Easter Eggs Abound! Gaming References Hidden in Hearthstone
All across Hearthstone, from gameboards to flavor text, sharp-eyed players will notice a plethora of pop culture references. Hidden among the cards, you can find nods to Star Wars, Spongebob, Harry Potter, and more. For us gamers, the ones that stand out the most are, of course, gaming references. Read on to see which hidden gaming treasures we found, and be sure to let us know what your favorite easter eggs are in the comments below!
#1: Mirror Entity
This card references the Portal series in a few ways. Of course there are the signature orange and blue portals, but if you look closely you can see a symbol on his sleeve that looks an awful lot like the Aperature Science logo. While you’re at it, check out his companion cube necklace. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I was promised some cake.
#2: Cobalt Guardian
When the Cobalt Guardian meets its demise it can be heard saying “Error 37” which is a reference to Diablo III’s infamous error which plagued users at its launch. The error message itself told players the "servers are busy at this time" and became the go-to response on forums when players encountered a problem with the game.
#3: Orsis Guard
While this isn’t actually a playable card (it’s a boss minion from The League of Explorers), you may have heard this card say “Someday, I’d love to be in Heroes of the Storm” when it was attacking you during your adventures.
#4: Gadgetzan Game Board
When the expansion Means Streets of Gadgetzan dropped it came with a game board loaded with references to none other than Blizzard’s own Overwatch. In the lower right corner of the board, the building for the Jade Lotus has a few references to the Shimada brothers, Genji and Hanzo. If you click on the katana stuck in the side of the building you’ll see it surrounded by the green dragon that signifies Genji’s ultimate ability, Dragonblade. On the other side of the building, you’ll find the projectile of choice for each brother: an arrow (for Hanzo) and a Shuriken (for Genji). Across in the other corner, if you’re lucky you might even fish up a Pachimari .Maybe the decorator for this board went shopping in Hanamura?
#5: Argent Horserider
Back to back references to Overwatch! Tracer fans will instantly recognize this card’s voice line when he’s summoned, “Don’t worry loves, the cavalry’s here!”
#6. Rattling Rascal
Referencing a very different kind of game, the flavor text on this card is a nod to the Dark Souls franchise. It reads: Don’t give up, skeleton! and refers to the messages players would leave for each other in Dark Souls.
#7. Infested Tauren
You know what we haven’t seen so far? A Starcraft reference! Let’s fix that with this card, which is a reference to the Infested Terran unit from that series.
#8. Evolving Spores
You wouldn’t know it just by looking at it, but this card actually references the Super Mario Bros. series. It’s flavor text reads: The most powerful mushrooms are commonly found in boxes marked with “?”
#9. On the Hunt
Some players might not be old enough to get the reference with this card, but us NES kids know that the flavor text, The mastiff giggles if you don’t hit any ducks, is a reference to the beloved classic Duck Hunt. Seriously though, that dog was rude.
#10. Blizzard
As a nod to itself, Blizzard wrote this for the flavor text for this card: This spell can be very Entertaining.
Bonus Section!
These cards feature pop culture references to famous franchises in their flavor text or voice lines:
- Harry Potter
- Jurassic Park
- Game of Thrones
And these are just a few! There are a ton more out there, can you find them? Show us what you’ve got in the comments below.
The Evolve flavor text is a reference to The Beatles' song "Revolution"
nou so much for this
Ha ha ha! Good one! :)
1-3 Warlock demon, who draws you the card when you discard a card, looks very much like Dobby.
Even his flavor text references it! I can't remember what it said though...
I'm pretty sure that Peych-o-tron is a reference to the Megadeth's song Psychotron. Also the robot is using a flying V guitar like Dave Mustaine
The only one card will never rotate and never be nerfed. It is Blizzard.
Except it has been nerfed. It used to cost 5.
Sir, you have been dunked on
bad joke from newbe player, sorry guys(
As people have mentioned, Velen recites Tolkien. Here's the full poem (and a great one, which have aged very well):
All that is gold does not glitter,
<section class=""></section>Not all those who wonder are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be the blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.
PS. Hearthpwn, you edit-function is acting really strange, and doesn't seem to like simple c/p.
The artist for Bonemare has done several other pieces of work.
But, wait... no. Hm. Maybe it's a different artist? Or a conspicuous typo...
Elven Archer's line is a reference to Widow maker's. Or is it the other way around?
If you mean "One shot, One kill..."
Elven Archer is quoting the original Night Elven Archer from Warcraft 3.
the Stormwatcher voice attack is a reference for Guile from street fighters
The Skeleton Knight's Flavor text is also a reference to Monty Python's Holy Grail.
As much as I would love to agree, Tracer was released a year after Argent Horserider was. It's a long stretch on a reference there, they might have both been in development at the same time roughly.
Overwatch announcement trailer (when Tracer first spoke the line): November 7, 2014
The Grand Tournament release: August 24, 2015
All the bosses in the third wing of karhazan are referencing a popular story. One references romeo and Juliet, one references wizard of oz, and the other references little red ridding hood.
Well yes, but to be fair, that was also the case in the original Karazhan raid, so they just copied it over. In the newer Return to Karazhan dungeon, they changed the opera to have an encounter themed after either Wicked, West Side Story, or Beauty and the Beast