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Gwent on iOS! The Witcher Card Game has finally gone mobile!
I had an adult tonsillectomy this past summer. As a result, I was laid up in bed for the better part of 2 weeks. I finally decided to immerse myself in the fantasy world of The Witcher 3- Wild Hunt. In doing so I discovered and developed a slight addiction to Gwent: The Witcher Card Game that is available in the open-world RPG. Gwent is a turn based strategy game where players select cards to place on the battlefield with the goal of winning 2 out of 3 rounds. After recovering enough to resume some normal life activities I was sitting in the car with 2 car nappers waiting on the wife to do her shopping. Digital friends were boring that day. So I thought it would be a fun time killer to have Gwent on iOS. Much to my surprise it didn’t exist… Yet.
After a little searching I found that Gwent: The Witcher Card Game was actually under development. When I realized the developer was CD PROJEKT RED (the same developer as the console Game) I immediately had high hopes for it. I signed up for a release announcement via pre-order and received the notification that it was available for download this week. Needless to say I downloaded Gwent on iOS right then and played a couple rounds.
My Initial Thoughts:
The initial loading screen seemed to take eons. I was in a section of our house with poor WiFi signal so that could be to blame. Regardless, after closing the app and reopening it eventually loaded and took me to a sign up screen. I created a new account accepted the privacy policies and started in on the tutorial. The tutorial guides you through a full game of 3 rounds against AI and takes the better part of 20 minutes to complete before it releases you into the actual game. After completing the tutorial you choose which deck you want to begin with. Each of which has a completely different style of play.
Don’t get too worked up about this decision, because after 3 games the remaining decks will be unlocked. At that point you can begin customizing and building your cards and decks for use in the Classic Game.
The developer created several different game modes to keep you busy. Classic , Training, and Seasonal Play in addition to the Arena. I haven’t entered the Arena at this time. But my understanding is that it is more of a tournament style game where decks are drawn at random to level the playing field.
The graphics are up to par with what you would expect from a large gaming studio. In fact they are so detailed that I feel like loading times are made unnecessarily long because of the graphics. After the initial load the game runs smoothly for a recent release. Game play is easy to understand if you have played the console game, but new users might require a bit of a learning curve.
Pros:
+ Graphics in line with the Witcher Series
+ Strategic Gameplay that requires focus and planning
+ Several Game modes for variety
+ Free Download from the App Store. No cash required. (Optional)
+ Familiar feel for Witcher 3 Fans
+ Battery conservation mode
+ 17+ rating, sometimes dad needs a game for him not the kid!
Cons:
– Long initial tutorial could deter a lot of users
– Not a quick play, expect 10-20 min per game on average
– No Offline Mode, requires connection to Game Servers
– 5 Different resources, multiple collectibles, deck builder, and ranking systems looks overwhelming at first glance