As a fan of all things collectible card gaming related, CD Projekt Red has just wrecked my wallet. With the $150 collector’s edition of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt players will be treated with Gwent, a fast-paced card game that can be played within The Witcher 3, but is included as a physical product for the big spenders. Is Gwent any good? Who knows at this point. Card games are very difficult to guess at as there are generally so many different moving parts that you can’t simply look at the game and say – “Yeah, that will probably be good…”
What is known is that in game – the card game is played at tavern tables and is initially simple but ultimately very deep. The game is actually about the clash of two armies locked in mortal struggles on the battlefield where the players are the leaders and the cards are their forces. There are four different factions with unique combat styles and “endless” paths to victory. It is a one on one card game, but from my 20 years of experience, there will be a way to include up to four people with a little tweaking of the rules (in the physical version).
For now, it would seem the Xbox One Collector’s Edition will get the exclusive two decks of cards, but we will update if other systems include this as well.
For those buying the collector’s edition of the title, here is what you can expect to get:
Over 150 unique playing cards
- 4 distinct factions: the mighty and cunning Nilfgaardian Empire, the brave Northern Realms and their siege weapons, the agile and devious Scoia’tael, and the brutal monsters of No Man’s Land.
- Powerful spells allow players to control the weather and affect units on the battlefield.
- An array of combat styles caters to individual playstyles: close range with heavy knights, long range with skilled archers or artillery with powerful siege weapons.
- Powerful hero cards, unique to each factions
Finally, here is the updated list of everything included in the Xbox One Collector’s Edition:
- The standard edition of the game, containing: the official soundtrack, a beautiful and detailed map of the in-game world, unique stickers, and the developer-created “Witcher Universe – The Compendium”
- A giant, 33x24x26 cm, 100% hand painted, Polystone figure of Geralt of Rivia battling a Griffin
- An exclusive, collector grade Witcher medallion
- A one of a kind SteelBook ™
- A two-hundred page artbook, containing breathtaking art from the game
- A cloth map of the game world
- Two Gwent card decks
- Huge outer and inner Collector’s Boxes you can store your Witcher merchandise in!
For me, the inclusion of a card game is a fine deal as long as they have other means to purchase the decks outside of this edition. As stated, there are 4 factions and I would love to get my hands on all for decks for those nights when my tabletop buddies get together and want to play something other than Arcana, Magic: the Gathering or, uh, sport?