The Hearthstone Soundtrack Is So Good

The first thing that struck me about Hearthstone wasn’t the lovely art or the goofy writing; it was the music. That killer music.

I’d been waiting to play the game until it came out on iPad, and finally dove in last weekend. The more I played, the more I liked playing. (To the point where, like Jason, I’m having a hard time stopping playing.) And the more matches I played, the more enamoured I became of the music.

Figures, then, that it was co-composed by none other than Peter McConnell. McConnell is best known for his work with Tim Schafer; he created the excellent musical scores for games like Grim Fandango, Psychonauts and most recently, Broken Age. Hearthstone‘s other composer is Jason Hayes — he’s known primarily for his work at Blizzard, and was the composer for the original World of Warcraft.

The Hearthstone soundtrack is mostly made up of low-key acoustic guitar grooves mixed in with a woodwind ensemble, with flute, bassoon, english horn and bass clarinet players trading sparse solos without crowding one another. The tunes add a necessary momentum to Hearthstone‘s matches without getting in the way of the game itself. Each track is a killer, and the guitar soloist in particular outdoes himself.

This is my favourite tune, titled “Don’t Let Your Guard Down”.

Below are several other great tracks, all courtesy of Hearthpwn.