Hearthstone just announced its newest card expansion, Voyage to the Sunken City. This set, which begins a new year cycle of Hearthstone content, will take players to the depths of the Great Sea to the sunken city of Nazjatar. Once called Zin-Ashari, the former heart of the Kaldorei empire of Warcraft lore is the home of the Naga — one of the new card creature types being added in the set. Alongside the new Delve and Colossal keywords, Voyage to the Sunken City explores the card game in a way no other set has before.
Game ZXC had the opportunity to speak to Blizzard author/lyricist Christie Golden, and Hearthstone senior narrative designer Valerie Chu, about Voyage to the Sunken City. They shared their insights into the setting’s history, and how they were able to use Hearthstone’s unique brand of storytelling to bring life into the expansion. With a narrative innately tied to cart art, theme, and mechanics, Chu and Golden dove into what went into evoking the feeling of dread, curiosity, and mystique of the depths of the ocean floor.
Hearthstone History of the Sunken City of Zin-Azshari
Nazjatar has a history almost as long as Warcraft itself. With ties as far back as the introduction of the Naga in Warcraft 3, long-time fans of the series have long mused on the mysteries to be found deep in the ocean floor. The idea of an ancient city of magi — and all of their secrets — buried beneath the sea waiting is a plot point too enticing not to evoke curiosity.
Blizzard has already tapped this plot point once in World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth. During Patch 8.2: Rise of Azshara, the Alliance and Horde were drawn into a trap laid by the Queen of the Naga, who uncovered the Sunken City as an above-ground zone surrounded by suspended waves.
However, according to Chu, and as evident from Hearthstone’s trailer for Voyage to the Sunken City, its take on Nazjatar is going to be quite different from that of WoW’s.
“The Hearthstone team loves doing its own spin on the themes from WoW and highlighting a few sides players didn’t get to experience already, so there’s something new and fresh to explore, even though the theme might be something based in a familiar place.“
Hearthstone steps into a Nazjatar still steeped in the mysteries of the deep ocean. “Everyone wanted to do something magical and dream-like,” Golden said, speaking of her experience crafting the announcement trailer. “The music seemed well-suited to that — what is real, what is illusion?” Hearthstone tapped into the evocative tropes of the call of the unknown to build the atmosphere of Voyage to the Sunken City.
“When you start talking about sunken cities under the sea, a beautiful queen, the call of the ocean, what do you think of? You think of the sirens and the sailors. So, I thought it would be cool if we had a song that was almost a siren song”
While a sea-floor battlefield full of naga soldiers may have worked well for World of Warcraft, Hearthstone is focusing on the "voyage" in Voyage to the Sunken City. The set’s return to the focus on exploration hearkens back to the popular League of ExplorersHearthstone expansions, but with a deep sea twist. Hearthstone’s revisiting of Nazjatar will give Warcraft fans another chance to immerse themselves in the lore beneath the sea in some recognizable ways, but in others that are brand new.
Telling a Story through Hearthstone Cards, Mechanics, and Art
Hearthstone is, at its core, a card game first and foremost. Unlike narrative-focused RPGs, like Warcraft 3 or WoW, its capacity to storytell is limited by the constraints of the game itself. While it has some single player content in the form of Solo Adventures and the new Mercenaries mode, it is a multiplayer game before anything else. This means Hearthstone has to get creative when it comes to telling a story.
Thus, the story of Hearthstone takes many forms within the game, the most straightforward of which being the Solo Adventures. These Adventures have taken many forms, including ladders reminiscent of WoW raids like in Curse of Naxxrammas, dungeon crawl-like deck building simulations like in Kobolds & Catacombs, and linear stories like in the Book of Mercenaries from the previous Hearthstone expansion cycle. However, Hearthstone tells its stories in other places than the solo content: the flavor, feel, and atmosphere of a set can be found in the mechanics and art of the cards as well.
Voyage to the Sunken City is introducing several new mechanics to Hearthstone. The first are the naga — a new creature type that gains abilities if a player casts a spell while they are in hand, evocative of their history as Highbourne magi. The second mechanic is called Delve, which allows a player to search the bottom of their deck for cards to bring to the top, which synergizes with abilities that bury cards and other treasures at the bottom of decks.
The last, and perhaps most iconic mechanic, are Colossal creatures. These creatures are too large to be contained to one slot on the board, and spawn additional creatures when they hit the board, such as a massive turtle’s shell to the tentacles of a demonic kraken. Chu described playing one as “a theatrical moment,” and was especially excited for these kaiju-like monsters to hit the game.
“Our designers were initially inspired by the monsters on the edge of maps of the ocean in early times, before they charted everything. So the idea of that scary thing you always knew was lurking out there? Now it’s in the middle of your board. Good luck with that!”
Beyond that, the art of Hearthstone cards is one of the most important places where a set’s story is told. Card art is often the first thing a Hearthstone player notices when a card is played; eyes are naturally drawn there first, with the text and mechanics coming after. This means the artwork of a set is vital to setting the stage for the story.
In Voyage to the Sunken City, Hearthstone had a unique opportunity to create underwater creatures and scenery unlike those found in previous sets. “The art team was especially excited to go in and carve out what all of those different areas underwater would look like,” Chu said. “[They] did this incredible job bringing the world to life on the cards and backgrounds, and with spells and locations.” The depths of the ocean held a literal treasure trove of ideas for the Hearthstone team, and it provided a chance for the players to feel like they were truly joining the Voyage to the Sunken City.
“The more shallow areas might be brighter and full of beautiful fish, and the dark, scary areas like Azshara’s palace are terrifying, right? There’s a lot of ground to cover there. It became this wonderful ode to exploration and discovery for the team. “
Hearthstone’s 20th card expansion is set to take players on a journey they will not soon forget. The contagious passion and creativity of the Hearthstone team has charted a course for clear waters, and fans everywhere should prepare for a cruise into an exciting new year.
Hearthstone is currently available for Mobile and PC. Voyage to the Sunken City releases on April 12, 2022.