Hearthstone is an amazing game that I played very seriously for about two years before quitting due to my feeling that it was too pay-to-win. I still consider it one of the most fun games I’ve ever played. The gameplay is simple, but deep and addictive. The art is rich and beautiful.
I say this because my analysis of this game from a feminist perspective is going to mostly be negative. For this review, I rated every single piece of card and hero art in the game on multiple points to compare the gender representation. My analysis shows that despite how great the game is on many levels, Hearthstone does not exemplify gender equality.
Nevertheless, in the course of preparing for this review, I was reminded how much I love the game and decided to get back into it, just in time for the Whispers of the Old Gods expansion.
So my goal in writing this analysis is not to make anyone hate the game, or feel bad playing it. In fact my goal is the opposite. I hope that in reading this, people will gain a greater appreciation for the game as worthy of deep analysis, while also gaining greater understanding about its social assumptions. I hope that like me, people will read this and be reminded of how much they love the game, despite the flaws it has from a feminist perspective.
I spent a lot of time working on this analysis, and there is a lot to cover, so this is the first in a series of posts on Hearthstone.
I say this because my analysis of this game from a feminist perspective is going to mostly be negative. For this review, I rated every single piece of card and hero art in the game on multiple points to compare the gender representation. My analysis shows that despite how great the game is on many levels, Hearthstone does not exemplify gender equality.
Nevertheless, in the course of preparing for this review, I was reminded how much I love the game and decided to get back into it, just in time for the Whispers of the Old Gods expansion.
So my goal in writing this analysis is not to make anyone hate the game, or feel bad playing it. In fact my goal is the opposite. I hope that in reading this, people will gain a greater appreciation for the game as worthy of deep analysis, while also gaining greater understanding about its social assumptions. I hope that like me, people will read this and be reminded of how much they love the game, despite the flaws it has from a feminist perspective.
I spent a lot of time working on this analysis, and there is a lot to cover, so this is the first in a series of posts on Hearthstone.