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Other Projects => Other Games => Topic started by: ThtblovesDF on June 02, 2017, 05:22:55 am

Title: Gwent (Standalone Witcher Card Game)
Post by: ThtblovesDF on June 02, 2017, 05:22:55 am
https://www.playgwent.com/

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Due to the massive popularity of Gwent in the Witcher: Wild Hunt, CD Project Red recently moved Gwent from closed to open Beta - free to play with a actually good f2p system unlike heartstone.

I personally, had a lot of fun with it, but found myself annoyed by some balance issues and certain deck archtypes being very common, but there is plenty of potential in the game.

If you sign up over gog you get a free keg, btw.
Title: Re: Gwent (Standalone Witcher Card Game)
Post by: E. Albright on June 02, 2017, 10:43:09 am
Older thread: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=164000.0

(I really wanted to like Gwent by itself. as I was a fanatic player in W3, but I just can't do it for reasons I have trouble articulating. Although I can definitely identify the UI as something I don't like, even though I understand why they made it like it is. It's just so bland and unappealing, though...)
Title: Re: Gwent (Standalone Witcher Card Game)
Post by: cider on June 03, 2017, 04:42:59 pm
Quote from: E. Albright on June 02, 2017, 10:43:09 am
Older thread: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=164000.0

(I really wanted to like Gwent by itself. as I was a fanatic player in W3, but I just can't do it for reasons I have trouble articulating. Although I can definitely identify the UI as something I don't like, even though I understand why they made it like it is. It's just so bland and unappealing, though...)

The opposite for me. Didn't like Gwent in Witcher 3 and thought of it more as an obstacle than an option, but this game I'm liking quite a lot. Far more interesting than any other game in the genre I've played.
Title: Re: Gwent (Standalone Witcher Card Game)
Post by: Parsely on October 01, 2018, 12:22:41 am
Anyone still playing this? Ever since I got back into Duelyst I've been really having a great time with CCGs. I picked up Eternal and I've been having a blast with that, then I tried Gwent since I got Witcher 3 and I immediately enjoyed it. I really like that the game limits your resources, it's almost a shame that there are card draw effects at all.
Title: Re: Gwent (Standalone Witcher Card Game)
Post by: Teneb on October 01, 2018, 09:32:48 am
Quote from: Parsely on October 01, 2018, 12:22:41 am
Anyone still playing this? Ever since I got back into Duelyst I've been really having a great time with CCGs. I picked up Eternal and I've been having a blast with that, then I tried Gwent since I got Witcher 3 and I immediately enjoyed it. I really like that the game limits your resources, it's almost a shame that there are card draw effects at all.
I've been playing it every now and then since TES:Legends died, cuz I need a card game in my life
 It's damn good.
Title: Re: Gwent (Standalone Witcher Card Game)
Post by: Wiles on October 01, 2018, 12:04:28 pm
I have been playing it on and off. The Gwent community feels smaller than other card games I've played, when I was new it felt pretty punishing to play against players who had all the good cards for the archetype they were playing compared to something like hearthstone where you can get away using basic cards to win games for a long time. Gwent is more generous than hearthstone though, so it doesn't take as long to build up your collection. 

I have had a lot of fun with the game but I found it got a bit stale once I ranked up a bit. Netdecking is a thing in most digital ccgs I've played, but it felt worse in Gwent. I was playing against the same 2-3 decks all the time. Maybe I'm just bad, but I've found in other games I could experiment and do okay, but in Gwent I got to the point where I'd lose most games if I didn't use a netdeck.

Gwent is going to change drastically pretty soon though. Might be worth checking out if you want to see how it is now compared to how it is going to play after the "homecoming" patch. I wouldn't spend a lot of time on it though as your whole collection is going to be milled once the changes hit (for full value). I haven't been following it closely but the game looks very different. All the cards are changing, the third row is gone, and the board is being changed to a 3d one with visible leader models.
Title: Re: Gwent (Standalone Witcher Card Game)
Post by: Flying Carcass on October 01, 2018, 12:18:51 pm
Aye, Gwent is fun and I play it from time to time.

I usually play a Skellige deck with Bran Turiseach as the commander, play him early to dump my 3 Drummond Queensguard into the graveyard (and boost them), then spend the rest of the first round thinning my deck and boosting the cards in the graveyard. Later on I bring 'em back with Priestesses of Freya and Sigrdrifa, the Queensguard are especially potent since they resurrect all copies of QG when one is brought into play.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Granted, the deck isn't really meta (and I'd rather replace Tuirseach Skirmisher with Cerys An Crait), but it's a fun deck IMO.


I just hope that the upcoming redesign (think it releases in October) works out well.
Title: Re: Gwent (Standalone Witcher Card Game)
Post by: nenjin on October 01, 2018, 12:31:37 pm
I found Gwent a little too dry. I respect the game design but it feels....rigid and tactically inflexible. Compared to something like MTG.
Title: Re: Gwent (Standalone Witcher Card Game)
Post by: Parsely on October 01, 2018, 04:45:09 pm
Is that really true? One of the cool things about this game is that your hand is almost always full and you can always play something. In MtG you can get screwed on mana and have a hand full of cards you can't play, or lose on card draw and empty your hand defending yourself or on a big combo.
Title: Re: Gwent (Standalone Witcher Card Game)
Post by: nenjin on October 01, 2018, 05:23:13 pm
Yeah but Gwent to me feels like it boils down to straight mathematics, at least in the Witcher 3. Rounds are like a math puzzle, when to lay your cards, not necessarily what cards to play. (Because you boil your decks down to exactly whats useful.) Yeah sometimes playing a weather card at this time versus that can win the game, or one of the few nukes, but that ends up being true in most matches.

I feel like if there were more cards with abilities (and I know you'll get plenty by the time you're done) it might be more interesting. But I dunno. Every time I'd get in to a game I feel like the outcome was predetermined except for a couple select cards and when they came up. I played MtG for years and so I'm no stranger to "doing the math" each turn. But where Magic felt fun and inspiring and explosive sometimes despite the mulligans, Gwent often feels like it methodically plods toward a foregone conclusion. Especially in the beginning. Because the entire match hinges on what everything totals up to at the end of a round, and your deck does not refresh between rounds, I dunno, minute to minute decision making and choice feels limited. "Hold 'em or fold 'em" is I feel the most relevant decision to make in Gwent. Spending just enough cards to weaken your opponent so you can blow your load in two rounds is the kind of thing that's interesting against people, and boring as fuck against the AI.

It's sort of the game vibe I got from Frozen Synapse and why I didn't like it. Coldly methodical and calculated. I think Gwent appeals to people who like tight, minimalist gameplay. For me though, especially in card games, I need a little more variety and spice.
Title: Re: Gwent (Standalone Witcher Card Game)
Post by: Wiles on October 01, 2018, 06:06:08 pm
You mention the Witcher version of Gwent but the standalone is a much more developed and interesting card game. I still think you could level some of the same criticisms you've mentioned against it, but I don't think Gwent standalone should be judged by the version of Gwent that inspired it.

On an unrelated note, Thronebreaker is coming out this month. If you haven't heard of it, it is a standalone RPG-ish game with Gwent card battles in the Witcher universe. https://thewitcher.com/en/thronebreaker-witchertales

Looks promising!
Title: Re: Gwent (Standalone Witcher Card Game)
Post by: Parsely on October 02, 2018, 10:12:54 am
^^ This

Quote from: nenjin on October 01, 2018, 05:23:13 pm
[Gwent against AI is boring and predictable]

For me though, especially in card games, I need a little more variety and spice.
Oh, well I'm talking about the standalone. Witcher 3 Gwent is fun to a point, and it goes without saying that the AI's key advantage is having better cards that you can't afford, but playing against other people is always more exciting.

Hey I mean that's fair enough, that's why I play three different CCGs.
Title: Re: Gwent (Standalone Witcher Card Game)
Post by: nenjin on October 02, 2018, 10:35:03 am
Yeah, not saying W3 Gwent is bad. In terms of CCG design, it's actually quite tight and elegant. Just didn't have the right hooks to draw me in.