Hearthstone Gets A New Gameplay Mode: Tavern Brawl

Two days ago, Hearthstone fans went into a frenzy over a video of a blank button that being added to its menu. Blizzard released the video on Twitter, teasing fans of the popular free-to-play card game.

Yes, a blank button. Not even a blank button – a video of a blank button. It really doesn’t take much to send a game’s fans into a frenzy these days.

Huh, that’s new! #Hearthstone pic.twitter.com/zpA0McRqha

— Hearthstone (@PlayHearthstone) June 8, 2015

Anyway, Blizzard has finally let us know what the fuss is all about. The new button is actually for selecting a new game mode called Tavern Brawl. The mode will apparently mix up the game’s rules and decks by having unique rules that will change every week. “Each week, a different Tavern Brawl will pit you head to head versus another player using exciting and unique rules,” Blizzard said on its website. “One week might feature preset decks, while another week could have you crafting a brand new Tavern Brawl deck following specific guidelines, while others might offer buffs to specific minion types—who knows!”

Tavern Brawl won’t be open to all players, however. Blizzard says you’ll need to have achieved a level 20 Hero to unlock the new mode. Tavern Brawls can be started with both friends and strangers, and will be free to play. Blizzard also says players will win a free card pack if they win their first game of the week in “the first several brawls.” Presumably, that offer will expire after a certain amount of time.

“The first playable Tavern Brawl arrives in Mid-June, so get ready to pile on and knock some heads together. Brawls get plenty rowdy, so the Innkeeper will definitely need a couple of days after each one ends to get the inn all tidied up before the next brawl begins. That means Tavern Brawls are temporarily closed while the Innkeeper cleans up before a new, different brawl starts—so be sure to get a match or two in while you can!” What that means is that the Tavern Brawls will close for a few days while Blizzard works out what next week’s rules are going to be. In other words, they’ll be making it up as they go along, which should only add to the craziness of the new mode.