Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft is now in the open beta stage of development, allowing users to freely join the program and experience the first card game created by Blizzard. Players can sign up and download the game for free on the game's official website. The only requirement necessary for joining the beta is a Battle.net account, which is also free. The game is available on the PC and Mac.

The spin-off from the World of Warcraft series has been in closed beta for quite some time; the open beta period for the game was originally scheduled to begin in December 2013. However, Blizzard chose to delay the game in light of releasing a major patch for the game and wanting to receive more feedback on the game after it was released. With subsequent testing, the player rankings in the game were reset on Jan. 9. However, new users will not have to worry about losing their cards and player rankings when the game is officially released as Blizzard has pledged there will be no more resets to the game. The only potential catch: if the servers for the game become overwhelmed, then Blizzard will have to suspend account activations until demand subsides.

The card battle game allows two players to face off in a battle using customized decks that have minions and spells based on the Warcraft franchise. Many different types of cards appear in the game, and many have unique powers and abilities that add a huge amount of strategy to building a card deck and facing off against an opponent. Players also have different classes they can choose from that will give the player additional benefits that change the way they can play the game. Players can either earn new cards by playing the game or by purchasing card packs through microtransactions.

Blizzard has not announced when Hearthstone will be released officially, but considering the game has only just become available to the public through the open beta program, it will be some time before the official version of the game is available. The game was first announced in 2013, and while many fans were disappointed that Blizzard announced Hearthstone rather than the long rumored Titan MMO game, it appears that the game has already gained a large following.

Look out for more news about Hearthstone right here as Blizzard continues to tweak the beta of the game in the coming months.