‘Hearthstone’ Lands On iPhones And Android Phones With New Interface
Blizzard already rolled out its addictive card game, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, to the iPad and Android tablets. iOS and Android smartphone owners can now get a taste as well, but with an interface that suits their smaller screen sizes.
Hearthstone is available to download now directly from the iTunes App Store for Apple devices. Android device users can download it from Google Play and the Amazon App Store.
Porting the original PC game to tablets with 7 to 10-inch screens was a relatively simple task, as Blizzard had plenty of room to work with. The smartphone interface required something a little friendlier, with the powerbar moved from a horizontal bar on the bottom right to a vertical bar on the right side of the screen. Additionally, the cards start at the bottom right of the screen, but are enlarged to take up the entire bottom half when tapped.
For a trial, we used an LG G3 Android phone with 5.5-inch screen. The user interface was friendly and easy to use, but I’m not entirely sure if it would work as well on smaller phones like the iPhone 5S or even iPhone 4S.
If you’ve tried Hearthstone out on a smaller device, let us know your impressions in the comments below. You can also check the list of compatible devices via the Battle.net support site.
As expected, returning players will have access to all the existing cards they’ve collected. Blizzard is also gifting a free Classic card pack as soon as you complete a game of Hearthstone in Play, Arena, or Practice mode.
“We’re excited to welcome mobile gamers to the Hearthstone community,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “Hearthstone’s quick, super-accessible gameplay is perfect for gaming on the go, and with the mobile versions it’s incredibly easy to jump into a match and have some fun.”
Hearthstone surpassed 25 million registered players in January of this year, according to Activision-Blizzard’s 2014 fourth quarter fiscal report. That was with the tablet releases for iOS in April last year followed by the Android release in December.
Activision will report on its 2015 first quarter results in May. That should give us an idea on how well the recently released Blackrock Mountain expansion pack performed compared to past packs.
With the number of smartphone users expected to reach 2 billion by the end of 2016, Blizzard’s formula of an easy-to-pick up but hard to master collectible card game may be set for even much larger numbers.
[Images via Battle.net]
