Blizzard Entertainment’s Hearthstone has remained one of the leading digital card games available since its release in March 2014. The World of Warcraft-themed game showed no signs of slowing down throughout 2020. Blizzard has consistently brought content updates to the title, including tons of new cards through the years and new game modes, like the recent Hearthstone‘s Duels. Still, there’s a treasure trove of other digital card-based games that could be long-time Hearthstone fans’ next obsession.
The now seven-year-old card game strikes a great balance of simplicity and depth in its strategies, which has been a leading factor in its success. Its popularity inspired a host of new deck-building competitors that Hearthstone players can use their experience to excel at while also trying something new.
Developers have recently been implementing trading card mechanics in several innovative new ways. Genres that once seemed incompatible with trading cards, such as roguelikes like Loop Hero, have been creatively tweaked to create quirky new titles that trading-card buffs will want to give a shot. Here are five card games Hearthstone players will need to try.
Games Like Hearthstone – Legends of Runeterra
Riot Games’ Legends of Runeterra is a digital collectible card game based on League of Legends that might look a lot like Hearthstone but has carved out its own place in the genre. The biggest difference between the two is Runterra‘s conversational gameplay, which allows players to immediately respond to their opponent’s actions. Instead of waiting for the turn to end to play a unit or spell, players can instantly play a card or counter a spell in response.
The goal is to whittle an enemy’s nexus down from 20 hit points to zero, which is done by attacking them with the cards on the board. An Attack Token is passed from one player to the other between each round; whoever has the token can launch an attack at any point in the round. Players can choose to open a round with an attack or go back and forth with their opponent before choosing a better moment to strike. Legends of Runeterra is the perfect change of pace for Hearthstone players looking to broaden their digital card game horizons.
Games Like Hearthstone – Magic: The Gathering Arena
Magic: The Gathering Arena is the virtual version of the smash-hit tabletop card game that’s enchanted players since 1993. It’s free-to-play on PC and includes countless Magic cards longtime fans of the physical game will remember, but no experience is required to begin playing Magic: The Gathering Arena. Creators Wizards Digital Games Studio included an in-depth tutorial that lets newcomers try their hands against A.I. players before diving into live matches, making it pretty accessibly to beginners.
Once users get a grasp of the basics, they’ll begin by picking a pre-built deck. New cards will become available to them as they play and level up, which can be done through the game’s unranked or competitive modes. Magic: The Gathering Arena‘s RPG-style Mastery Tree offers rewards for experimenting with the different deck archetypes players will unlock as they rise through the ranks. There are several mechanical differences Hearthstone players will need to get accustomed to, but after a few practice matches, they should feel right at home.
Games Like Hearthstone – Loop Hero
Four Quarters’ Loop Hero fuses gameplay elements from deck-builders, RPGs, simulators, strategy titles, and roguelikes into an experience all its own that Hearthstone fans need to try for themselves. Unlike other roguelikes that are traditionally hack-and-slashers, all of Loop Hero‘s combat plays out automatically. Players only have passive influence over the protagonist’s journey by using a deck of cards that can do everything from creating new enemies, spawning treasure chests, and giving Loop Hero‘s main character new abilities.
Every round requires players to pick and choose combinations of cards they’ve found to change the obstacles, enemies, and loot the main character encounters during each run. Every cycle can play out entirely different from the last, and it’s up to players to carefully time when to play their next card or risk overwhelming the protagonist. Playing too many cards at once can quickly end a run, which is in sharp contrast to other deck builders where playing a powerful sequence of cards can shift the tide of battle. Loop Hero‘s unique card-based gameplay should feel different enough from Hearthstone while still appealing to its fans.
Games Like Hearthstone – Gwent: The Witcher Card Game
Diehard fans of CD Projekt Red’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt might remember this pastime from bustling taverns during their adventures with Geralt. Gwent: The Witcher Card Game has been fully fleshed out into its own free-to-play, PvP card game that features far more spells and characters than the original ever did. Unlike Hearthstone, where the goal is to reduce enemies’ HP to zero, players win a game of Gwent if they have the most points in up to three rounds.
Players can use pre-constructed decks or try out their own strategies in Gwent‘s Arena mode. There are three types of cards: Melee, Ranged, and Siege, each of which come with their own abilities and effects. These distinctions make it more complex than Hearthstone since players need to try and maximize the number of points they can accumulate with any given hand of cards. Once they get a handle on these intricacies, each round will be just like another night at White Orchard’s tavern in the Witcher 3.
Games Like Hearthstone – Slay The Spire
Much like Loop Hero, Mega Crit Games’ Slay The Spire molds roguelike and dungeon crawler elements into a unique card game for Hearthstone players to flex their deck-building muscles. Users begin their journey by selecting one out of four classes, each with their own distinctive card pools that dictate the actions they can take in battle. Each character begins with basic ability cards, but as they fight progressively harder monsters and work their way up the Spire, they’ll unlock more powerful cards. Losing one battle will start the game over again with the option to add certain cards they discovered to their deck. Players need to clear the entire game in one life to win, so careful deck planning and knowing the precise moment of when to use cards is key.
Overall, each of these card-based video games offer a little something unique. Fans of Blizzard’s Hearthstone should consider checking them out, either for a change of pace or as another card game to enjoy.
