Blizzard Unveils Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft

Blizzard Entertainment laid its virtual cards on the table today with the unveiling of Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, a free-to-play game for PC. In Hearthstone, players build card decks centered around one of nine Warcraft character classes and duel each other for fun, glory, and the chance to win new cards. Blizzard will begin beta testing for the game soon.

In addition to honing their skills in practice matches against the computer and taking on their buddies via their Battle.net friends list, players can challenge each other in two competitive game modes. “Play Mode” features traditional head-to-head battles, with players facing off for a chance to increase their medal ranking and earn card packs along the way. And for a different type of challenge, players can enter “The Forge,” where they start each match by building a deck from a new set of cards, and then use that deck to duel other Forge participants. Aside from winning new cards, players will be able to round out their collections by purchasing new card packs or disenchanting some of their existing cards to craft the ones they’re missing.