Gwent: The Legendary Card Game is a competitive, head-to-head card game.
Inspired by factions from The Witcher universe.
In Gwent, two players build decks from factions such as the Northern Realms, Scoia’tael, Monsters, Skellige, and Nilfgaard, each with its own unique set of cards and abilities.
Gwent: The Legendary Card Game Overview
Each player starts with their chosen faction deck. At the start of the round, you draw cards, then take turns playing a single card onto one of your rows.
Cards add strength, trigger simple abilities, or occasionally interact with your opponent’s board. You will decide when to pass, ending your participation in the current round and locking in your total.
Your opponent will then continue to play cards to try to beat your totals.
You draw 10 cards at the start of round 1, a further 2 at the start of round 2 and just one at the start of round 3, so you can’t ‘overplay’.
How Do You Win?
You win by taking two out of the three rounds. You don’t need to overwhelm your opponent every time; in fact, you often need to sacrifice a round deliberately to come back stronger later. Knowing when to push and when to save cards is where most of the strategy lies.
Main Mechanisms
Card placement, hand management, timing, bluffing, and sometimes simple engine-building depending on your faction’s tricks.
USP
The passing mechanic. Winning isn’t about brute-forcing power every turn; it’s about tricking your opponent into wasting more cards than you.
Also, it being a game from The Witcher is a USP.
Theme
Fully tied to The Witcher world. Each deck represents a faction with distinct art, flavour, and minor mechanical differences. This is much more appealing if you know the characters, which I do not.
Setup
Pick a deck, shuffle, draw your starting cards, and begin. It’s very quick to get to the table.
Components & Artwork
Very nice artwork and clear iconography. The game looks excellent, laid out, especially as rows of units stack up.
Ease of Teaching
Easy rules overall, but explaining why passing is important can take a few examples. Deckbuilding makes teaching harder, as prebuilt decks aren’t balanced too well.
Similar Games
Magic: The Gathering has its head-to-head duelling and deck-building, but that is collectable.
Netrunner is an asymmetric two-player card game where everything comes in the box.
Summoner Wars has lane-based combat and positioning, as well as multiple different factions.
Gwent: The Legendary Card Game Review
Positives
Interesting round-based system with meaningful timing decisions.
Great artwork and faction identity.
Lots of variability if you enjoy tweaking or building decks.
Big appeal if you’re a fan of The Witcher setting.
Negatives
Prebuilt decks aren’t well-balanced, so deckbuilding becomes mandatory.
Tactically its quite simple turn-to-turn, many plays just ‘add numbers’.
It’s harder to appreciate if you haven’t played The Witcher games or read the books.
Strategy mostly comes from timing rather than clever card synergies.
Summary
Gwent is a clean, fast duelling card game built around timing, bluffing, and managing limited resources across rounds.
Jesta ThaRogue