Since there is also no voice chat or text to allow any social engagement with friends it further makes it irrelevant. Playing with friends takes you off the hamster wheel of the progression system that is always front and center to psychologically box players into a dehumanizing drip feed reward cycle. It's definitely not in playing with friends. It is therefore also not in the variety of playing against others due to Gwent's limited game play and game type. With all of this said where exactly is the fun in Gwent? It's not in experimenting with building a deck as the competitive singular focus of the game requires only the top meta build. Spoiler here: Gwent offers no actual casual mode - only the pretension of one. Gwent doesn't stress the satisfaction of 'winning' so much as the 'relief' from the tension of possible loss - and of course if you do lose there is always the option of buying more 'kegs' to remedy the feeling that your deck needs better cards. It should therefore be no surprise that instead of creative combinations of decks there is near uniformity in the way each deck is being played online according to its meta build. This is something Gwent is absolutely clueless on as every round is one dimensional in its pursuit of winning against a faceless opponent. Further the regulars that play(ed) it are more than likely to know each other as the games lent themselves to social interaction. These modes stress variety and possibility rather than cut throat competition. In its online incarnation the most fun had with Magic can be seen in its Duels 2012-2014 multiplayer modes - Archenemy, Planeschase, & Two Headed Giant. Magic took off predominantly due to the social aspect of playing a game with friends and experimenting with new deck ideas every week (there was no concept of meta at the time). When I went to my local game shop to play Magic in the 90s (back when 3rd edition was in print) the fun of the game was not in 'winning' (which Gwent stresses). The Skinner Box progression/reward system ( ), the business model of dumping endless amounts of money into random packs of cards, the focus on competitiveness which destroys creativity and emphasizes 'meta builds' etc., are all of the worst things reincarnated from other card games. Put simply everything 'around' the game sucks - and spoils its potential fun. What is lacking is an understanding of why people like me don't play Magic anymore and will therefore not play or spend money on games like Gwent. So the core game here is really a solid foundation compared to others. all get around complaints of randomness being the biggest factor in games like Magic rather than skill. The deck size, the starting hand size, the ability to switch out cards etc. The core game and and the mechanics, I have really no complaint about and actually prefer to other games I've played like Hearthstone and (to a much larger extent) Magic. Gwent conceptually and practically works very well as a card game (barring some complaints about balance which I'll list at the bottom). I have about 80hrs in Gwent, and am close to level 30 so I thought it was about time to write down some impressions. The Good & Suck of Gwent & Why I Won't Spend $ on It (though I would have liked to)
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