I’d like to start out by wishing everyone a very Happy New Year and hope that 2015 is the greatest year of your life! Now onto the games….
Choosing a Game of the Year is often one of the hardest tasks for any gamer to make. This year was no different. With the year that Nintendo has had and other incredible games like Bravely Default, Diablo III, and Transistor it was very difficult to pick one game. I tend to have a different mindset when choosing “the best game”. Many writers will pick a game that is functionally perfect, or has a compelling story. Some will just pick the game they had the most fun with. All of those reasons are 100% justified and anyone who chooses a game like Mario Kart 8 as their GOTY is not wrong by any stretch of the word. However, I want change, I want significance. That’s why Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft is my Game of the Year.
The hardest task was trying to figure out how Hearthstone narrowly edged out both the amazing Shovel Knight (Yacht Club Games, WiiU/3DS/Mac/PC) and the insane Bayonetta 2 (Platinum Games, WiiU). Bayonetta 2 was functionally close to perfect and breathed new life into the action genre. Shovel Knight was a nostalgic trip down 8-bit Boulevard that not only delivered in the gameplay department, but was easily the most fun I had with a controller this year. So why Hearthstone? To start out it’s addictive, fun, and unending. I’m still playing games in its arena while writing this piece. I play HS almost every day, it’s a quick in-and-out and demands only the commitment you want to put into it. Blizzard has also crafted a game that is a beautiful love letter to dorky card games like Magic: The Gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh! After Upper Deck had some success with the World of Warcraft TCG back in the mid 2000s it only made sense to turn Warcraft back into some kind of card game.
The beauty of Hearthstone starts with the access to entry. This game is free to play, and while you can invest money to in the game to buy packs of cards or venture into the Arena (this game’s version of booster draft) there is a minimal monetary investment that needs to occur. Hearthstone rewards players who sink time into the game to learn how each hero and their deck strategy work. It is in the benefit of the player to really LEARN what the cards do and how they interact with one another. Like any card game a player can research for hours to build the best decks they can. Sometimes it can be a bit of a grind, but Blizzard has found a way for Hearthstone to be fun, addicting, and ever-so-charming.
Hearthstone has undying charm. Blizzard’s beautiful humor and ability to poke fun at itself have both been injected deeply into this game. As each card is played they all have something to say. Often that something is quite silly and gets a good laugh from the player. Those of us who play Hearthstone often like to quote the characters to one another at parties, work, or other places where imitating a gnome with leprosy make sense (so everywhere). Blizzard has always used belly laughs and in-jokes as a way to present their excellent gameplay and their devotion to balance and fun. The newest expansion, Gnomes vs. Goblins is incredibly funny and is a gigantic inside joke to anyone who has spent sometime in the “World” and to those who play Hearthstone. It’s great to have a game where I’m not constantly trying to kill every enemy on Earth while still claiming to be “the hero”. The fun and funny factor on Hearthstone is through the roof! Just listen to this game….
Yes you can play a card that represents Leeroy Jenkins, the greatest Warcraft hero of all!
What made me choose Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft as my Game of the Year is the game’s overall accessibility and how it represents real change for both video gaming and card gaming. Hearthstone represents the first successful virtual card game that feels like a real card game, has the addictive factor of cardboard crack, and can be played virtually anywhere. I remember travelling around this great nation with a bag full of various decks from all the TCGs I played, never finding an opponent and putting unnecessary strain on my back. Now I can just bring my iPad around and have all my decks weigh under ONE POUND! Thank you Hearthstone, what would I have done without you?
Yes that sounds like a sales pitch to some useless kitchen device, but it’s true. The ability to play cards with anyone around the world from your tablet is a DREAM. I think that’s what ended up selling me on this decision. Hearthstone is changing the environment. What it lacks in gameplay and function it makes up for in revolution. Many have complained about the potential learning curve for Hearthstone as well as the cutthroat competition that people see on the Internet, but this game is changing how TCGs are played. While there is no “trading” Hearthstone represents the first successful foray into a true virtual card environment since Magic: The Gathering Online, which is neither as friendly nor functional. HS’s simplicity and accessibility put it leaps and bounds above the rest in its genre.
While many games this year were impactful, fun, and addicting, Hearthstone was the only game that felt like it was aggressively trying to change something about how games are played. It’s already two expansion sets in, and shows no signs of slowing down. I could only hope that Blizzard continues to support this game as much as they have World of Warcraft, Starcraft, or Diablo. Now please excuse me as I log in another few wins with my Warlock deck.
Happy 2015 everyone!
GET CHOMPED