Hearthstone helped me get over my regret about selling all my Magic: the Gathering cards. I played Magic on the school bus in the 90s, had a lot of fun trading and making decks, and eventually sold it all because I didn't make the effort to find people to play with.
Hearthstone lowered that barrier significantly, and I still consider it an excellent game, aside from the predatory/monetary trappings. I might still play it if it could be done with real magic at my dinner table with friends, for a one-time flat fee or for the caloric cost to summon all the components, assuming some reasonable magic system.
As it is now, I like playing Cribbage with my wife, and am looking forward to teaching our daughter how to play Chess, Go, Backgammon, Arimaa, and any other game that isn't packaged in a predatory wrap.
If you ever want to get back into magic, definitely check out pauper. The decks have to use only card that were printed at common rarity. There are only like 20 cards in the cardpool that are over $2, and you can build pretty much any deck for less than $50.
Hearthstone lowered that barrier significantly, and I still consider it an excellent game, aside from the predatory/monetary trappings. I might still play it if it could be done with real magic at my dinner table with friends, for a one-time flat fee or for the caloric cost to summon all the components, assuming some reasonable magic system.
As it is now, I like playing Cribbage with my wife, and am looking forward to teaching our daughter how to play Chess, Go, Backgammon, Arimaa, and any other game that isn't packaged in a predatory wrap.