Almost exactly a year after its original release on PC, GWENT: The Witcher Card Game has finally made its way over to the iOS platform. It was a long wait indeed, but the developer sure has made good use of that time to deliver a great experience. In fact, we believe the mobile platform is a better place for the game to be in.
If the name “GWENT” doesn’t sound familiar to you, this is a standalone version of the massively popular card game that originally appeared as a mini-game in The Witcher 3. Its gameplay is kind of similar to other card games such as Elder Scrolls: Legends or Hearthstone, but it does come with its own rules.
There’s an offline mode that puts you against the AI, and then there’s the online mode in which two players will face off against one another. Each match consists of a maximum of three rounds, and the player who manages to get 2 wins first will be the overall winner. You can either bring your own deck into the match or pick from one of the pre-built standard decks offered by the game, though of course the former approach is more preferable.
At the start of each round, each player gets a hand of 10 cards and can choose to redraw 3 of them if they one. Once both sides are satisfied, the match will begin. The two sides will then take turns playing one card at a time, with some cards also capable of triggering special effects. The goal is to make it so that the combined Attack Power score of all your units on the field is higher than that of your opponent’s.
Just like any other card game, GWENT: The Witcher Card Game offers plenty of different deck archetypes to play with, each offering its own unique traits. If you want, you can also mix them up a little bit to create your own style.
GWENT: The Witcher Card Game is best enjoyed on a mobile device
This is a straight port of the PC version and it runs as smooth as a brand new car, so if you were worried about having to contend with a lesser experience, you can rest easy now. You won’t be missing out on anything, especially if you play on an iPad as the size of the screen is more than large enough to comfortably accommodate everything.
In fact, we would argue that GWENT: The Witcher Card Game is best enjoyed on a mobile device because of the touch controls. After all, using your fingers to slide cards around feels a lot more natural and tactile than using a mouse. It gives you the feeling as if you’re actually playing a physical card game, and of course, you can take it with you everywhere you go.
PC Players Can Pick Up Where They Left Off on Mobile
We also never encountered any problem with the connectivity or matchmaking. No matter when we log into the game – be it early in the morning or in the middle of the night – we always managed to find a game within only a few seconds. Moreover, the game reportedly supports cross-platform play between PC and iOS, which means you can transfer your progress between the two platforms without any issue. That’s a huge plus in our book.
All things considered, GWENT: The Witcher Card Game on mobile is definitely worth picking up for those who already own the game on PC and consoles. Newcomers should also give it a try as well, as it’s one of the best card games available on the platform at the moment!