Hearthstone: secrets of the card game from Blizzard. The success of Hearthstone: 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 a card and collectible game. You can scold the modern gaming industry 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 been released on Mac and PC, and last Thursday it opened its doors to players in the App Store. Let's look at the new Warcraft according to Blizzard, which all platforms are obedient to.

Down with bloody battles and down with base construction. Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft will once again pit irreconcilable enemies against one another, but it will do so at the playing table with cards in hands and paws. Perhaps this is the most peaceful game from Blizzard that has come out so far. When you launch Hearthstone for the first time, you will be pleasantly surprised by the Russian speech already in the starting video, and then throughout the entire game. First of all, you will be offered to undergo training if this is your first time visiting the light. Then you will need to create a new Battle.net account or connect an existing one. You don't need anything else to start the game.

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

You can also buy card sets for virtual coins and real money. Purchased packs have expert status and contain five unique cards. They are more powerful than ordinary ones 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 are also divided into two large groups: creature cards and spell cards. The player is free to build his own deck for each hero in the game menu; if this is not done, then the character will be sent to battle with a standard set. Since you cannot exchange cards with other players, extra cards can be disenchanted if they belong to an expert's set. Disenchantment brings the player Arcane Dust, which can be spent on creating a new card. The more dust, the better the card, 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 an additional, fourth, card from the deck. Any 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 will not be able to 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 summon them to the playing field. The summoned creature can attack enemy creatures and the enemy hero himself. The game continues 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 another advantage. You can use as many cards as you like during a 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 the opponents are thoughtful. But in a network game, time per move is limited, which is what the burning fuse reminds them of. There is no full-fledged chat in the game, but you can use one of several preset expressions to convey the full range 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 and fight a randomly selected opponent. Hearthstone always personally chooses an opponent for a player, studying the statistics of both to ensure the most equal battle. The second game mode is Arena. There are slightly different rules and paid entrance. The arena is suitable for experienced players and will bring significant 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 reserve and damage indicator, as well as often bonus characteristics. Little things like this can often turn the tide of a battle. Spell cards are a little easier because you just have to use them, but the issue of building a strong and balanced deck is very, very difficult. It is unlikely that you will be able to do this quickly and without several dozen attempts.

Graphically, Hearthstone is very similar to other Blizzard creations, which 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 did not forget to build a clock and an indicator of the device’s battery charge level into the game so that players do not get too carried away, but who can stop this? The sound can perhaps be called the best among games in Russian from Western developers. Complete Russification of text and sound is unlikely to leave players indifferent, given that many of the chants were carried over directly from previous Warcraft parts.

Perhaps this review did not reveal absolutely all the details of the game, 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 gain enormous popularity, and the multiple platforms supported will only enhance this effect. Surely Blizzard disappointed someone by releasing Warcraft not as a strategy game, but as a collectible card game it is very, very good. This is quite possibly the best card game we have on iOS. So, we have a high-quality project that is well thought out from all sides, as well as many players from all over the world. Simply put, we have a new mega-hit and an excellent debut for Blizzard on mobile platforms.

In my blog, a note about Hearthstone. Gupta starts with the basics, covering the nature of collectible card games (CTGs) and breaking down Hearthstone's game modes, monetization, and cycles.

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

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

Many experts predicted that a heavyweight version of World of Warcraft would be developed that could be played on a tablet, but Blizzard made a completely new decision by releasing an online computer collectible card game (CCG) based on the Warcraft universe. We are, of course, talking about Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft.

Introduction to the world of trading card games

The ancestor 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 well-known CCGs, such as Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon.

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

"Planeswalkers" could summon unusual creatures and utter unheard of curses to defeat their opponent, which resulted in a turn-based strategy with depth, with the continuation of the game universe beyond the game itself and with tactical strategy that is still incredibly addictive to this day. which is a lot of fun to play.

Magic cards are sold in two different sets: a starter set and a booster set. The starter set costs approximately three times more than the booster set, but provides more components to start the game, although only at a very limited level. The booster pack contains additional cards that can be added to the deck, which later give you more options when developing a strategy and allow you to change your play style in the right way. 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 total card pool. That is, despite the fact that it was possible to play without having a full set of cards, players still had an incentive to collect all the cards in the collection, such as collecting stickers in a Panini album dedicated to the next World Cup.

Magic: The Gathering Live Championship

The genius of Magic was its varied design and choice of business model. First of all, the game was (and this has not changed) very fun to play. The games themselves usually take 10-12 minutes and require mental effort, bluffing, planning and strategy, much like chess or poker. Anyone who is a fan of these types of games should try playing it at least once, even if you don't plan on diving into its world.

From a business model point of view, the original solution was to sell cards by creating sets half-randomly. Imagine what it would be 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 find yourself at a severe disadvantage. In CCGs, you cannot start games with the entire set of cards in your hands. Cards must be collected (or purchased).

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 this card in a moment), you may need four of these cards to become strong enough to start compete with other players.

When you buy another set of cards, you are guaranteed to get one rare and two uncommon cards, but which of them you will get is impossible to guess, each time it is a matter of chance. Sometimes you get lucky and find exactly the card you've been waiting for for a long time, having only opened a couple of booster packs. But it also happens that the card you need will appear when you open more than 30 sets.

On my blog I often talk about Gacha and why it is extremely well suited for free-to-play online games. Trading card games like Magic used Gacha for monetization 20 years ago. They have long proven that they can very well become a successful business model.

When I was a teenager, every few weeks I would go to the local card game store and buy booster packs. 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 due to the fact that the games themselves were great, all these sensations together were indescribable, although 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, that 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 be good at Magic required certain skills, so a beginner had a good chance of beating an experienced player if he had a good set of cards and the necessary skills for the game.

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 with a card that requires a lot of resources of one color against cards of another color. This maintained a harmonious balance in the game's ecosystem, which was welcomed by all players, but it also meant that an 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 CCGs, and they've tried to take the core gameplay and some of the business elements from successful card games and apply them to the digital world. It seems to me that they did a very good job and created a competitive CCG - this is a serious achievement.

Hearthstone Game Review

Hearthstone virtual gaming table and its key components.

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

But there are the following key differences. Players automatically receive one mana crystal each turn (eliminating the need for land and resource cards). Players draw a new card each turn, but do not die if they run out of cards. 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 the game deck. Players can attack enemy minions directly (called minions in Hearthstone). Each hero has his own unique power, which can be activated for two mana crystals once per turn.

An example of activating a secret card in the game Hearthstone.

In the game, you cannot react to an opponent's action until the opponent's turn is completed. For example, in Magic, you make your turn and your opponent might respond with some kind of "instant card" like 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 does remove the element of bluffing from the game, which is common at the high levels of most CCGs.

Hearthstone has what are called "secret" cards, which are played face down and their ability is hidden from the opponent until the card's trigger condition is met. This keeps the intrigue and bluff factor alive in the game, although it does, in my opinion, result in a lack of interaction between players at the highest levels of the game.

Overall, this means that Hearthstone often comes down to a battle for control of the central game board, and the player with the stronger board at the championship usually wins.

Hearthstone also takes advantage of mechanics and meta settings from other games that have been incredibly successful over the years. Players cannot use any cards in the deck because the cards are divided into 9 hero classes and many cards can only be used by individual characters. This means, for example, that a player cannot use the Eviscerate card from the Rogue deck and the Soulburn 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 the gameplay.

Luck

Whether you like it or not, RNG plays a role in Hearthstone.

Luck, which has long been a touchy subject at game developer conferences, plays a huge role in all card games, of course, and in Hearthstone it's even more prominent than usual. For example, in poker, it often happens that a player decides to do something that logically would be a bad decision, such as going all-in when he has a bad card. Luck means that even these crazy decisions pay off when, by a lucky coincidence, you get exactly what you need to win.

In Hearthstone, the immediate order of cards and the order in which they appear during the game is determined by 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 come out. The problem is that although it is possible to create systems in which the element of luck is completely absent, such games quickly become uninteresting and boring.

Luck means that players can sometimes create moments that make you want to sing Ave Maria.

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

Since Hearthstone is a digital CCG, Blizzard has included several cards that rely heavily on a random number generator (RNG) to drop. Sometimes fate shows you favor, other times it will turn away from you. Personally, I feel like there are too many maps in this game that rely on RNG, which in turn reduces the impact of the tactical aspect of the game. Although, for the sake of experimentation, it is interesting to see how this works, because in a real game it is very difficult to correctly organize the effect of random numbers, since it is quite difficult to keep track of everything that happens at each specific point in time, for this you need counters and markers. Since Hearthstone does this automatically for the player, this helps resolve these effects quickly.

Cycle Design and Monetization

"Cycle Design" in Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft.

Looking at Hearthstone from a higher level, it uses the cycle design diagram shown in the figure above. When the player starts playing and goes through the tutorial levels, he is given the opportunity to practice on the owner of the inn or immediately fight with real opponents. At the beginning of the game, some basic cards are given for free, and after completing quests or defeating heroes whose classes 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 a non-convertible currency in the game. For 100 gold coins, players can buy booster packs that will give them more cards and deck building options. This means that, in theory, a player can earn any card in the game simply by playing it ad infinitum and continually 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 using the Free-to-Play model.

Like traditional trading cards, virtual cards are also distributed randomly in each pack, along with cards of varying rarities. One rare card is guaranteed to be included in each pack, but the player does not know which card they will receive, making the process of opening booster packs a fun and exciting experience. Some cards are extremely difficult to obtain (legendary rarity), appear once every twenty sets, and are extremely powerful in their impact on the entire metagame. As you begin to defeat higher-ranked opponents in Player vs. Player mode, it won't be long before you come across opponents with decks that use a lot of Legendary cards. Thus, 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 need to play for a very long time so that you can use the gold you receive to buy booster packs for free, or be willing to pay for boosters to speed up the deck building process.

Players simply cannot buy exactly the card they need. The total amount of their expenses is thus maximized. And if they buy a lot of booster packs, they will sooner or later collect cards from every hero in the game, which means they will be more motivated to try new strategies, which 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 start 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 the game is very easy to get into. I tried to play this game with my friends who had never played any CCG other than Magic, and I must say, they got the hang of it and got into the game pretty quickly. Probably it was the “Player versus Player” mode that was made quite easy. There's no way to interfere or interrupt your opponent's moves during an opponent's turn, and while there are some key cards in the mechanics of the game like Deathrattle, the Combo Ability, and Subterfuge, they're all fairly easy to understand and aren't as complex as abilities. "Copy" or "Flicker" in Magic: The Gathering.

From the point of view of convenience and ease of use, the game belongs to the “master class” system. Real-life CCGs tend to get very confusing as signs, spells, and rank effects litter the board. In Hearthstone, you can clearly see when minions are under the influence of a spell. I take my hat off to the developers because it's quite difficult to introduce such abstract concepts into a game for a 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 per day to earn gold, which can then be used to buy booster packs.

Quests often have tasks that require the player to use a variety of heroes, not just the “Mage” (the hero with whom you start playing Hearthstone). This encourages you to explore the rest of the game and ultimately leads to purchasing additional booster packs for new cards.

Blizzard carefully limits quests to three per day to ensure that players cannot exceed their free gold per day quota without investing real money. Although the developers have given the opportunity to replace quests in the event that the proposed set is too complex.

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

Arena mode

Selecting cards for a Hearthstone player in Arena mode.

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 free to play to try this mode). Arena mode is essentially a very simplified version of a real booster draft, a popular tournament in real CCGs.

Booster Draft requires a different skill set for a traditional PvP match, as you have to build a deck from a limited number of cards that are dealt at random. Here you need to make decisions quickly, without preliminary thinking, 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 player versus player Arena mode until they either lose three matches or win 14 matches. Depending on how many times players win before losing, they will receive prizes, which can be either booster packs or special cards.

The further they get in the tournament, the more powerful cards they can receive, 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, then he has a good chance of winning all matches).

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

Creating new maps

The mode for 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 purchase booster packs or enter Arena mode, but players can also disenchant their cards to obtain Arcane Dust, which can be used to create new cards if the player requires it.

Card crafting was introduced into the game to fill an intentional omission of not being able to sell cards. In real CCGs, the metagame means that some cards become more powerful, and therefore more desirable, than others. If you're a serious player and you know there's one particular card that you really want, 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 people in real life starting to exchange or sell cards to each other. It also happens that players, or even card stores, begin to sell special cards at a special price. For example, if you want to buy the Serra Angel card in Magic: The Gathering, you can do so for eight dollars. This is 2.5 times more than the cost of a booster pack, but since such a purchase guarantees you will receive a card, it can be more profitable than buying booster packs and hoping.

Blizzard has decided not to introduce an auction system in Hearthstone. My guess is that they didn't want to create a secondary market where they couldn't control prices. It also introduces confusion, such as understanding who technically owns a 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 had to buy 72 booster packs just to get one single card, that would obviously frustrate me and possibly discourage me from playing. Players can disenchant non-basic cards to obtain Arcane Dust, which can then be spent on crafting the card they actually need.

Economics for Card Crafting in Hearthstone. Image from Gamepedia.com.

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

But, if I wanted to create the same card, it would cost me 1600 Arcane Dust. This was intended solely to encourage players to continue purchasing booster packs, as disenchanting cards would give players a reduced reward. Thus, if they continue to create cards, soon they will simply have nothing to disenchant, and if disenchant and card creation were a one-to-one ratio, then there would be no point in buying boosters.

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

However, this creates some problems in the game and this is one of the criticisms of this game. Let's imagine that I already have "Lorekeeper Cho" and I 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 same card no longer gives anything. I'll have to disenchant the card, but I'll only get one-fourth the cost it would cost to create it.

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

On the other hand, from the point of view of economic benefits, I can understand why this decision was made. This way, players are encouraged to buy boosters, and those who pay 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. This is a way of presenting this gaming opportunity to players. Creating cards in the game is presented in a very vague and complex manner, so not every regular player understands what to do. This cannot be mastered intuitively, and, to be honest, sometimes the presentation of this option is quite confusing.

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

Technical part

I very rarely cover the technical side of games in my reviews, but I think Hearthstone deserves praise in this area. The loading time is very fast, the game is visually stunning, the special effects are especially good, the animation of some maps, and the interface is very intuitive.

Blizzard has its own platform for users - Battle Net.

Two technical achievements can be highlighted: matchmaking and cross-platform Battle.net.

If you're playing with a real user, you rarely have to wait more than 30 seconds - you're in front of your opponent pretty quickly. Also, connection dropouts are extremely rare, and there are almost no technical problems during the match. You feel how well the work has been done.

Blizzard has brought the Battle.net platform to the iPad version, which means it will soon be possible to play against opponents who are sitting in front of a computer. If you play the PC version of Hearthstone, 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 as they appear online.

By releasing the PC version first, Blizzard essentially began a beta testing phase, tweaking the balance and matcher until everything worked as expected. I'm jealous of 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 this 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. This makes it so easy to add new players to your friends list, and also allows advanced users to introduce the game to newbies.

Matches, player versus player mode

There are 25 ranks that a player can achieve (including the Legend rank) in Hearthstone.

The most active Hearthstone players are in the “Player vs. Player” mode on various servers around the world (one server cluster is installed in such territories as North America and Europe). Players are assigned a certain rank. Starting from the 25th, the more victories - the higher the rank, and vice versa - the more defeats, the lower the rank. There are 25 ranks in total (and an additional Legend rank), each of which is assigned a certain number of stars. Every time the user wins, he earns a star, and when he loses, stars are lost (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 to where he started.

This gaming system with ranks is very interesting and well thought out. Buoyed by a winning streak, you can quickly get ahead, even if you were on a losing streak. This also means that those players who spend money are likely to break through the small ranks quite quickly (thanks to the cards, they get easy victories over those who do not spend money). This 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, bringing internal satisfaction.

The number of stars required to advance through each rank in Hearthstone's PvP mode.

Player vs. Player tournaments are held every month with seasonal rankings, at the end of which the ranks are half cleared and players start playing from a lower position than where they reached the previous season. Having seasonal battles means that even avid gamers have something to return to the game for (for example, to win the new season). This also allows newcomers to start the game with a smaller lead than the top players early in the season.

Receiving a new rank in Hearthstone.

The matches here are built in a “one chance to win” format. I personally am against this format. Often you need time to react and evaluate how your opponent is playing. And when you only have one chance to win, you may lose simply due to bad luck rather than lack of skill. Luck always plays a role in competitions, but that is why CCG tournaments usually use the “best of two, three, four wins” formats. Because players cannot get lucky in several games in a row, and according to statistics, the best player wins if the tournament lasts 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 ties into the game, there are nevertheless no instructions for a beginner. This is quite strange, because this mode is very motivating to play, but you still need to get to it, and then try it out, which the current training does not contribute to. Considering that, overall, the tutorial was done well, it seems strange that this mode was left without attention.

It's all about the metagame

Diamond or overrated minion? It depends on the metagame!

From a pure design perspective, one of the most intriguing aspects of creating a CCG is creating a metagame that will exist outside of the game itself. Here's a similar real-life example: In the 2014 FIFA World Cup tournament, many teams switched to a counter-attacking style of play. This comes as a result of Spain's dominance over the last six years of the game thanks to their Tiki-Taka style edge in the game.

After two games, Spain was removed from the competition, showing what results can be achieved using a system that is completely opposite to the others. CCGs are notorious for having vast layers of metagame.

A great example of this in Hearthstone is the Black Knight card. If you're facing opponents who are playing the popular Warlock and Druid decks, then Knight could be an absolute winner. However, if your opponent is not playing one of these characters, then the Black Knight becomes a completely useless, overpriced minion with little ability, and it can also cost you the entire game.

This means that the most experienced players are quick to respond to popular trends, adapting their decks and playstyle to gain the maximum advantage against their opponent.

From a business model perspective, 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 acquire every card in the game so that every opportunity becomes available to you. Thanks to the booster pack system, the total value 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 a win at all, it just means that you have the potential to beat any type of hero you might face if you have enough skill.

Community

Blizzcon has already planned the Hearthstone World Championship for this year.

Blizzard is excellent at developing and maintaining player communities around its projects. For example, Starcraft is considered almost a sport in South Korea due to the game's distribution and competitive atmosphere.

In addition, professional players receive real money for winning. Blizzard already hosts official Hearthstone tournaments. There are also professionals who dedicate their careers to this game. This is excellent proof to everyone that mobile tablet games have also become a serious force to be reckoned with.

Improvements

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

Tournament mode

Professional Hearthstone tournaments are already held, but not without controversy. Means are required to limit external interference during tournaments. It is also worth adding to the professional game the ability 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 enemy's strategy, especially if we are talking about competitions based on the "up to N number of wins" model.

Facebook. Social media

No integration with FB. Sometimes you get lucky and open an incredible booster pack that contains several rare cards, maybe even legendary ones, then you definitely want to show it off. Or talk about how you just increased your rank in player versus player mode, or defeated your opponent. Players will probably want to share their achievements.

Hearthstone could use a referral system so that new players who come to the game through the link are given free boosters, as well as those players who post a link to the game. This would greatly help the game spread and increase download levels.

Character boosters, dust, sales

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

A simple solution to this problem would be to offer booster packs 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. This would be a good benefit package for newbies. On the other hand, such booster packs would slowly offer cards from other classes, thus whetting players' interest in other classes as well.

As an end user, I would like to be able to purchase Arcane Dust to create the cards I need. I understand that it's an economic move to not allow the player to buy dust (this strategy increases customer lifetime value since players have to buy a lot of boosters), but I know a lot of people who quit the game because the game felt like a money pit 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), but there is simply no such option in the game.

Another idea is to hold booster sales or promotions on the probability of a particular card appearing. For example, let’s say that on Thursdays the chance of getting a “Legendary Card” from the “Rogue” deck in a booster increases. It seems to me that this would increase sales on such days, and it would be fairer to customers.

Offline games

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 works this way, but it’s a shame that you can’t play Hearthstone offline. Of course, the player versus player mode wouldn't be available, but users could practice or build decks, both of which are a lot of fun.

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 simulated opponents.

Many new players find it difficult to jump right into the harsh world of PvP, and a PvE mode would help prepare players comfortably for real combat. Luckily, it appears that Blizzard is already working on this mode in Hearthstone's first expansion project. So it's likely that we won't have long to wait.

Mixing and evolution

Although these games are conceptually different from CCGs, Japanese computer role-playing games such as Puzzle and Dragons and Rage of Bahamut use evolution and blending mechanics to great effect.

Since Hearthstone is a computer CCG, these features can easily be added to it. Then, getting the cards you already have will be more beneficial to the players, and the player will be able to control which cards are better to create from the extra ones.

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

Events

Events that are an important part of popular massively multiplayer online games based on the free-to-play model - such as Game of War, Modern War, Crime City - could be an excellent addition to Hearthstone.

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

Or what about flash tournaments that would take place over 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 engaged and give a feeling of novelty to the game, not to mention an additional incentive for purchases.

Group vs Group mode

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

Players could even give each other gold or arcane dust to help team members get out of difficult situations or acquire good cards. Plus, it's very convenient to train new players because team members can teach and help them.

Results

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

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

Introduction to the world of trading card games

From a business model point of view, the original solution was to sell cards by creating 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 find yourself at a severe disadvantage. In CCGs, you cannot start games with the entire set of cards in your hands. Cards must be collected (or purchased).

On my blog, I often talk about Gacha and why it is extremely well suited for free-to-play online games. Trading card games like Magic used Gacha for monetization 20 years ago. They have long proven that they can very well become a successful business model.