If you just couldn’t get enough of that addictive minigame from The Witcher 3, then get ready to try out the standalone GWENT. The open beta was released today and is available on Xbox One, PS4, and PC.
The beta is free, and your progress will reportedly carry over to the full game on release. A clever way to hook players in, especially when they’ve put multiple hours into the beta and want to keep developing their decks on the full game. CD Project Red has a recent post on their website concerning the new announcement:
“Public Beta is an important step towards GWENT’s final release — We’re opening the gates to everyone who wanted to play, but didn’t make it into the Closed Beta, and — at the same time — we’re introducing some pretty significant content and gameplay changes like adding animated versions of cards for every card in the game, new starter decks, or how weather cards work,” Iwiński adds. “I’m extra curious how all of the community feedback we’ve incorporated will resonate with both current players and those who’re just starting. Please keep the feedback coming, we’re listening!”
For the unaware, GWENT is a collectible card game that works on a simple point-based system. Players must lay out melee, ranged, and siege cards, each having numeric values that add to your point total. The player with the most points wins. The catch is that you’re only given ten cards out of your deck for your hand, and you’ll receive very few additional cards throughout the course of the game. Certain cards have clever abilities that can remove your enemy’s cards, or nullify them completely. Win 2 out of 3 rounds and you’ve won the game.
GWENT became ridiculously popular as a Witcher 3 minigame, a minigame that most players (myself included) figured was just an after-thought. When you actually start playing the minigame is when you realize how much depth was actually put into it. When players started making claims to its superiority to Hearthstone, that’s when things got serious.
I plan on downloading the beta as soon as I get the chance to. I’ve binged on Hearthstone for too long and I’m afraid I’ll be doing the same thing with GWENT (if it’s any good). Stay tuned for more info as it’s played.
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