Esports.gg interviewed the Hearthstone team about the creative process behind the new Across the Timeways expansion!
Hearthstone's Across the Timeways arrives on Nov. 4, and ahead of the release date, esports.gg sat down with senior game designer Stephen Chang and UI/UX designer Sola Chang for an exclusive interview! We talked about the inspiration behind the expansion, the creation of the Rewind and Fabled keywords, potential Across the Timeways decks, and more.
Creating Across the Timeways in Hearthstone
What inspired Hearthstone's new expansion? According to Stephen, Across the Timeways came from the team's long-standing fascination with time travel. Thanks to new technology that made the Fabled and Rewind mechanics possible, they finally brought the theme of controlling time and jumping between alternate realities into Hearthstone.
In Across the Timeways, Chromie discovers that Murozond the Infinite is trying to disrupt all timelines. To stop him, the Bronze Dragon calls upon Fabled heroes. The Fabled keyword lets players command Warcraft icons from the past, future, and alternate realities. Each Fabled hero brings in extra legendary cards that automatically slot into one's deck, and one example of this is Ranger General Sylvanas. During the deck-building process, choosing her means the addition of her sisters Captain Alleria and Ranger Initiate Vereesa.
"We tried picking some combination of characters that were well-known and beloved, but also some new characters we wanted to explore and some old favorites as well," Stephan added, noting that the final choices ultimately came down to what the team found most exciting for each class.
Meanwhile, Sola detailed how the Rewind mechanic and its design came to life. The Rewind mechanic lets players replay a card’s result for a chance at a better outcome. To represent the Bronze Dragonflight’s magic, the team used sand and hourglass motifs. The Infinite Dragonflight’s influence, meanwhile, is reflected in the sideways hourglass design. Did you know that the Infinite Dragonflight was formed from corrupted members of the Bronze Dragonflight?
"The buttons themselves are like the glass of an hourglass. So you can push on the glass to either disperse the sand. If you press 'Rewind,' sand seeps out and swishes across your screen and gives that fun visual of going back in time," Sola said. "Whereas if you press 'Keep,' you're essentially breaking the timeway, and the sand bursts and the UI disappears."
Across the Timeways cards and Easter eggs galore
Speaking of lore, there are many Easter eggs in Hearthstone that pay tribute to Warcraft and World of Warcraft. Garona Halforcen, for example, is not just a random Rogue legendary in Across the Timeways. Rather, her creation and card text were very intentional. The same goes for Lo'Gosh and how he's a Warrior card. When we asked about their favorite cards and interactions, Stephen revealed that Garona Halforcen is one of his favorites since her story connects directly to King Llane.
"Gameplay-wise, we wanted to capture this fantasy of Garona hunting King Llane," Stephan said. "And because of the Fabled mechanic, we were able to have this type of interaction. This isn't something we would normally be able to do with a standard legendary card, but because of the Fabled package and the bundle that we can have, we can guarantee that King Llane is going to be in your opponent's deck. And then as a result, Garona can hunt him down. That fantasy was very powerful, and we think players will have a lot of fun trying to pull that off and reap the benefits of that."
Sola then shared that her favorite card in Across the Timeways is Husk, Eternal Reaper. "It essentially gives your hero a Deathrattle effect, which lets you spend up to 20 corpses to resurrect with that much health. And the VFX team just absolutely nailed it with just everything they put together," she said.
She continued, praising the VFX team for creating a full-screen animation that makes players feel like they are reversing time as chains descend and sand sweeps across the board. Since Sola joined the Hearthstone team during the creation of the Death Knight class and the March of the Lich King expansion, she also told esports.gg the Death Knight class holds a special place in her heart, making this card especially interesting to her.
Another card both Stephen and Sola highlighted was Gelbin of Tomorrow, a Fabled Paladin legendary with a Battlecry that summons one of each Aura from the player’s deck. The card imagines a futuristic version of Gelbin Mekkatorque, whose mind is preserved and placed into a magical holy suit. The Hearthstone team designed this card to feel both humorous and nostalgic, drawing inspiration from classic cards like Mysterious Challenger. It also ties older mechanics to new ones by focusing on Auras. The expansion even revisits locations like Gnomeregan, showing them in their past, present, and future forms for the first time ever!
Timethief Rafaam is another favorite. This is a Fabled Warlock minion that expands the player’s deck size to 40 and introduces fun alternate versions of Rafaam such as Murloc Rafaarm, Warchief Rafaam, and even Tiny Rafaam.
Hearthstone Across the Timeways decks and details
As for Across the Timeways decks to try out, Stephan said he enjoys playing a wide variety of styles. This includes fast-paced aggressive decks and slower control ones. He’s especially excited to revisit classics like Facehunter and to play Gelbin of Tomorrow.
For control fans, decks can be built around Timethief Rafaam or Medivh the Hallowed. He also mentioned fun combo decks involving Garona Halforcen, Broxigar, and Doomsday Prepper.
"It's a banana that becomes an infinity symbol, which I think is really cool."
Across the Timeways details and King Maluk fun fact
When we asked what Sola hopes players should take a moment to appreciate in Across the Timeways, she pointed to the small design touches behind the new Fabled cards. Each Fabled card comes as a bundle of three, and the deck-building UI highlights this by showing the extra cards fanning out as you drag one into your deck. The collection view also features a tray displaying all bundled and related cards to show their connections. Sola said these subtle details help bring the Fabled mechanic to life and make deck-building feel more immersive.
Stephan agreed, adding that he likes how organized the new Fabled card interface feels and how the tray system improves the deck-building process. He noted that many Fabled cards are open-ended in terms of deck building, too, encouraging players to experiment with different strategies and synergies. Both Sola and Stephan also praised the art in the set, saying the artists did an exceptional job.
King Maluk is one of many examples. Did you know that the Hearthstone team created the name as an anagram of Mukla?
"I remember we wanted it to be related to Mukla," Stephan told esports.gg. "And then one of the designers came up to me and was like, 'Hey, we need an anagram for Mukla,' and so I was like, 'What if we just call it Maluk?' And they're like, 'Perfect. We'll name it Maluk.'"
He continued, adding that one of his favorite small details is a banana that turns into an infinity symbol. This, again, ties into the expansion's theme of the Bronze Dragonflight versus the Infinite Dragonflight.
That's all for now. Across the Timeways arrives on Nov. 4 with 145 new cards plus the aforementioned Rewind plus Fabled mechanics, Easter eggs galore, and more. Stick around on esports.gg for more Hearthstone news, interviews, and updates!
