Hearthstone is a free-to-play digital strategy card game. Players choose one of nine Warcraft heroes, each with their own class and abilities, to play as, and take turns playing cards from their customizable decks to cast spells, use weapons or abilities, or summon characters to defeat their opponent. Matches are played one-on-one through Battle.net with different game modes.

Decks consist of basic cards to summon minions, equip weapons and cast spells. A deck consists of 30 cards and can be configured prior to starting the game. Some cards can only be used by specific heroes and classes. Actions per turn are limited through an amount of mana crystals. The player's hero is also part of the screen and can be attacked directly. If the enemy's hero loses all health or concedes, the match is won. Rare and powerful cards are offered as separate purchases with the in-game gold currency or real money. They can also be earned by competing in the arena. The currency is provided by completing daily quests and winning matches. Unwanted cards can be discarded and are turned into arcane dust, used to craft new cards.

At launch the game offered four types of battlefields (Stormwind, Orgrimmar, Pandaria and Stranglethorn), each with interactive elements, but with no influence on the gameplay.

[edit description]