Hearthstone is one of my all-time favorite games. I play this Card Collecting Game (CCG) almost every day. I’ve tried different alternatives, but what keeps me coming back is the great presentation, the great community and of course the addictive gameplay experience, which is unlike any other card game.
Today I asked myself, what among my favorite games I would like to see an AR version of it? Without thinking too much, I told myself “Hearthstone, definitely Hearthstone. After years playing this casual game non-stop, I thought that this game needs something that will refresh the experience. The new expansions are nice of course, but it doesn’t change my experience. I think that having an Augmented Reality (AR) version of this game can do that.
I don’t expect Blizzard to come up with a complete 3D version of this game. The game is in 3D but it plays in a top-down perspective. To make it true 3D like Dragon Front or Ascension VR, Blizzard needs to completely redesign the looks of the board, make all the cards appear in 3D and design the Heroes and the UI to match the experience. If this was one of their plans, I think we would have seen a 3D version of this game a long time ago, maybe already in VR.
So, I don’t expect to see Hearthstone have this complete transformation, but about just bringing the same experience but in augmented reality?
I think this is not a big thing to ask. I think it would be great to sit around the table and play the same beloved games in AR. Of course, some things will need to be changed.
Game’s board — first of all, the g3D game board can be ported to AR directly. I think it would be amazing seeing the board coming to life in on the table of the living room, but of course, you can place it on any surface you find fit, like on the floor, on your bed, etc. It will be nice being able to finally see the beautiful 3D artwork from a different angle as you move the device around the board.
Cards — For the cards, we can have several options. For example, we can have the cards positioned flat on the screen, same as the original game. However, I think that it will be much better to have them flat on the surface of the table. Then I can just play them the same way I play it in the original game, just drag them and drop them on the board. To enhance the experience, I think that it would be better if the card effects would be presented in 3D. For example, make the Mage’s Fireball fire in a 3D arch towards the minion that you want to hit with more explosive cinematic effect.
What also be nice for the cards to look 3D and some of the card’s artworks like the Deathrattle’s skull look more 3D and protrude from the card’s base. can protrude a bit from the base of the card.
Hero Attack Animation — The hero attack animation needs to change and animate in 3D. For example, the Malfurion and Valeera’s weapon attack, as well as any weapon attack, would move the hero up in the z-axis and be rotated forward so it hits the card or the opponent with the side facing the inner part of the board. It would be much better to have a new 3D figure. I think having a 3D figure can really enhance the experience and there aren’t hundreds of heroes, just 9, so there isn’t a lot of remakes to do here.
I can’t imagine how amazing it will be seeing the golden version of Garrosh Hellscream in 3D with the fire effects behind it in augmented reality!
Card’s Pack Opening Presentation — I love seeing the animation and visual effects when I open a new card’s pack in Hearthstone. I think that this can enhance in augmented reality, by making the pack open in front of the player above the table with some really amazing splashy vibrant colors.
There are other things that can be further enhanced the AR experience, like the animations when a card is pulled out of the deck, the full-board visual effects like Kazakus custom-spell animation, etc.
I have no idea if this is something that Blizzard is planning for us, but I know that it can certainly enhance the gameplay experience.
I hope this is not just a fantasy and we get to play and ARCore and ARKit version of the game in the near future.
So how we can visualize how this experience will look like?
The first two examples are not that good and I think the third one, the image, can gives you a good idea.
Here is a video that tries to mimic how Hearthstone would look like in 3D.
Update: found another video of someone that actually tried developing something like that.
Now in VR.
Just to give you an idea what this can look like, take a look at this image by Robbienordgren on Deviant Art. Wouldn’t you like to play the game like this in Augmented Reality?
What do you guys think about this crazy idea, will it work? what changes do you want to see that can make the game looks and play great in AR?