Hearthstone on iPad! Plus 2 more amazing iOS card games

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft on iPad. It's incredible!

I didn't play the PC version of Hearthstone at all, so this is all brand-new to me, and it is stellar.

Now available for iPad, (I hope they'll consider a universal version) Hearthstone is a deck-building strategy game by Blizzard Entertainment set in the World of Warcraft universe. This fast-paced, turn-based game may be compared to Magic: The Gathering, but its closer in style to games like Shadow Era and Solforge. [Magic 2014, Shadow Era, Solforge at the App Store]

While those three are all wonderful games, what Hearthstone has over them is production value. Seemingly nothing has been overlooked; from the table art, card art, characters, voices — all of it is stunning. Selecting a card causes it to hover; as it does, it casts a shadow on the table. When you place a minion card, it changes to a circular token and hits the table with a thump. The griffon on the game board will roar and look up at you if you touch him. These details don't change the mechanics of the game, but they do make the game come alive.

The iPad is perhaps the perfect digital card game platform, and finally, it seems the general public is becoming aware of this. The App Store has a new section called "Card Battle Games," and while some of the titles are freemium junk, there's a handful of hidden gems such as Yomi.

Hopefully Hearthstone will encourage gamers to try these other games. By the way, Solforge is having a 30% off sale until 4/22/14. (I love that game as well — a superb game designed by Gary Games and Richard Garfield, creator of MTG, where cards level up as you use them, becoming increasingly more powerful iterations with enhanced artwork.)

If you love strategy games, give these a try, even if you don't normally play trading card games. The digital format takes away the mess of physical cards and makes the normally arduous process of finding an opponent simple and nearly instantaneous.

As I'm still sort of a Hearthstone and Solforge beginner, I'm not comfortable writing a full review, but as both of these titles are free downloads, I can surely recommend them! Both come with free cards and you can earn more as you play!

Posted with Blogsy

'F' Freemium Games

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Borderlands 2, Dishonored, XCOM. CityVille.

Which one of these is not like the others…? Does something seem out of place?

Yet, people routinely spend more and more money on freemium games and subscription games. Why? Because the games are designed that way, and they never end. Until the companies shut down the servers and you lose everything you paid for because you technically own none of it.

Back when I played Diablo II, the idea of buying a Windforce Hydra Bow or SOJs on eBay was ridiculous to so many people. Spend real money on a digital asset, something on a computer screen?! Are you crazy? But now, it's commonplace to buy more coins, carrots, energy, whatever.

Are you having fun?

I suppose that's the key question. I'm still playing Skyrim, a game released almost one year ago. I paid once for it, and two hundred hours later, I'm still having fun on my flawed first character. I wasted three skill points. Arguably, five. Don't care. The game is great.

For me, Skyrim is the greatest game ever made. I've played so many. Thousands. Hundreds on each current platform, including over 900 on iOS.

And now, in a span of just a few weeks, I have Borderlands 2, Dishonored, XCOM. Hundreds more hours. No microtransactions.

I admit, I'm not big on the competitive multiplayer experience. I used to be, I loved PVP in World of Warcraft in the beginning. But the drive to compete encourages odd, unglamorous behavior in people. It gets ugly. Ever played COD against angry teens?

Too much posturing. I just want to enjoy the experience and take in the art. Spend some time in Skyrim staring at the sky and dynamic weather changes.

I love art and design, and I'm fascinated by game theory and strategy, so I respect (and admire) the freemium business model in many ways. This is a case of really loving the player and hating the game.

Roger Ebert famously said that video games aren't art. Perhaps it wasn't, at one point. Pong, perhaps. Not today. Not with Bethesda's games (except Brink, because that sucked. Hard.), sandbox RPGs and shooters. Even Minecraft.

Some video games are art in its highest form.

And then there's Zinga.

Brad Chin uses Blogsy