GWENT: The Witcher Card Game

I am a witcher fan boy, yes! I played the witcher 3 times and enjoyed it so much. The evolution of Gwent has always lead to controversy. When CD Project Red began to shift from the simple mechanics from the original mini game single player version to the more complex beta version of stand alone Gwent. This first transmutation also had many haters on its sides who complained why the card game has changed so much from the "original" version. The same thing is happening again. The beta version fans are crying because it was "so much better" than the homecoming version (the current state). I have spent nearly 250 hours in beta gwent, I enjoyed it but I felt, that something was going wrong. No variations in Deck Building, point slamming and nearly squre shaped "cards" on 8 rows (3+3+hands) - no place for art work. Yes the current Homecoming Gwent is much slower to play but I love the the way deck building now allows much more variation. The card artwork ist such a stand alone criteria for Gwent! There is no single Card Game out there which is so beautiful as Gwent is. Nothing comparable! If you like cheesy artwork, then play MTG oder Artifact with pink monsters with big baby eyes. I simply cannot play these games. It feels too cringy for me. The new mechanics of Order effects add a new layer of strategy on top. If you are considering getting into Gwent, I suggest you play the Thronebreaker adventure RPG before which is an excellent introduction to the complex mechanics of Gwent. The story telling of Throne Breaker is epic! You won't regret it, if you love RPGs and Card Games! I feel happy with Gwent! If there was a way to buy merchandaise stuff I would totally do it. Keep on with that great work, CdPR <3 (Sorry for my bad english)

I've been playing the game for two years, all the time, I loved the closed and open beta. But I have to say that the newest version of gwent is the best in my opinion. I love that playing you feel like you are really in command of the army. Visual effects, board, card art, voice lines are at the highest level. The only drawback in this aspect is the speed and smoothness of the animation. The ability to perform multiple actions on your turn is the biggest plus. I like the new deckbuilding system. There is a need for more mechanics and archetypes but I am convinced that this will be solved when the next expansion comes and it is not a problem. When it comes to the economy of the game, I also have nothing to complain about. The reward system is very generous, and both the achievement system and the reward book provide goals worth pursuing. I highly recommend that you give this game a chance because it is worth it.

I love it. Yes it has changed over the time, but with some time you see the good things in it. The Dev`s also communicate very well with the players and try their best to tell what they want to do. Free to Play aspect is very good balanced and the animated cards look very beautiful. The RNG aspect is obviously there, because its a card game, but in a very limited way (eg. lessened through Redraws). Every faction has its own theme and mechanics (more or less).

Cheap microtransactions game with tons of unbalanced shit and disconnect-hack cheaters.

Gwent has gone through turbulent times. During my 450+ hours in 1.5 years of open and closed Beta I encountered many broken mechanics, but also many interesting ones. I liked the game most just before the feared "Midwinter Update" about a year ago, which shifted the development direction into a direction many players didn't like. So CDPR changed the Leadership and announced an icy 6 Month period with a complete rewamp of the game. The new Gwent could've needed some Months more in Beta, but I can understand their decision to push it to publicity, which probably was a mistake in retrospective. However, I like the new Gwent better than every iteration since pre-midwinter, and it seems balanced, fleshed out and beautiful. I miss some mechanics and optimisation is pretty bad. But seeing the time and dedication CDPR has put into this game, it can and will become better with time! Deck themes like Nilfgaard Spies or Discard Skellige will come back eventually, missing mechanics will return in a balanced and consistent way, and with Slama in the lead they will reintegrate the good things, but keep out the bad ones, of which there were many. The game was too consistent, often onesided and not very visually atractive besides the awesome card art of course. Coin Flip was a huge issue, as well as too much deck thinning and (debatable) the card advantage Spies. Sure, I miss the hyperthinning times of tutoring out the whole Deck and gaining +2 Card advantage. But it just wasn't healty for the game. It IS a different game than we tested, and I understand the frustration that go with it. But I admire the courage of the Team to do several 180 turns to make the possible best game they can think of. I think the new Gwent is closer to the original Witcher Gwent, but I do wish many elements from the Beta back. I trust in you CDPR, whatever you're doing, you're doing it for us and the game, and not for the Money and this is an attitude not many Studios can have!