Hearthstoneis only a couple of weeks away from the launch ofMurder at Castle Nathria, its second expansion for the Year of the Hydra. This card set takes place in the Shadowlands realm of Revendreth – one of players’ favorite zonesfrom theWorld of Warcraftexpansion. The lord of Revendreth, Sire Denathrius, has been murdered during a dinner party at Castle Nathria, and it is up to Murloc Holmes to figure out which of the 10 Legendary suspects was responsible.
At first glance,Murder at Castle Nathriawould be the perfect set piece for one ofHearthstone’sSolo Adventures,Hearthstonewon’t be releasing a new Adventure along with this set. Game Rant participated in a group interview with lead designer Liv Breeden and game designer Cora Georgiou aboutMurder at Castle Nathria,during which they explained whyHearthstonemade this tough decision, mused on what the content could have looked like, and showed how the set maintains a murder mystery flavor.
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Why Murder at Castle Nathria Won’t Have Solo Content
Murder at Castle Nathria’sestablished plot - a “whodunit” with famousShadowlandsandHearthstonecharacters - was a perfect setup for a Solo Adventure of some kind. However, Breeden confirmedMurder at Castle Nathriawould not be doing solo content. “It’s really unfortunate because this is one of the sets that I would have really loved to do it in,” she said. RecentHearthstoneSolo Adventureslike the Trial by Felfire, the Book of Mercenaries, and the Book of Heroes - including the Faelin chapter fromVoyage to the Sunken City -were strong content for the game. Yet that level of consistent quality came at a steep price.
“The truth of the matter is our solo content designers were on a really unhealthy schedule. It was leading to a really bad work environment for them. Last year was the Book of Mercenaires – it was so much content. It requires a lot of work, but that also means they were running up against deadlines and doing overtime, and that’s not the thing that we want to do.”
As much fun as it undoubtedly would have been, a Solo Adventure would not be worth the health and well-being of theHearthstonedevelopers. Having additional time to work on future content means Blizzard will be able to maintain the high level of quality thatHearthstoneSolo Adventures are known for while avoiding crunch.
This should be refreshing for many fans who have been critical of Blizzard of late. While crunch is common in the gaming industry, Blizzard has been under increased scrutiny due to recent discrimination and harassment lawsuits, anti-union activity, and its impending acquisition by Microsoft.Hearthstoneactively making development decisions toavoid overworking developers is hopefully a good sign for the future of Blizzard.
Still, it is a bummer thatHearthstonewon’t be able to create any single-player content forMurder at Castle Nathria. The setting could have easily translated into a narrative-focused Solo Adventure, or possibly a puzzle series like inThe Boomsday Project. Many fans have also been clambering for aHearthstoneDungeon Run like inThe WitchwoodorRise of Shadows.Hearthstonedevelopers were bummed too, according to Georgiou. “I thought it would be so much fun if we could do a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure-style solo content that had different endings depending on which path you went down, very Clue-style,” she said. “Maybe it’s something we will be able to do someday.”
How Hearthstone will Preserve the Murder Mystery Atmosphere
ThoughMurder at Castle Nathriawon’t have true solo content,Hearthstoneis committed to preserving the flavor of the murder mystery genre through other means. One of the biggest ways it does so is through character and card art. “Some of the returning characters from our suspects list areHearthstoneoriginals,” Breeden said. “This was a fun opportunity to bring back a bunch ofcharacters who might have died throughHearthstoneandWoW.”
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Murloc Holmes, for example, is one of the face characters for the Murder at Castle Nathria set. Though still among the living, this new Legendary minion is the detective in charge of finding the murderer of Sire Denathrius. “Murloc Holmes has been around sinceThe Witchwood,” Breeden said. “He felt like the perfect piece to bring back in.”Hearthstonerolled out a series of short stories surrounding Murloc Holmes and the 10 suspects alongside card reveals throughout July. Written byWarcraftauthors Christie Goldenand Brandon Easton, the tale provides more background context for the set, and dives into the characters, motivations, and plot.
Beyond its characters,Murder at Castle Nathriapreserves a murder mystery sensibility through its mechanics. The Murloc Holmes Legendary requires players to guess a card that was in the player’s starting hand, current hand, and deck. Several other cards, such as the Suspicious cycle of cards, also include both players guessing cards. “This was a really cool opportunity for us to let the players become the detective, even in the PvP games,” Breeden said. “Putting the suspect, the murder location, and the murder spell all in the same deck? It’s like you’re committing the crime!” These mechanics allow players to feel like they’re creating mysteries withtheir very ownHearthstonedecks.
The other major mechanics inMurder at Castle Nathria -Infuse and Locations - play into this theme as well. Infuse empowers a card when friendly minions die with it in-hand, encapsulating the power of Anima. Locations, on the other hand, are a new card type that represent places inthe Shadowlands realm of Revendreth. This new mechanic lets players tap power from those locations, evoking the feeling of searching a crime scene for clues or traveling to different places to question suspects.
According to Georgiou, designers went down the mystery rabbit hole when designingMurder at Castle Nathria. “Flavor text is something a lot of players are never even going to look at, but it’s our opportunity to be a little bit more overt with our references and be really silly,” she said.
“I tried to cram as many references to as many types of mystery media as I possibly could in that flavor text, and I really hope somebody out there looks at it and says ‘Wait a minute, I know where that’s from!’ I hope that happens.”
Murder mysteries are a time-honored genre in gaming and other media. Dozens of references can be found within the cards: Murloc Holmes’ flavor text is a froggified twist on a famous Sherlock Holmes quote, for example, and artwork from Magnifying Glaive and Planted Evidence have a peacock feather, lead pipe, and plum hidden in them - references toHasbro’s famousClueboard game.
ThoughMurder at Castle Nathriawon’t have a proper Solo Adventure, the newHearthstoneexpansion will still tell the story of a horror-themed murder mystery. EveryHearthstoneplayer gets to be an ace detective in this set, and they will have the chance to find their own answers to the case ofSire Denathrius’ murder onceMurder at Castle Nathrialaunches.
Hearthstoneis available now for mobile and PC.Murder at Castle Nathrialaunches August 2.
