Hearthstone is free, new and exciting online card game that is easily accessible on your computer or smart phone. This tutorial is aimed more specifically towards the beginner players.

Let’s get started.

Step 1: Download the Game

To download the game on a computer, go to this link :

http://us.battle.net/hearthstone/en/?-

Click the “play free now” button, choose whether you have a Mac or a Windows computer, and then follow the download instructions.

Downloading on a smartphone is a lot easier. All you have to do is search Hearthstone and install it like any other application.

Hearthstone was produced by Blizzard, an entertainment company that develops video games, and has a centralized platform called Battle.net. In order to play Hearthstone, you have to sign up on Battle.net at:

https://us.battle.net/account/creation/tos.html

Step 2: Understanding the Objective

Now we can get into understanding the actual gameplay. In general, Hearthstone is a card in which the objective of the game is to beat your opponent by reducing his health to zero.

The picture above shows the main layout of Hearthstone. There are two main characters on opposite sides of the board. The blood shaped symbol on the bottom right of their portrait contains the number that tells you how much health a player has. The first player who reaches zero health loses. In order to damage your opponent, you play cards.

Step 3: Reading the Card

These two pictures are of a minion and spell card. These two types of cards are the main types in Hearthstone. The bottom half of the card contains a description of what the card does. Some minions have no description.

Let's start with the minion card.

The name of the minion appears along the middle of the card.

The bottom middle section of the card tells you what "tribe" the minion belongs to, in this case, the Bloodfen Raptor is a beast card. Certain tribe cards have synergy with each other. Not all minions belong to a tribe.

On the bottom left and bottom right of the card, there are numbers. There is a blood-shaped symbol on the bottom right, which, like the health symbol located on your character's portrait, represents the its health. When it reaches zero, it disappears from the board and is in an imaginary graveyard.

On the bottom left, the number in the yellow circle represents the attack value the card has. When this minion attacks minions or your opponent’s character, the health of its target is reduced by this attack value. I will talk about how minions can attack later on in this tutorial.

Moving on to the spell card, the name of the card is also in the middle.

These cards read always contain a description of its use in description on the bottom half. In this case, Fireball deals six damage. If the card does not specify that it can only be applied to minions, then it can also be applied to your opponent’s character. All used spells also go in to an imaginary graveyard.

Both cards have a blue hexagon on the top left containing a number. This represents the mana cost of each card. Mana is the resource in the game limiting the cards that can be played in a turn. I will go into more detail in the next step.

Step 4: Learning the Gameplay

We are back at the Hearthstone board. Now you understand what two kinds of cards are out there, how to read them, and how much they cost.... So how do you play them?

The game starts out with both players starting with thirty cards. These cards can be pre-constructed, or you can make your own. Both players start out with three random cards out of their deck. The player to start first is chosen at random. The player who goes second receives another card and a “coin” that can used to gain one extra mana for a specific turn.

You start with one mana on your first turn. The mana bar is located on the bottom right of the board. Here, you can expend a card that has the number one on the top left. This uses up one of the mana for your turn.

When you want to end your turn, you have to click the middle right button to end your turn so your opponent can play. When your opponent is done and it returns back to you. You then draw a card, gain one extra mana slot, and your mana bar is replenished.

Minions are only able to attack the turn after it they are played unless they have the ability to attack the same turn (specified in their description). Most spells are activated instantaneously when they are played. Playing out these turns strategically will determine who will win the game.

There is a also large circle next to your character and your opponent’s character with a blue mana crystal above it. This is called a hero power. Each character is specified as a class and each class has their own specialized hero power. In this example picture, the mage's hero power is to deal one damage to any character at the cost of two mana.

Step 5: Learning the Classes

There are nine different classes. each with different hero powers. These classes and the character that goes with it come from another popular game by Blizzard called World of Warcraft.

Each class also has its own class-specific cards. These cards are available to only its respective class. Remember the Fireball? That was specifically for a Mage class and no other class can put it into their deck. You can tell by the background color of the card. Every class has their own specific color for its class cards. Remember the Bloodfen Raptor? It did not have a specific colorway, but a grayscale background. This represents a neutral card, which can be put into any class deck.

Step 6: Gain Experience and Win

To get better at the game, you should play more while really trying to understand the strategy of how to win and also watch streams of professional Hearthstone players.

Hopefully all the basics I explained were enough to help you understand this game. If you have not already downloaded it, I encourage you to.

Now go forth and conquer!