Hearthstone gets reimagined as an intense chess match in the new expansion

From Curse of Naxxramas to Blackrock Mountain to League of Explorers, Blizzard's single-player-focused adventure sets for Hearthstone have never failed to be some of the most imaginative spins on the digital card game. Today marks the opening of the first wing of One Night in Karazhan, and that trend continues.

The first wing includes a prologue where you fight as the overpowered mage Medivh, and three setpiece boss fights on top of that. Most notable, though, is the final fight of the first week, titled simply "Chess."

If you ever played the Karazhan raid back in World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, you may remember a bizarre encounter involving living chess pieces. Blizzard has reimagined that as a card game here, by reinventing its cards as chess pieces. As in chess itself, placement matters more than ever, and each round is like a puzzle you need to reason out. It's unlike anything we've ever played in Hearthstone before, and it's a blast.

Check it out for yourself in the video above. We'll be back over the next few weeks checking out each wing of One Night in Karazhan as it opens. Stay tuned or check out old videos on our full Hearthstone playlist on YouTube.