[Mobile Games] Blizzard Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft (for iPad) Review

[X A V I ™]

 

Pros

• Fast, fun gameplay.
• Beautifully crafted environment.
• Excellent interface.
• Lots of game modes.
• Smartly balanced card selection.
• Cross-platform with iPhone, Android, and desktop.

• Free!

Cons

No offline mode.

I have never played World of Warcraft and I don't think I ever will. But on a recent Saturday morning, I played six hours of Blizzard Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, and I have absolutely no regrets. Hearthstone is a fun and free digital card game set in the Warcraft universe. It deftly combines excellent gameplay, lush designs, and addictive collectibility in a surprisingly strategic game. It's an Editors' Choice for iPad games, and I have to finish this review quickly so I can get back to playing.

You Meet at an Inn...
Have you partaken in a Blizzard game in the last decade or so? Then you already have the Battle.net account required to play Hearthstone. After logging in, you'll drop right into a highly informative, if somewhat long, tutorial. New players will have to create an account with Blizzard before proceeding.

A great thing about Hearthstone is that it's available on so many platforms. I started playing at home on a desktop computer, and then I moved to an iPad Air 2 ($445.00 at eBay) . Hearthstone has excellent cross-platform compatibility, so I now play on my iPhone 6, as well as a Google Nexus 9 ($595.00 at Amazon) . Hearthstone is a hefty download, however. It's best to set aside some time before your first game, and definitely download it over Wi-Fi.

 

Taking a game as lushly designed as Hearthstone from tablets to handsets is no mean feat, but Blizzard handled it well and employs only a few subtle real-estate saving strategies. Your hand, for example, is minimized down at the bottom of the screen until you need to take a peek at your cards. Other menus are artfully compressed, and I never felt like my experience was reduced because I was playing on a smaller screen. Of course, older phones may struggle with the game.

https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/blizzard-hearthstone-heroes-of-warcraft-for-ipad