what makes Hearthstone so addictive?

[Deleted]

sub fellow champs!

this has been on my mind for quite a while now: what makes Hearthstone so incredibly addictive?

when I win a game, I queue again (which is understandable).
when I lose a game, I queue again as well. but why? I think it's because of rage. I rage-queue to find out if it was just bad luck or if I'm just a bad player...I suppose.

It's scary tbh. What other factors should be considered?

The way the game feels, so incredibly fluent. It's a little bit like the movement in WoW (which is still the best out of any game after 13 years).
I don't know how Blizzard does it, but they put stuff in their games that makes you keep playing and playing.

What keeps you absorbed in Hearthstone?

[PPN]

For me its the possibility to be creative. Each expansion there are a few cards i find interesting and i try to build a working deck around it. Its cool to see if it works and its challenging to adapt it. I need to say my own decks never really reacha good rank, best maybe rank 12. Either i suck in deckbuilding or some cards are just not meant to be competitive that i like

I dont like that often boring decks are the most succesful, that makes the game sometimes annoying. I tried it in the past to netdeck something and faceroll rank 5 for the reward, but after doing that 2-3 times i have seen it.

While not super succesful i can give as an example quest rogue or quest warrior. There is nothing unexpected in the gameplay...its just super boring, i hate to play it or to play against.

Before Ungoro i made different decks with Dirty Rat, Brann and Mind Control Tech...that shit was funny...

[Blueobelisk]

They put cocaine on the card backs. Keeps everyone coming back.

[purebalance]

I ask myself the same thing since there is almost no skill factor in the game. People play like utter shit constantly and are awarded wins still due to the massive amount of RNG involved in the game. People say other card games have RNG in them, but not to this effect.

[Twoddle]

It's not addictive, last month I couldn't be bothered to level past rank 15. I do find the daily quests keep me playing on and off though including doing the odd arena for packs. Arena is somewhat strategic and promotes logical thinking which is what I'm addicted to I suppose.

For the record I play Bridge much more than Hearthstone.

[Nikkaszal]

It's free, it's fun, games are well-paced (usually 7-10min average for a match) and most importantly I can play it on my phone anywhere.

Sitting down to have a drink/food? Play some Hearthstone
Tea break at work? Play some Hearthstone
Catching a train? Play some Hearthstone
Early to a meetup and have time to kill? Play some Hearthstone
Out for drinks with mates? Get toasted, lay down a Renounce-off challenge, play some Hearthstone

I usually play around 10-15 games per day... and ALL of that is in small snatches of downtime.

[Hotmail]

Playing a hand in Hearthstone just feels really damn good, like you're Gambit or Twisted Fate throwing a bunch of explosive cards or something. That and the high amount of variance from match to match.

While I wouldn't say that deck variation is a strenght of Hearthstone, the matches themselves are bite-sized loaves of pure fun regardless of the game format.

[PPN]

Since you mentioned WoW...yes it is one of the greatest games. I played from vanilla beta and i spent a lot of time whit that game (i feel good and bad about it). For me it lost attraction with the latest 1-2 expansion. Things repeat themselves or just get stronger and stronger...when we started, classes had their identities and individual gameplay. Look now...all classes can do everything...

Same will happen or is happening to HS. Each expansion stuff gets more and more powerful and in the same time it gets more simple/stupid...this will kill the addiction/motivation for the game over time. I still play everyday, but i already have that feeling that my enthusiasm is slowly fading.

I remember when i played the first time HS and someone dropped Ysera or Ragnaros and i felt like WTF. The new cards already are like "everything happens at once", or the quests where you turn godlike for playing curve.

While some expansions ago i felt challenged by a difficult board situation, now i often just give up when certain cards or decks appear.

Its also funny that they give us standard (now even removing cards from it!), because their card collection got out of control.

So yeah, while i think the game is cool n stuff, one day it will kill itself.

[Kuruption]

I ask myself the same thing since there is almost no skill factor in the game. People play like utter shit constantly and are awarded wins still due to the massive amount of RNG involved in the game. People say other card games have RNG in them, but not to this effect.

You sound like my cousin who he and I bitch about the RNG every day, but we still play the stupid game.

I watched him last night play, and was against a mage who got White Eye's on both of their Firelands Portals.

Just unreal.

[Lotus Victoria]

It's charisma and simplicity. There are tons of other card games in the market, but only Hearthstone is both simple, appealing to the eye, and easy to understand, even for non-cardgame players.

[Blueobelisk]

It's charisma and simplicity. There are tons of other card games in the market, but only Hearthstone is both simple, appealing to the eye, and easy to understand, even for non-cardgame players.

How does a card game have charisma?

[Lotus Victoria]

How does a card game have charisma?

Cards have charismatic quotes and art. I will say one name: Dr. Boom. Bam: You know exactly what card I'm talking about, it's laughing animation, it's sound effect when it dies, etc. I've played other games with sfx's, none of them have the same impact. This, plus the graphics, the bosses, the entrance sounds, etc.

[Deleted]

It's free, it's fun, games are well-paced (usually 7-10min average for a match) and most importantly I can play it on my phone anywhere.

Sitting down to have a drink/food? Play some Hearthstone
Tea break at work? Play some Hearthstone
Catching a train? Play some Hearthstone
Early to a meetup and have time to kill? Play some Hearthstone
Out for drinks with mates? Get toasted, lay down a Renounce-off challenge, play some Hearthstone

I usually play around 10-15 games per day... and ALL of that is in small snatches of downtime.

For me it's only:

Sitting on the toilet? Play some Hearthstone.

[GreenJesus]

It isn't addictive though. If I am sitting at an airport or on the toilet I might play a game, but I wouldn't actively play on a PC when I could be playing something else.

[Eats Compost]

It's easy and doesn't require much thinking power, it's a Skinner box, and it's simple to watch/stream. It's a fast food video game.

[matt4pack]

It's charisma and simplicity. There are tons of other card games in the market, but only Hearthstone is both simple, appealing to the eye, and easy to understand, even for non-cardgame players.

Yeah but the simplicity I think is going to eventually start hurting them. Especially the simple mechanics which will limit cards they can come up with that are interesting in the future. I've pretty much stopped playing the game after 2 years. It's just starting to feel dumbed down for me. I want more chess and less checkers.

There are only so many new players but if you start losing your main audience then that isn't good.

[Malderon]

What if I don't find it addicting? :O

Go to doctor

[Nikkaszal]

Yeah but the simplicity I think is going to eventually start hurting them. Especially the simple mechanics which will limit cards they can come up with that are interesting in the future. I've pretty much stopped playing the game after 2 years. It's just starting to feel dumbed down for me. I want more chess and less checkers.

There are only so many new players but if you start losing your main audience then that isn't good.

People have been saying stuff on these lines for years (cough BenBos cough) - it's "too simple", it's "dying" etc

And yet Hearthstone only keeps garnering more and more players. It's an absolute powerhouse, esp on mobile platforms, because of its simplicity and ease to learn.

It may not be in your taste. Nothing wrong with that, it's not for everyone. But that doesn't mean it's slowing down. Blizz hit on a gold formula with HS and I don't see it declining for a long time to come, not with the constant rise of players (especially with each expac release).

[Mormolyce]

"Just one more game... they're only a few minutes long..."

THREE HOURS LATER