There are two types of people who played The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt: those who loved Gwent and those who are wrong. Gwent: The Witcher Card Game picks up where The Witcher 3 left off, making a few changes and improvements, resulting in an already fun card game that becomes much better.
Gwent is simple. Two players start with 10 cards each and aim to win two of three rounds. There is obviously more to it, but if you’re familiar with the game already I won’t bore you; if you’re new, the game will catch you up in a grand total of five minutes. In terms of mechanics, Gwent hasn’t changed much from what we saw in The Witcher 3. There have been a few tweaks here and there to make the game a bit more PVP friendly, but I was able to use the same techniques and strategies I used in The Witcher 3 right out of the gate.
The only noticeable change to the game is that you’ll be playing against actual people rather than NPCs — it’s this that makes it feel completely different. You won’t be making a hard save before a big tournament just in case you lose; in turn, losing isn’t nearly the big deal it was in The Witcher 3.
Honestly, the most fun I had playing Gwent was when someone absolutely destroyed me with a strategy I didn’t see coming, or a card or technique I’d never seen before. I was getting sucked into the game in a way I didn’t think possible, applauding and shouting like a lunatic. These disastrous losses gave me ideas for new decks to build and schemes to enact.
Even in this beta — with a lot less people online than when the game launches — I never had any trouble getting a match. The coolest thing was I knew I was playing against people on PC for most matches even though I was using an Xbox One. This is optional, so you can stick to your own kind if desired, providing you’ve got some patience. Let’s just cross our fingers and hope Sony doesn’t, well pull a Sony, and not support Gwent‘s cross-platform play.
If you’re not into the idea of playing actual people you can still play against an AI if you want… but it just doesn’t feel the same. Its good to practice or try out new ideas but you won’t be spending too much time playing in this manner. You won’t be getting the same kind of rewards either, so it’s best to just jump into live matches and see how you go.
I have no idea how the matchmaking works or if people are matched based on skill. I’m not even sure how someone’s skill would be monitored, but most of my games were really close. Each and every one was loads of fun. Plenty of matches came down to the last card for either player, making for some really exciting matches.
There is no release date set for Gwent: The Witcher Card Game at this stage, but it’s definitely one to keep an eye out for.
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