the best improvements to hearthstone’s rewards track
I’ll admit, I give Hearthstone a hard time on this blog. But that’s only because I have such a high standard for the awesome card game that captured my imagination way back in 2014. It’s been a mainstay on my gaming list…
what went wrong with hearthstone’s new reward system
In November 2020, Blizzard revamped Hearthstone‘s reward system in a major way for the first time since the popular card game’s release in 20141. But after the new reward system’s release on 11th November, there was an outcry amongst unhappy…
hero power creep in hearthstone’s new demon hunter class (part 2)
Last time, I talked about the game design challenges of releasing the first new class to the online card game Hearthstone. As a refresher, the Demon Hunter class was so powerful, and therefore problematic, that Hearthstone developers nerfed several new…
the rapid rise and fall of hearthstone’s new demon hunter class (part 1)
Let’s face it, Hearthstone’s new Demon Hunter class was always going to be trouble. In its biggest update since Hearthstone’s release in 2014, the popular online card game added the first new class ever to its roster of playable heroes…
new plague inc. mode where you stop pandemics, but will it change the game?
If there’s one game that has made headlines in the current COVID-19 crisis, it’s Plague Inc. The 2012 mobile game saw a tenfold surge in players as early as January, with more than a 100k downloads in 30 days1. As…
rock-paper-scissors combat design in harry potter: hogwarts mystery duels
Make no mistake, there’s a lot I don’t like about the mobile game Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery. Released in 2018 as the first game under the Warner Bros. Interactive label Portkey Games, it was widely panned for its micro-transaction-heavy gameplay1,…
on wizards unite and games as fantasy fulfillment
When I started playing Harry Potter: Wizards Unite in June, I knew I would have a lot to say about it. I wasn’t wrong. My list of critiques for this game grew as I played it constantly for the next…
puzzle game design: are you creating impossible puzzles?
I have always liked puzzles. There are few things that give me more satisfaction than putting my mind to a problem and solving it. A good description connects this to our relationship with pain. People solve puzzles because they like…
time is (micro) money: designing micro-transactions and waiting in games
Last Wednesday, I spent about three hours at the local DMV waiting to renew my driver’s license. During that time, I finished reading the book I had brought, had a lengthy conversation with my parents on the phone, and joked…
