Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft review

Hearthstone will suck you in. You'll go to bed with its music pleasantly serenading you to sleep. You'll go to work thinking about the new custom deck you've just built, and whether you've included enough heavy-hitters to finish a match off. You'll forget to pick the kids up from school because "just one more game" turned into a marathon run in the Arena. To be honest, writing this review is going to be difficult because I'm constantly thinking of playing Hearthstone.

And that's because it's just so damn good. Blizzard - the maker of World of Warcraft - turning its hand to a collectible card game might have surprised some observers, but what it's managed to produce is a high-quality title that will be on everyone's game of the year lists by the end of 2014.

The Warcraft universe is the basis for proceedings here. Players find themselves in a tavern somewhere in Azeroth and instead of partaking in some eternal warfare, you're sitting down to play a friendly game of cards. You start a match with three or four cards in your hand - depending whether you go first or second - and your deck is made up of 30 cards overall. The goal is to defeat the enemy hero and take away their 30 health points before they take away yours.

It's a simple premise, and simple is what makes Hearthstone such a fun activity. Unlike other card games there aren't a multitude of rules to become familiar with, it's all accessible and after completing the tutorial you'll be pretty much set to go out there and play against real-world players. The main point is that cards cost mana to play, and you gain a mana point after every turn. So for the first three or four goes you're playing cheap cards, but towards the end of a match and by turn eight or nine you can play the big beasts. And that's pretty much as complicated as it gets.

Most card types are made up of minions - warriors that you can place on the board to inflict damage. But there are a few others as well, such as spells, traps and weapons. Spells do damage or offer other kinds of benefits, traps can be set in secret and triggered by your enemy, while weapons can be attached to your hero or minions to add some additional damage for a limited period. Minions can also come with different abilities, one being 'taunt', meaning they have to be targeted by attacks first, thus taking damage away from a potentially more valuable card. Or 'deathrattle', so once they die they trigger some special power, like summoning another minion.

The heroes I mentioned earlier are also taken from World of Warcraft, with each one representing one of the nine classes available to players when that game launched ten years ago. Each hero comes with its own unique power and class-specific cards, meaning there are plenty of different strategies for you to think up and discover as you play through the game. For example, hunters have more traps and lots of cards to do with buffing their beasts, while priests have a lot of cards for healing.

There are an endless number of combinations for players to get to grips with, all resulting in a plethora of different strategies. Crafting your own decks is half the fun, and you won't need to pay out for new card packs to be able to compete at a high level.

I say this because Hearthstone is a free-to-play game, meaning it costs absolutely nothing to download and play. You can save up in-game gold from your victories to open packs, but Blizzard makes its money when players decide they want a quicker boost and want to spend real-world money on opening a few packs. This is no guarantee of success, though, as items in the packs are all randomised and there's not a higher chance that you'll get a legendary or rare card if you pay to open one.

Blizzard has struck the balance perfectly here so that you don't feel like you have to pay to get ahead. I've played hundreds of matches and not spent a single penny; instead I've completed the in-game challenges such as winning matches with a certain class, got the gold reward and opened packs that way.

There's also the chance to craft cards if there's one or two in particular that you really want to complete your deck. You can break your unwanted cards down into 'arcane dust', and collecting enough dust can result in you crafting more powerful cards. It takes time, but it's a useful method if you know what you're after and it's another option for those who don't want to spend real money.

If you get tired of competing with custom decks in multiplayer you can spend some in-game gold or real-world money to enter the Arena. In Arena you get a choice of three heroes, and after selecting one you have to pick one of three cards pulled at random until you've made a deck of 30. Then it's off to battle against players who have done the same. You get three lives in Arena and you have to try and get as many wins as possible before losing them. The higher your win streak, the greater your reward at the end.

Decks in Arena are made up of a complete collection of cards, so you could come across powerful cards that you haven't even seen yet. Having the chance to wield these new minions or spells, if only for three matches, is exciting and the unpredictability will keep you coming back for more.

I've mentioned the basics of Hearthstone, but I haven't even touched upon the glorious design. The soundtrack is marvellous and you'll find yourself humming the tunes long after playing. The cards themselves are beautifully drawn and great to look at, while the voice acting for the minions and heroes is flawless. Matches only last 15 minutes maximum, so you can fit two or three into your lunch break and not feel too discouraged if you lose.

And there's more content on the way. Blizzard is planning to constantly support Hearthstone with new cards and even new modes. A single-player mode called Curse of Naxxramas is on the way later in the year, allowing players to explore five different dungeon wings and take on computer-controlled bosses. It remains to be seen whether a story mode can retain the same appeal as the multiplayer but who would doubt Blizzard pulling off another incredible addition to what is already a superb game?

The only downside is that matches can become a bit repetitive once players find the best cards and use the same strategies, and you might find yourself coming up against the same stack of cards fairly often. However there's always something different to look out for, and just when you think you've figured everything out a warlock will play a spell card that wipes out your hand. You absolutely need to experience Hearthstone and as a free-to-play game there's no excuse not to.

Now, I'm off to finish my paladin deck.