E3 Hands On — Gwent: The Witcher Card Game

Gwent: The Witcher Card Game

While at E3 I was able to see Gwent: The Witcher Card Game in a more intimate setting than just a trailer. Here’s my take on Gwent: The Witcher Card Game.

We all demanded it and not we are getting Gwent: The Witcher Card Game as a standalone title to play and experience outside of the core game that spawned it. Of course CD Projekt RED could have taken the easy way out and just ported the basic game over to appease the fans but instead they went all out and brought a fully redesigned version of the game for us. The core mechanics are still there but this version of Gwent has a lot more to offer than just fun times and collecting cards. All of which will be hitting the PS4, Xbox One, and PC sometime soonish. At least that is the thought as the game felt pretty smooth here at E3 and there is already a beta planned for the game on the Xbox One and PC this September.

So basics out of the way for those who have already loved Gwent. The game keeps the core three rows and rounds of gameplay where your army takes on an enemy army. Each card you play has their own strength and abilities to add to your overall score. Whoever has the higher score at the end of the round wins. The best out of three rounds wins the full game. That is the most basic of parts to the full game we have coming here and it was one of my favorite parts in The Witcher so it is good to see it all stay.

Now for the new stuff. Given how the cards where earning in The Witcher it would have been very unbalanced to have a multiplayer mode their. In Gwent: The Witcher Card Game there will be a multiplayer as cards are earned through in-game purchases or by playing in the campaign mode. Yes, you read that, there will be a campaign mode here for Gwent but more on that later. As it goes for the multiplayer you will choose one of the four factions, more to come later, and this will define the deck and leader you will control. I personally selected the Monster faction which was all about hitting herd and trying to force weather effects to weaken the enemy and boost their own side. It would sound a bit unbalanced at first but strategy and bluffing on the other side actually had me at a loss but still full of fun.

While the campaign mode wasn’t available in the demo on the show floor there was a bit of depth we were able to talk about about. In eluding the fact that it will contain multiple campaigns, with more to come, that could span up to 10+ hours of fun just on their own. Each of which will have new stories written by the team to expand out the game’s universe and let you see what was going on with other characters we know or heard of in the core game. This also isn’t done in just a text based follow along ride but we will have the chance to wander a game world and explore and push the story as we see fit. Along the way also finding new cards to add to the deck. All conflict that arises here is obviously handled in a game of Gwent be it an actual game or just using Gwent to describe how the battle goes down.

It should be known that Gwent: The Witcher Card Game is a free-to-pay game that they are bringing us and will include in-game purchases. So far the only purchase explained was card packs that will contain any range of cards from common to rare. Also mixed in are what were called “premium” cards. These are not an extra cost to us but a special card that the team and artist have gone all out on with animations and effects surrounding it. They are random drops in the game and card packs and not a pay-to-win option as the premium cards exist as just basic ones just without the cool animations. These are more like cool badges of honor as you were lucky enough to land them in the game.

All that said, and coming from someone who doesn’t normally enjoy the current card-based games out there, I am totally down for Gwent: The Witcher Card Game to launch and already signed up to join the beta when it comes. I can’t wait to get further into the game and meet you on the battlefield. I need to make up for that loss that I took out here as well…