Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
Hands-On With Hearthstone's Dungeon Run
When the Kobolds and Catacombs expansion hits next month, players will have a wealth of free single-player content to delve into with the roguelike (One loss and you're back to the beginning!) Dungeon Run mode. At BlizzCon 2017, I had a chance to do one of these runs and see how it works! While the deck you start with is fairly weak and full of "core" cards like Fireballs and Frostbolts (I played as a mage) you quickly get to customize things as you move onto stronger opponents. After slaying my first opponent, a lowly giant rat with 10 health, I unlocked a treasure and a "pack" of cards to put in my deck. You get to do this each time you best a foe, so your deck begins to take shape quickly!
Selecting from three different, all incredibly overpowered treasures is awesome - I took some Gloves of Mugging which let me take three cards from my opponent's hand and add them to my own, for just a single point of mana. That basically wins you a game right there if it's in your opening hand. The themed pack choices were great too, and let you drive your deck in the direction of your choosing. Selecting the "unique" path gave me cards like Kazakus and Reno Jackson, while taking an Elemental choice would have given me Pyros and other cards that work well with elemental minions.
Sadly, my demo ended after 3 quick dungeon dives as the demo capped things off there, but the full experience will have players attempting to take on 8 levels of progressive encounters (with a monster deck by the end!). With 48 different dungeon encounters and the random elements that could give you different treasures and cards everytime, the mode is probably going to stand tall on its own as a fun, replayable adventure, even without any Koboids and Catacombs cards. Or any cards really, because you can play the mode without needing any decks or cards in your collection!
I'm definitely stoked to push through all 8 levels and try to create the most insane deck, filled with treasures that would be way too strong for standard competitive play. Kobolds and Catacombs is scheduled to hit in December.
I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue, we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.
Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.
We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.
It’s not possible without support.
In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.
Thank you.
