Time for Android gamers to break piggy banks
Since April 2014 — when
launched on iOS devices — I have found myself accidentally spending countless hours playing Blizzard’s digital card game. Based on the
franchise, sees players construct decks and battle in a virtual inn. Like almost all card games, there’s an element of luck, but creating an original deck that actually wins matches requires knowledge, skill and — thanks to the latest expansion — a lot of money.
I’ve had an excellent time playing the majority of the time. Over the years, I’ve purchased the Welcome Pack for £3.99 and all four Adventures, which have ranged from £13.99 to £17.49. That probably seems like a fair bit of cash to splash on digital cards. For all those hours spent playing on the train home, though, that money hasn’t exactly felt wasted, even if some of those cards are no longer playable in Standard (we’ll get onto that).
Many other players have also spent much more money thanks to the release of Expansions, which now total five thanks to the recent Journey to With these, the only way to get the new cards is through purchasing packs, each containing 5 random cards. The cheapest bundle you can get contains two packs for £2.99 and goes up to 40 packs (200 cards) for £48.99 on iPhone. Bare in mind, there’s absolutely no guarantee you will get the rare cards you want.
A quick on cards. There are five rarities of card: Basic, Common, Rare, Epic, and Legendary. These also come in Golden, which are just aesthetically pleasing and are worth more Dust — AKA the other in-game currency that allows you to craft a card of your choice. The minimum you will get in a pack is four Commons and one Rare (Basic come with the game). Presumably, the best pack you can get is five Golden Legendaries (whether they exist remains a mystery to me, at least).
For some comparisons: a first edition Charizard would be equivalent to a Golden Legendary Fordring, a Charmander would be similar to a Common Goldshire Footman, and Porygon an Epic Faceless Manipulator.
Now, you can also win these packs through doing daily challenges. These challenges win you Gold, which can be spent on packs. Packs cost 100 Gold: daily challenges range from 40 (common) to 100 Gold (rare). Also, there is the Arena — costs 150 Gold to enter — where the game limits how you construct your deck. The longer your winning streak, the more Gold you get.
Oh, and then there’s the Tavern Brawl. Once a week and free to enter, you gain a free pack after your first victory in Plus, if you want your character to look awesome, you can purchase special skins for £9.99 (no effect on gameplay, but you’ll look fly).
That’s the basics of spending money — real and fictional — in And, yes, there are a lot of ways to spend money in Considering an estimated 50 million people played Hearthstone as of April last year, Blizzard are likely raking in the money, even if there are numerous free-toplay players who refuse to purchase anything.
Despite what you’re thinking, the financial model for Hearthstone has actually worked well for skint players such as myself. As mentioned above, spending money on Adventures — which you can purchase with Gold if you’re willing to save — doesn’t seem bad when you spend so long on a game.
Also, when buying, players know exactly which cards they’re getting with an Adventure, unlike buying random packs. For instance, when purchasing the players get six legendaries, two epics, four rares, and 18 commons, all of which were widely played across constructed decks. THE INDEPENDENT