Kobolds & Catacombs, the latest expansion for Hearthstone, is available now. In addition to bringing new dungeon themed cards to the fold, the expansion also brings perhaps what is the most re-playable single-player mode seen so far in the long-running digital card game. Days before the release of Kobolds & Catacombs we caught up with Dean Ayala, one of Hearthstone’s designers.

With every expansion that Hearthstone receives, it’s the theme that drives the creativity and card creation within the team. But it’s a process that involves a lot of vigilance, in that around three or four hundred cards are designed before that number drops down to a more manageable figure. Kobolds & Catacombs introduces 135 new cards to the fold, with the dungeon and loot theme providing more than enough inspiration.

“Designers work in a lot of different ways,” Dean explains. “Some people work from what we would call top-down, which basically means - when you are thinking about the theme of the set and what's cool, what's my favourite old boss or something. Then you think of that boss, and about what they would do. Maybe they will AoE (Area of Effect) the raid, or maybe they put fire on the ground and it damages you. What does that mean to a Hearthstone card? You might then come up with an idea.”

“The opposite way is what we call bottom-up, and that means thinking about mechanically what Hearthstone needs. Maybe you think, ‘Wouldn't it be cool if Hunters had a cool, controlled death rattle deck?’ What card could I make that speaks mechanically to that theme, that fits in with Hunters and that archetype of a deck.”

Click Here to Read Creating Hearthstone: Talking Kobolds & Catacombs with Blizzard