I installed Hearthstone on my Note 3 -- bypassing thr 'tablet only' restriction -- by grabbing the app from here: Android.WonderHowTo.com
(I can't guarantee that this app is virus free, but it works fine for me so far.)
I'd been eagerly anticipating this CCG since I'd heard the hype & excitement, but I was surprised that the game is better than I hoped.
Before Hearthstone, I'd been playing Solforge, Cards & Castles, Injustice, XCom, Marvel Puzzle Quest, etc.
I quite like these games (esp last 2), but Hearthstone is special. I've been wanting a digital CCG that played like an f2f card game for a long time (still eagerly waiting a playable / fun M:TG or other more obscure CCG), and here it is.
Strengths:
- Beautiful cards, art, and UI.
- Fun, quick play, and funny.
- Lots of cards, 9 characters, lots of room for strategizing.
- f2p but not a ton of purchase now pressure
- solo play & multi-stage adventure with special cards (requires $ purchase to unlock)
Caveats:
- packs purchased with $$$, or GP earned by wins and quests, or by playing in Arena.
- varieties of characters/cards/powers makes game complex
- card forging system (dust?)
- lots of online play options (constructed ranked, constructed unranked, and arena draft)
- social chat feature
Negatives:
- 9 main characters can make strategizing a bit overwhelming
- many card abilities to learn, lots of unique cards too
- cards not balanced (most Legendaries clobber most commons)
- Skilled players can crush newbies in online
- chat engine limited, esp during a game
- pretty hard to get Legendaries
Strategies:
Im overwhelmed now, will have some soon.
I highly recommend hearthhead.com for online tools & help & decks & card analysis for arena play.
