It must be a weird feeling for CD Projekt RED when you see the amount of love for one of your mini-games. Gwent is a card game that’s playable in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt but it quickly became very popular. With gamers playing it constantly, in the game or in the real world, CD Projekt RED had no other choice than to create a true Gwent game.
It’s not the same game
First things first, Gwent: The Witcher Card Game isn’t just an extended version of the popular mini-game, no, CD Projekt RED really created this version from scratch. For example, there was no balance at all in the Gwent games you played as the Witcher. Since the Witcher is supposed to be the best Gwent player, the developers made sure you would win most of the times. It was a game based on luck and random numbers rather than a game based on strategic decisions and skills.
This new version is entirely remade and adds balance to the cards. Every strong card now has another one able to block the effects. This means you’ll really need to investigate what kind of cards you have in your deck. Besides the balance, the graphics of the game also got improved with some particles flying around, dynamic cards featuring 3D images of the characters and even some real weather effect. Everything about The Witcher Card Game feels like something modern and new that could easily compete with other Card Games on the market.
Count your points
So what exactly is the point of Gwent? To explain it in the easiest way possible, you need to gain most points at the end of three sets. Every card you play has a certain number, by combining certain cards; you can increase that number even more to really give you that extra advantage. There are three lanes where you can place your cards, based on their class and weapon, but the game will automatically assign the right lane for a character.
The twist in Gwent however, is the fact that you’ll need to use your same deck during the three turns. If you use most of your cards to win the first set, you won’t have enough cards remaining to win the second or third set. In order to solve this, you can pass your turn. Passing means you can’t add cards until the other player runs out of cards or decides to pass as well. Passing is a modern version of bluffing. I passed when I was confident about my amount of points and was sure my opponent couldn’t reach that number without spending too much of his cards. And even if he did, I would win the second and third round due to the lack of cards he or she would have afterwards. It’s an interesting game that’s easy to learn but hard to master.
There are a lot of special cards that add certain effects and bonuses so you’ll really need to learn your deck before you can actually become extremely good at it. You will be able to create your deck from scratch or you can go with one of the pre-sets CD Projekt RED added to the game. These pre-sets are divided depending on a certain character class of the main game but all are fun to play with.
A solo adventure
Gwent: The Witcher Card Game is meant as a multiplayer game but the developers couldn’t help themselves so they added a single player campaign in there as well. In this mode, you’ll wander around a top-down version of the famous Witcher universe, meeting interesting new characters and gaining special cards you can use in the multiplayer. This solo adventure is fully voiced and will tell stories that haven’t been told in any of the Witcher games. It’s not that big epic 3D quest but it’s something that will fill up that void in your heart for sure!
Early conclusion:
A lot of effort went into this free-to-play game and it’s great to see the passion of CD Projekt RED returning in a game like this. If you like Gwent, you’ll fall in love with this improved version for sure. Aren’t into Gwent, be sure to check the game out once it’s in beta or when it’s available to download, you won’t regret spending some time with it for sure!
