Hearthstone Game Designers Talk About the Flavor and Mechanics in Murder at Castle Nathria

gamerant.com:

The final card reveals for Hearthstone’slatest expansion, Murder at Castle Nathria, are almost finished, and the set’s launch is right around the corner. The second expansion of the Year of the Hydra is set in the Shadowlands–the afterlife of World of Warcraft and setting of the last expansion. With the backdrop of a murder mystery set in Revendreth, the gothic purgatory-esque realm of the vampiric Venthyr, this upcoming Hearthstone set is positively dripping with flavor.

Game Rant participated in a group interview with Hearthstone lead designer Liv Breeden and game designer Cora Georgiou about the upcoming set. Infuse and Locations–the new Murder at Castle Nathria keyword and card type respectively–are exciting new additions to the game, but their history is more complex than it would seem at first glance. Breeden and Georgiou pull back the curtain on how these and other mechanics came to be in Hearthstone, and the mechanics that inspired them.

Hearthstone Designers Explain Why Murder at Castle Nathria Won't Have Solo Content

Infuse is a new keyword coming to Hearthstone in Murder at Castle Nathria. Infuse cards gain additional effects when played after a certain number of friendly minions die with the card in hand. The exact number of creatures and effects vary from card to card, and some cards, like Sire Denathrius, can become Infused more than once. Like the Corrupt cards from Madness at the Darkmoon Faire, these cards have unique artwork once they become Infused.

Cards from Hearthstone’s past operate with similar mechanics to Infuse, but the new keyword itself breathes ironic life into this deathly mechanic. Anima was a major plot device, resource, and currency in Shadowlands, and the mechanics it uses in Murder at