One of the unique mechanics in Hearthstone, is that players choose a class (just like in WoW) when building each deck. Introductory levels teach players the basics of the game, while walking them through a few duels to unlock cards. Regardless of your experience with collectible card games, Hearthstone has a mode that is right for you. From Leeroy Jenkins to Deathwing, there are plenty of nods to the inspiration to keep lore-heads geeking out.
The game takes place around a table in Azeroth, so all the cards consist of familiar faces to World of Warcraft veterans. In a nutshell, players build a deck of 30 cards containing minions and spells that are used to reduce their opponent's life total from 30 to zero. Opponents throw down in turn-based card combat in a number of game modes that each offer slight variations. Hearthstone is a digital collectible card game that offers players the chance to face off in head-to-head battles against either AI or other live players. Despite all the skepticism and bad press, just a year after its initial launch, Hearthstone is one of the most successful and addictive digital card games ever.
The bitter taste left after the trading card game's cancellation made many fans skeptical that Blizzard could pull off an all-digital card game when the developer announced Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft in early 2013. The game quickly fell behind its competition ( Magic: The Gathering, Pokemon, and YuGiOh) in both sales and its reception. When Blizzard pulled the plug on the paper-based World of Warcraft trading card game, it didn't come as much of a surprise.