Hearthstone (the game)

Probably due to their similar target demographics, roleplay games and trading card games mesh pretty well – whether it’s P&P, where every major system has its own TCG, or video games, where it’s usually RPGs that offer the option to play card games (Gwent, Triple Triad, Pazaak and others) – and so does WoW with hearthstone. There are also minigames in World of Warcraft, like pet battles or all sorts of pastime activities at the Darkmoon Faire.

This begs the question: Since minigames add to the general gaming experience, and since Hearthstone already exists (and in a way exists in the game world, at least in the form of toys and the like) why has the concept of a TCG not been introduced into the game directly?

Playing Hearthstone while playing World of Warcraft.

Being able to play games while being ingame has long been a staple of videogames, and in general has been well-received – there is something oddly intriguing about being able to play a game, even one one would ignore otherwise, just because it’s one’s character playing it (like a simple game of poker for example).

In that vein, integrating Hearthstone (or other, similar minigames) into WoW would add some more depth into the game. The game as such should be a dumbed down version (from a gaming perspective to avoid it becoming too complicated and because it shouldn’t conflict with the actual game, and from a visual perspective to avoid it being too flashy).

Beyond that, Hearthstone could be an intriguing addition to the game, with players being able to collect cards (like sets, pets, mounts etc.) via various means (find uniques in remote locations, buy them from vendors, get them as quest rewards, craft them with inscription, trade them with other players - think of the time/money sink! Though one should preferably leave the online shop out of it, considering the fact that actual Hearthstone players already pay a ton of money for the game) and enter tournaments with a decent reward as compensation.