Would it be viable to just play this game in private matches primarily? I'm not super interested in playing a bunch of random people, and I'm curious if private matches give enough from playing in them to get anywhere with the game.

Well they just added the Naxxramas expansion that adds more single player content to the game. I do think it is still viable to play with just a few friends, but you could always look into adding some GB people to play with.

@jarmahead: Private matches don't give anything, because there is the worry that people would game it to just lose to one another. Hearthstone is a card game where, most of the time, you are playing against strangers.

It's free, and after all this time, I still haven't spent more than a $1.00. So, why not just give it a shot and see how you like it? The new single player expansion stuff may be up your alley, but the meat and potatoes of the game is with random folks.

You'll get 0 out of private matches outside of fun.

However, playing public matches is fine. You can't really communicate with your opponent outside of pre-recorded stuff. The worst behavior you'll see is someone taking their full turn length on every turn.