Walkthroughs

How to play Gwent: The Witcher Card Game on mobile

How to play Gwent: The Witcher Card Game on mobile

Gwent is finally landing in beta, and it's looking great

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Gwent was a shockingly big hit with fans everywhere when it came bundled in with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - which is now available on Nintendo Switch, by the way! Such a big hit in fact, that CD Projekt RED couldn't help but print a bunch of Gwent cards to give away to purchasers of the physical version of The Witcher 3 DLC.

It's the kind of minigame that you can't get enough of, and public opinion of Gwent was so good that CD Projekt RED couldn't help themselves and decided to make Gwent its own game - though the Gwent we are getting our hands on now is very different to the Gwent you remember in The Witcher 3.

Yes, that's right, Gwent: The Witcher Card game is soon landing on mobile devices everywhere, and we're playing the open beta, and using our inside info to give you the tips you need before the game is even out.

You might already know how to play Gwent, but this game plays out a bit differently than what you'll remember in The Witcher 3, so it's worth brushing up on what is new…

The biggest number

This is still the main aim of the game: get a bigger total power number before the end of the round to win - when the round is over is down to whichever player is willing to give up the ghost before the timer ticks away.

Gwent is still played on multiple rows, but now it's two rows for each player instead of three, a melee row and a ranged row, which combines both the mid-range and long-range rows from the original iteration of the game.

Loading all of your units on to one row or the other can be dangerous, and there are now certain card effects and abilities that will have different effects depending on which row they are summoned - make sure to double-check this before placing anything.

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Conserving your power

While it's tempting to throw down your high-powered cards immediately, it's not exactly a good idea. The fact is, you might lose the first round, and you don't want your most powerful cards going down with it.

In the first round your aim should be to waste your enemy's supply of cards, not your own. Be cautious and use more middling cards, though if victory is in sight, there's no reason not to go for it.

You will only draw three new cards each round, regardless of how many you use, so save as many as possible. In the final round, feel free to lay down everything.

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Complimentary status

Some cards can be used together to really give yourself a big advantage when in battle. For example, some cards have a Deathwish ability which will be used only when the card dies.

If your opponent won't kill the card for you, do it yourself by using it as a sacrifice for a card which requires one upon summoning. As simple as that.

Likewise, there are plenty of cards which have effects related to power boosts, such as doing damage to the enemy whenever boosted, and there are other cards which will hand out boosts on every turn. You see where this is going…

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Special effects

Finally you have the effects given to your by your deck type itself. Each deck has a "hero ability" type of effect which you can use in battle, like doing one damage to an enemy every second turn, or boosting your own cards.

These effects will be limited of course. There are also cards you can use which offer field effects, such as damaging an entire enemy row, or wiping them out entirely.

It's not good to rely on these special effects, as they could backfire, but in a tight spot they can really help you win the game.

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Dave Aubrey
Dave Aubrey
Dave is the Guides Editor at Pocket Gamer. Specialises in Nintendo, complains about them for a living.