in the game very vaguely and difficult, so not every regular player understands what to do. It's not intuitive, and to be honest, it's sometimes confusing to present this option.

This diagram could and should be explained in detail to the players, especially since it is of great importance when a player begins to deal with the deck building system.

Technical part

I rarely go into the technical side of games in my reviews, but I feel like Hearthstone deserves praise in this area. The loading time is very short, visually the game is great, the special effects are especially good, the animation of some of the cards, and the interface is very intuitive.

Blizzard has its own platform for users - Battle Net.

Two technical achievements stand out: matchmaking and cross-platform Battle.net.

If you are playing with a real user, then you rarely have to wait more than 30 seconds - you face the enemy pretty quickly. Also, connection breaks are extremely rare, there are almost no technical problems during the match. You feel how well the work is done.

Blizzard has brought the Battle.net platform to the iPad version, which means that it will soon be possible to play with those opponents who sit at the computer. If you're playing Hearthstone PC, your cards will be with you wherever you play. That is, if you buy cards from the computer version, they can be found on the iPad and vice versa. The game also supports direct chat with friends, allowing you to arrange matches when they come online.

After releasing the PC version first, Blizzard essentially entered the beta testing phase, tweaking the balance and matcher until everything worked as it should. I envy their ability to use their own platform to get users to test small changes to the game, but the quality of the product is already high, so it's great that they have that advantage.

And finally, the biggest advantage is how players quietly find new friends and enemies in their own region. If a new player who appears online has the same IP address as you, for example, if he is in your office or in the same coffee shop, then this player will appear on your list and you will have a chance to add him as a friend. It makes it so easy to add new players to your friends list, and also allows advanced users to introduce the game to newbies.

Matches, PvP mode

25 ranks that a player can get (including the Legend rank) in Hearthstone.

The most active Hearthstone players are in the PvP mode on various servers around the world (one server cluster is started in such territories as North America, Europe). Players are assigned a certain rank. Starting from the 25th, the more wins, the higher the rank, and vice versa, the more losses, the lower the rank. There are 25 ranks in total (and the additional rank "Legend"), each of which is assigned a certain number of stars. Each time the user wins, they earn a star, and when they lose, the stars are lost (starting from rank 20 and above).

However, in addition to regular stars, players also earn bonus stars if they win three or more matches in a row. This means that if a player wins three matches in a row and then loses three in a row, he is effectively back where he started.

This ranked game system is very interesting and well thought out. Encouraged by a winning streak, you can get ahead pretty quickly, even if you've had a losing streak before. It also means that those players who spend money are likely to break through the small ranks fairly quickly (thanks to the cards, they score easy wins against those who do not spend money). It also means that the ranking system itself is very good at sorting players into similar levels and drawing boundaries between levels, thus making the game itself challenging and interesting and rewarding.

The number of stars required to advance through each rank in PVP in Hearthstone.

PvP tournaments are held every month with a seasonal ranking, at the end of which the ranks are half cleared and players start playing from a lower position than they reached last season. Having seasonal battles means that even an avid gamer has something to return to the game (for example, to win the new season). It also allows rookies to start the game with a smaller margin from the top players at the beginning of the season.

Getting a new rank in Hearthstone.

Matches here are built in the "one chance to win" format. I am personally against this format. Often you need time to react and evaluate how your opponent is playing. And when you have only one chance to win, you may lose simply because of bad luck, and not because of lack of skills. Luck always plays a role in competitions, but that's why TCG tournaments tend to use the "two, three, four win streak" formats. Because players can't get lucky in multiple games in a row, and according to statistics, the best player wins if the tournament goes on for quite a long time.

I would also like to add that despite the fact that the player versus player mode is very interesting and binds to the game, nevertheless there are no instructions for a beginner. This is rather strange, because this mode is very motivating to play, but you still have to get to it, and then try it, which the current training does not contribute to. Considering that, in general, the tutorial is well done, it looks strange that this mode is left without attention.

It's all about the metagame

Diamond or overrated minion? It depends on the metagame!

From a pure design standpoint, one of the most exciting aspects of creating a CCG is creating a metagame that exists outside of the game itself. Here is a similar real-life example: in the 2014 FIFA World Cup tournament, many teams switched to a counter-attacking style of play. This came about as a result of Spain's dominance over the past six years in the game due to their advantage in the game based on the "Tiki-taka" style.

After two games, Spain was removed from the competition, showing what results can be obtained using a system that is completely opposite to the rest. TCGs are infamous for having vast layers of the metagame.

A great example of this in Hearthstone is the Black Knight card. If you're fighting opponents who use the popular Warlock and Druid decks, then Knight can be the clear winner. However, if your opponent isn't playing one of these characters, then the Black Knight becomes a completely useless, overrated minion with little ability, and it could cost you an entire game as well.

This means that the most experienced players are quick to react to popular trends, adapt their decks and playstyle to get the maximum advantage against their opponent.

From a business model standpoint, this is a brilliant move by Blizzard, because it means that there is only one way to become a very strong player, and that is to get all the cards in the game so that every opportunity is available to you. Thanks to the booster set system, the total cost of all cards will be hundreds of dollars, depending on which cards the player opens.

But what's even better is that even if you have all the cards in the game, it doesn't guarantee you victory at all, it just means that you have the potential to beat any type of hero you might encounter if you have enough skill.

Community

Blizzcon has already scheduled a Hearthstone World Championship this year.

Blizzard is excellent at building and maintaining player communities around its projects. For example, Starcraft is considered almost a sport in South Korea due to the spread of the game and the atmosphere of competition.

In addition, professional players receive real money for winning. Blizzard is already hosting official Hearthstone tournaments. There are also professionals dedicating their careers to this game. This is a great proof to everyone that mobile tablet gaming has also become a serious force to be reckoned with.

Improvements

Hearthstone is brilliant in every way. This is a carefully thought out, interesting and addictive game. However, it seems to me that in some areas there is something that can be done even better.

Tournament Mode

Professional Hearthstone tournaments are already taking place, but not without controversy. We definitely need means to limit external interference during tournaments. It is also worth adding to the professional game the opportunity to have 15 cards in addition to the game deck, which can be exchanged for cards from the main deck before the second game. It is very important to give players the opportunity to react to the opponent's strategy, especially when it comes to competitions in the “to N number of wins” model.

Facebook. Social media

No integration with FB. Sometimes you are lucky and you open an incredible booster, in which there are several rare cards, maybe even legendary ones, then you will definitely want to brag about it. Or talk about the fact that you just increased your rank in the "player against player" mode, or defeated the enemy. Players will certainly want to share their achievements.

Hearthstone could use a referral system to give free boosters to newcomers who came to the game through the link, just like those players who published the link to the game. This would greatly help the game spread and increase the download rate.

Character boosters, dust, sales

The economy of the game is clearly established and everything has its cost, but there are moments that upset users. When they first start out, they usually focus on one or two character classes. But when boosters are opened, they often come across cards for those classes that are not yet available.

A simple solution to this problem would be to offer boosters for individual characters. It would be possible to make boosters more expensive, but, for example, with a guarantee that at least three cards will be for the class they need. It would be a good package of discount offers for newbies. On the other hand, such boosters would slowly offer cards from other classes as well, in order to fuel the interest of players in other classes in this way.

As an end user, I'd like to be able to buy Arcane Dust to create the cards I need. I understand that it is such an economic move not to let the player buy dust (this strategy increases customer lifecycle value as players have to buy a lot of boosters), but I know a lot of people who left the game because the game seemed like a money hole to them because they couldn't get the cards they needed. They would easily part with a small amount of money to get a strong card (5-10 dollars), but there is simply no such option in the game.

Another idea is to hold sales of boosters or hold promotions on the probability of dropping a particular card. For example, let's say that on Thursdays, the chance of getting a "Legendary card" from the "Rogue" deck increases in the booster. It seems to me that it would increase sales on such days, and would be more honest with customers.

Games offline

The problem with mobile and tablet games is that they can only be played online. If you look at how much money Clash of Clans makes, you can understand why everything is so arranged, but it's a pity that you can't play Hearthstone offline. Of course, in this case, the player versus player mode would not be available, but users could practice or build decks - both of which are very exciting.

PvE Mode

CCGs, at their core, are player versus player games. But if we are talking about a virtual card game, then it is easy to add a PvE mode to it, where players could complete quests or fight against simulated opponents.

Many beginners find it difficult to immediately start playing in the hard world of PvP, and the PvE mode would help to comfortably prepare players for real fights. Luckily, it seems that Blizzard is already working on this mode in the first Hearthstone expansion project. So we probably won't have long to wait.

Mixing and evolution

While these games are conceptually different from CCGs, JRPGs like Puzzle and Dragons and Rage of Bahamut use evolution and blending mechanics to great effect.

Since Hearthstone is a computer-based CCG, these features can easily be added to it. Then getting existing cards will bring more benefits to the players, and the player will be able to control which cards are better to create from the excess ones.

In terms of monetization, there will be a new way to introduce very complex cards, as the player may need several rare or legendary cards to mix them up and create more powerful variations of them.

Events

Events that are an important part of the popular free-to-play MMOs - like Game of War, Modern War, Crime City - could be a great addition to Hearthstone.

Seasonal player versus player tournaments have already been implemented, but what about the Warlock vs. Priest tournament, where players could choose sides and fight to earn points, defeat the enemy and earn prizes?

Or how about flash tournaments that would be played over the course of one or two days? Or maybe hold a tournament with the rule: “You can play decks without rare and legendary cards”? Such events in games keep players, give a sense of novelty in the game, not to mention an additional incentive for purchases.

Group versus group mode

PvP works great in Hearthstone, but what if we try to introduce a group-vs-group mode? Players could form a team of, say, five players and contribute their points to determine the overall rank of the "Guild".

Players could even gift each other gold or arcane dust to help team members get out of trouble or get good cards. In addition, it is very convenient to train new players this way, because team members can train them and help them.

Results

I think Hearthstone is a really great game. She's fun, not aggressive in terms of IAP, and no matter how much time a player spends on the cards, skill completely determines the best.

Anil Gupta, who has worked for Capcom and Gree for many years, wrote a blog post about Hearthstone. Gupta starts with the basics, talking about the nature of collectible card games (CCGs), breaking down game modes, monetization, and Hearthstone cycles.

Introduction to the world of collectible card games

Before analyzing Hearthstone, it would be good to remember the predecessor of all modern CCGs - Magic: The Gathering, which is still a phenomenally popular product to this day. It has influenced, if not dictated the design of, nearly every such game since 1993. Developed by Richard Garfield, Magic: The Gathering is a game between two Planeswalkers who fight to the death.

When you buy another set of cards, you are guaranteed to get one rare and two uncommon cards, but which ones you get - it's impossible to guess, each time it's a matter of chance. Sometimes you are lucky, and you find exactly the card that you have been waiting for a long time, while opening only a couple of boosters. But it also happens that the desired card will appear when you open more than 30 sets.