I generally like the idea of secrets in hearthstone as it is (often) one of the few truly meaning decision making points in a game; both from the perspective of the caster and the opponent. As a caster you have to decide which secret to cast, when to cast it and which order to cast them in, factoring in the potential synergy (or not) between the secrets and the likely next play of the opponent. As someone trying to work out which secret it is you need awareness of the types of secret and how to minimize the impact when they trigger. This is great in theory however in practice you're often deciding between one of only two viable secrets (counterspell or explosive ruin).
I think this is in part due to the mana restrictions placed on secrets limiting the design options for new secrets. For example all paladin secrets must be one mana so the're all likely to be fairly weak (if it weren't you would be able to tell them apart from the mana cost).
With a change to the game interface to remove the information on the remaining mana crystals from your opponent it would open up more options for the design of new secrets and add a new layer of bluffing to secret playing. For example you could under spend mana for a turn to make it appear you played a more expensive (and possibly better) secret making it harder to play around in a non-rng sort of way.
Whatcha think?
p.s. I also think more classes should get secrets as they do give some options for interaction with the opponent on their turn, something which is sorely lacking in HS.
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I generally like the idea of secrets in hearthstone as it is (often) one of the few truly meaning decision making points in a game; both from the perspective of the caster and the opponent. As a caster you have to decide which secret to cast, when to cast it and which order to cast them in, factoring in the potential synergy (or not) between the secrets and the likely next play of the opponent. As someone trying to work out which secret it is you need awareness of the types of secret and how to minimize the impact when they trigger. This is great in theory however in practice you're often deciding between one of only two viable secrets (counterspell or explosive ruin).
I think this is in part due to the mana restrictions placed on secrets limiting the design options for new secrets. For example all paladin secrets must be one mana so the're all likely to be fairly weak (if it weren't you would be able to tell them apart from the mana cost).
With a change to the game interface to remove the information on the remaining mana crystals from your opponent it would open up more options for the design of new secrets and add a new layer of bluffing to secret playing. For example you could under spend mana for a turn to make it appear you played a more expensive (and possibly better) secret making it harder to play around in a non-rng sort of way.
Whatcha think?
p.s. I also think more classes should get secrets as they do give some options for interaction with the opponent on their turn, something which is sorely lacking in HS.