---
title: "Hearthstone prototype method"
description: "How Team 5 turned a card game rebuild into something simpler and faster."
canonical: https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/play-nice/hearthstone-prototype-method/
updated: 2026-11-03
---

# Hearthstone prototype method

> How Team 5 turned a card game rebuild into something simpler and faster.

Jason Schreier's framework, from Play Nice, pp. 110 to 199.

Framework 8 of 15 from [Play Nice](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/play-nice/index.md) by Jason Schreier. Category: Hiring and teams.

## The steps

1. **Play a rival.** Brode brings Battle Spirits to the office and the team plays it.
2. **Prototype on paper.** They swap complex resources for automatic gems using paper cards.
3. **Simplify the surface.** Card text is shortened and hidden until the mouse hovers.
4. **Iterate at lunch.** Colleagues on loan to another team keep testing during lunch.
5. **Build a vertical slice.** The fire and ice mage versus mage build is shown to executives, who greenlight or cancel.

## Where it comes from

From chapter: PART TWO: FALL, pp. 110–199

## The animation

24 seconds, 4:5, no sound.

- MP4: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/play-nice/hearthstone-prototype-method.mp4
- MP4, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/play-nice/hearthstone-prototype-method-dark.mp4
- Still: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/play-nice/hearthstone-prototype-method.png
- Still, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/play-nice/hearthstone-prototype-method-dark.png