Hearthstone has proven to be quite popular, amassing a whopping 20 million players into its virtual tavern. The digital game is easy enough to understand, especially because just about everything is automated and all the player has to worry about is playing the cards. What if it were made into an actual physical game though?
If you’ve played Hearthstone, just pause for a moment and imagine all the logistics and pieces you’d need to make that work. All those cards for the various classes, all those counters, all that EVERYTHING. Now, look at the nightmare it would be to play (Escapist Magazine via Games in Asia).
Firstly, it’s in Chinese, so that complicates things somewhat for those who don’t speak or read the language. Secondly, can you imagine how well you have to know the game to make sure you are using the counters and everything else properly? I know I take Hearthstone for granted – I play a card and things just happen in front of my eyes like magic. All of that automation is thrown out the window in this physical version. Also, it is a hell of a lot more time consuming in real life.
If playing this physical version (and watching it be played) taught me one thing, it’s this: the digital game is incredibly good at streamlining. Blizzard has taken full advantage of the game being digital-only to include some complex, interesting mechanics that are awkward or just tedious to resolve in a physical copy.
What would be a thirty-second turn in the digital game took up the better part of five minutes here. But most heinous was the set-up time. Constructing a deck by sifting through dozens of boxes of cards of course took longer than merely scrolling through your in-game collection.
Yeah, no thanks. I don’t even know if I would pick this set up as a novelty. One patch later and your cards would already be outdated! That and there would be no cool animations or noises when making my moves.
What about you? Would you spend money on merchandise like this?
Last Updated: September 29, 2014
Gerhard Davids
September 29, 2014 at 12:47
This should have been at sexpo next to the whips…
Thats_how_I_Troll
September 29, 2014 at 13:52
I think I still have some old Hearthstone Cards, think they are even in English… Will see if I can scratch them out tonight and take some pics…
Matewis Jubilai
September 29, 2014 at 14:14
All the logistics and pieces to make it work doesn’t bother me at all. In fact I think it would be quite cool, except for the one thing which I’m afraid is a dealbreaker: I won’t be able to play it on my laptop, in my underwear, while eating coco pops before work 🙁
Ottokie
September 29, 2014 at 14:27
Would be a really good idea to go physical, but the game (in my own opinion) still very unbalanced and luck orientated instead of strategic playing like you get in Magic the Gathering.
Ross Woofels Mason
September 29, 2014 at 15:10
It’s pretty much the same as magic, yu-gi-oh or any card/ table top game. The digital version’s can take control of the all the math’s, the rule handling etc…
Playing Magic the gathering online is a hell of a lot easier and less arguing about that play or how damage is dealt out.
So yea I am all for digital too, though digital will never have that feeling of physical card deck.