What determines how much experience I get from a hearthstone match in play mode?

Solution 1:

/u/Reaa over at reddit did some experiments which seems to line up with my experiences:

• number of turns do not matter, we tried spaming end turn till both were out of cards => 0 exp
• time doesnt matter, we had a short break midgame, didnt change the exp at all
• one player finishing the other who does nothing = normal exp for the first, 0 exp for the 2nd
• both player trading cards until both run out of cards = shitload of exp
• you cant get more than 1 level up per game, excessive exp is saved

The primary (only?) factor for experience gained seems to be cards played. Either the more cards you play the more experience, or the more rounds played where at least one card is played. I then imagine there is a multiplier for winning, seems to be about 1.5x.

To date, there is no published formula. Also, since there isn't actually a "number" associated with your experience (just an arbitrary bar), it can't be calculated by players.

Solution 2:

Another thread has been published on Reddit, by /u/Godd2, which came with major data.
These results are based on his own analysis, but seems to fit the reality.

How many experience do I need to reach level 60?

Each level requires 60 + 10n XP, with n the current level:

• level   1: (60 + 10 * 1) = 70 XP
• level   2: (60 + 10 * 2) = 80 XP
• level   3: (60 + 10 * 3) = 90 XP
• level 10: (60 + 10 * 10) = 160 XP
• level 30: (60 + 10 * 30) = 360 XP
• level 60: (60 + 10 * 60) = 660 XP

If you add every level, this means you need Σ(1,60) 60 + 10n =21900 XP to reach the final level 60!

How can I gain experience?

• Enter in a game:
  • level 1-2: 10 XP
  • level 3: 8 XP
  • level 4: 5 XP
  • level 5: 3 XP
  • level 6-60: 0 XP
• Play a game (for 3 complete turns):
  • level 1-5: 0 XP (this is covered by experience gained entering a game)
  • level 6-60: 3 XP
• Play a card: 3 XP
• Kill an enemy minion: 3 XP
• Kill your opponent: 30 XP

As a side note, you won't gain experience for minions spawned by other minions.

So... how many games to reach level 60?

With:

• C your average amount of card played per game
• M your average amount of enemy minion killed per game
• W your win rate (from 0 to 1)

The final formula would be 21900 / (3 + 3C + 3M + 30W).
This is not exact for the ten first levels, but they represents about 5% of the total experience required. As this is a simple estimation, let's get rid of this point.

Let's assume these stats:

• average amount of card played per game: C = 20
• average amount of enemy minion killed per game: M = 12
• win rate: W = 0.6

You would need 188 games with the same class to reach level 60 (with a 60% win rate).

As a side note, and to reflect reality, I played around 200 games with the same class. I win more than I loose, but not that much, so I'll assume a 60% win rate is pretty close. With previous calculation, I would already have reached lv.60, but I only reached lv.45.

Update:

With a ~0.7 winrate, it took me ~450 games to reach level 60 with Mage class.