Written by Victor Sanchez, November 13, 2016, at 7:00 p.m.
Gwent is currently in closed Beta. Review based on build 0.8.13
Gwent: The Witcher Card Game First Look
Gwent is a competitive online card game by CDProjekt Red based on the Witcher game series.
When Witcher 3 was released it included Gwent as a mini game. The player could challenge almost any NPC to the game in order to win money and, more importantly, more Gwent cards for you collection.
Unlike most mini games Gwent was a huge part of Witcher 3 with many several high stakes tournaments in both the base game and the expansion Blood and Wine. Major characters are featured on playable cards, as well.
Soon after Witcher 3‘s release, ensuing critical acclaim, many fans began to wish that Gwent could be taken further with many fans wanting more. Limited editions of Blood and Wine even came with physical decks for use outside of the game world.
As a big fan of Witcher 3 and the original version of Gwent I had mixed feelings when the standalone was announced. I loved the card game when playing against NPCs, but the original didn’t hold the depth required to see it become a major competitive online game. The game featured a limited amount of cards and a lack of balance. One deck in particular was near useless when compared to the others.
I’m happy to say, however, that the standalone has made the transition to multiplayer more smoothly then I could’ve imagined. Many new mechanics and an updated card collection makes the game outshine the original while still maintaining the core concepts that made it so alluring in Witcher 3. The only thing missing is going on grand adventures to the end of earth as Geralt to collect cards (but who knows).
The Game
For those unfamiliar with the Witcher series, more specifically the third installment, Gwent‘s core mechanics are pretty simple to learn. At the beginning of the game you and your opponent draw 10 cards.
The goal is to win two out of three rounds, which you do by playing unit cards and having a higher total strength than your opponent. After the first round you and your opponent draw two cards. After the second round you draw one card. Outside of the initial draws there is limited ways to draw cards, so play wisely.
The field is divided up into three rows Melee, Ranged, and Siege type units. Filling up one row with too many units can leave them open to being affected my special abilities.
The Future
Even in its current state I can find little wrong with Gwent. If there are any major bugs I have yet to encounter any. I’ve had only a few matches dropped by server interruptions. The closed beta has only been out for a short time and already shows more polish than a lot of finished games. That shows a lot of promise for the future.
The current card selection is fairly limited for hours upon hours of play. But with one new deck already in the works it’s not hard to see a pretty diverse selection of cards and strategies in the near future. I look forward to seeing Gwent evolve. In the meantime, I’ll get back to playing.