Gwent

This game is:

1. Super f2p friendly, it is probably the most f2p friendly card game right now. rewards and packs keep dropping from nowhere, you can craft a meta deck in no time.

2. Mostly skill-based, every game I lose, I know why I lost, I could've played things differently etc... It has almost no rng.

3. Beautiful artwork and sounds.

4. It has awesome developers, focusing on developing and balancing the game.

5. Deckbuilding is super fun, there are many layers of deckbuilding.

6. On the appstore, it has a rating of 4.8 (coming to android in first quarter of 2019, it is available for PC)

Here are some reviews of people who have played this game, articulating their thoughts better than mine:

https://www.reddit.com/r/gwent/comments/eblsap/a_hearthstone_refugees_many_thoughts_on_gwent/

https://www.reddit.com/r/gwent/comments/dqydwv/hearthstone_player_for_3_years_gwent_is_probably/

https://www.reddit.com/r/gwent/comments/e0oq26/gwent_compared_to_other_dccgs/

https://www.reddit.com/r/gwent/comments/dufqb9/a_new_players_thoughts_on_why_i_love_gwent_so_much/

I had played it for a bit, was kind of fun but got repetitive a bit quickly. Not really my thing, but I would recommend others to at least try it out

I played some gwent and it was fun for a while but I couldn't stick with it. 

The graphics didn't feel very interactive, Hearthstone does this better than any digital card game I have ever seen. The cards are round and have a nice personality to them (no, I don't mean the flavor is good, I mean the way they are shaped and the way they feel to play them). And one big thing that makes Hearthstone stand out from the other games is the setting, yu know where you are when you go to a different screen. When browsing your collection you feel like you are flipping through a binder, on the home menu you know you are in an inn looking down on the game board, and the background sounds in the game feel like you are playing with a person. Gwent has the same problem that the other games have, it doesn't feel fun and lively. 

I hate the reward tree, so, so much. I just hate it, the whole concept of the reward tree. It takes 12 years to get through it all, and you know that you will never complete the whole thing so you have to plan ahead. But then after playing the game for 4 months I start to find this new portion of the tree appealing and I have to start from the beginning again. Plus, after you have been playing the game for a while you will get less and less free stuff. After playing the game for a year you will count yourself lucky to get 2 points on the tree a month. I just hate everything about the whole reward tree concept.

No RNG does feel refreshing sometimes, but the thing is (and I don't think a lot of people will admit to this) but RNG makes games more fun. When there is no RNG, the game gets repetitive and boring quickly. When there is no RNG, pulverizing matchups become so much more pulverizing. If my deck is not favorable against your deck, and we both play perfectly, then I will lose every single time and there is nothing I can do about it. It sounds nice on paper, when there is no RNG then you will be rewarded for being smart and making good strategic decisions, but in practice it doesn't work out as well. RNG helps bad players have a chance, plus, RNG does reward smart players. Imagine if there were no RNG in Hearthstone, then once someone found the 'best deck' then you could potentially write a perfect guide on how to pilot this deck to win every game. And then it doesn't matter if you are good or not, you can win every game because of this guide. RNG puts you in a position where you will have to make your own decisions, and sometimes you will have to change your game plan to accommodate for this unexpected thing. RNG is good.

Bit of a clarification there

Quote From Author

After playing the game for a year you will count yourself lucky to get 2 points on the tree a month. I just hate everything about the whole reward tree concept.

That is completely untrue, I'm not sure how it was in the past (and some people had issues with it), but right now,
1. Each "round" victory gives you a crown (each game consists of 3 rounds, bo3)
2. For each 6 rounds you win every day, then 12 rounds after that. And, then 24 rounds after that You get (2-2-1) rp.
3. While, the reward points do decrease, they are still plenty, I've been playing for 150 hours already, and I've been getting plenty of reward points, through contracts, and levelling up, which becomes easier everytime you reach level 60, as it resets, you get a bonus, and it repeats.

Each rp corresponds to 50/66/75 ore (pack paying currency, each pack is 100 ore and gives you 5 cards, the fifth you can pick 1 out of 3 cards at least rare), depends on how you're using it, and that's not counting even the daily quests.

It feels like lots of people has tried this game in the past, in beta/start of homecoming? but now it is much more balanced, and has changed a plenty since then. Plenty of beta/homecoming players have returned since then.

Quote From Author

If my deck is not favorable against your deck, and we both play perfectly, then I will lose every single time and there is nothing I can do about it.

Can't wait for the game to come to Android. I hate their decision of going first with iOs :(

From what i've read it is the most rng-friendly card game out there, and that's what i'm looking for. No one plays perfectly so the rng argument is void. How would you feel to be beaten by a bad player because of rng? Definitely worse than if he played much better.

So yea, that's what i want - a game where skill actually matters most instead of the stupid luck (like in HS).

Bring Android faster! Open beta, something, anything! :D

Fell short on all of its strengths. Ironic how it fails precisely on its strongest points.

 Btw the most f2p ive seen is eternal with shadowverse and mythgard on a close second. 

HS can be very f2p as well but u cant be a noob to it. My first f2p account in comparison to my f2p account after i played the game for 2years is entirely different in terms of how I achieved in the early months

Well, I'm playing Gwent mostly for the sake of lore. It's quite interesting to see characters that you have encountered in the Witcher games itself and books.

Same reason goes for Hearthstone.

Soon we will have new expansion!

Yep very excited for the expansion!

I play Hearthstone a couple times a month, Runeterra a couple times a week, and Gwent every day. Outside of Runeterra's weekly chest, Gwent is definitely the superior of the 3 in terms of rewards. The thing that really keeps me in Gwent is the lack of RNG and beautiful art. Soooo many times do I immediately stop playing Runeterra or Hearthstone because some god awful chain of bad RNG. That just doesn't happen in Gwent. I love how consistent you can make your deck and how it's much easier to homebrew your way to the highest rank if you play skillfully. 

I got a friend into Gwent over Christmas and he had a surplus of resources for decks and premium cards by the end of February, and still has reluctantly refrained from spending any real money. No wayyyy can you get even close to that statement with Hearthstone. The new ranked ladder rewards do help a bit though!

But Gwent certainly has its faults. It absolutely needs that upcoming arena makeover and could stand to have some single-player components too (outside Thronebreaker). 

I do think with Hearthstone's upcoming achievement system it will make huge strides in its rewards towards catching up to its competitors like Runeterra and Gwent. For example, outside of daily quests, you have to rank up in competitive or score a high winrate in arena to gain any further rewards. You can't just enjoy casual mode and make meaningful progress towards your collection. The 10g every 3 wins is a complete joke of a reward, and they surely realize this.

Quote From Nokt

The 10g every 3 wins is a complete joke of a reward, and they surely realize this.

Hearthstone reward system is a joke for sure. I spent way too much money on this game, played it a lot, and I ALWAYS had to be careful with what I craft and many many times I had to skip deck that I wanted to try because I missed too many legends and it just wasn't good enough to justify crafting. I will never forget Blizzard this greedy system, they won't have a single penny from me from now on. Some time ago I realised I don't even have fun with this game anymore, so I quit it and don't even launch it anymore. This is how you lose a loyal player that bought almost all expansions.

When it comes to Gwent - it is a really good game. I played it a lot before Homecoming, and a bit after. Sadly I prefer the old version.

I finished Thronebreaker too, but couldn't get into Gwent for a longer time since HC. I miss the old decks - such as NG spies, alchemy, reveal, handbuff ; Scoia control,  handbuff ; SK Greatswords and the list goes on. *edit* -and of course weather decks!

To me the new MVP in card games genre is Legends of Runeterra and I'm having a blast with it. Both gameplay-wise and economy-wise (I can literally play everything I want).

I'm ignorant... is this a CCG?

Quote From Hydrafrog

I'm ignorant... is this a CCG?

yes it is, I was excited at first but then I just dropped it cause I felt it was just another HS and didn't want to put time into it..

also it had a playable adventure they were selling for 20 bucks with around 30 very strong cards that's when I totally dropped it, you can craft those cards but then :/ they are more F2P friendly than HS but I didn't like that adventure.. didn't feel like playing that just to stay up to date on the meta and honestly it felt really uninteractive in terms of what you could do against your opponent..

Anyway I would suggest to try it.. I played it a year ago so it might be different now.

Anyway I think runettera is better anyway.. having more fun watching/playing it I had with gwent and it replaced HS in my youtube/twitch watch list.

Quote From linkblade91

I tried to play some Gwent in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, but I couldn't get into it. Decided to skip all of the sidequests related to the card game, which screwed me when I came into a situation where I had to play it >_> Got crushed and lost 40% of my gold.

They reworked the game ENTIRELY, it's not about rows anymore it's much more complex right now it's about 6 factions IIRC with many archtypes and such it's DEFINITELY not about playing legendary units and spies as much as you can like in W3.

I think W3 actually gives the game bad reputation it's better than it, I would suggest giving it a try.

The Gwent arenas are awesome. You guys should try them. You usually get enough rewards to keep playing them, especially when you happen to complete some achievements.

Quote From Nokt

I play Hearthstone a couple times a month, Runeterra a couple times a week, and Gwent every day. Outside of Runeterra's weekly chest, Gwent is definitely the superior of the 3 in terms of rewards. The thing that really keeps me in Gwent is the lack of RNG and beautiful art. Soooo many times do I immediately stop playing Runeterra or Hearthstone because some god awful chain of bad RNG. That just doesn't happen in Gwent. I love how consistent you can make your deck and how it's much easier to homebrew your way to the highest rank if you play skillfully. 

+1

Your comment is perfect for me, my sentiments exactly!

I will just add that I'm an old HearthStone whale, and since Gwent's android premiere I have been slowly but steadily drifting away from HS.. This is actually the reason I came over here to the forums now - wanted to ask if you guys (mods, @Flux, anyone?) considered covering this game along HS, LOR and M:TGA ? Not exactly sure where to post this question, hope it gets noticed.

Thanks for the reply, appreciate it!

I've been trying to find a go-to, decent, reliable and established news portal for Gwent and kinda failed to do so, hence the question and desire for you guys to do it heh:) I do think that you could be filling a hole there and could metaphorically "strike gold";) but if you deem the audience as not sufficient for the effort (I don't know the popularity of the game in comparison to its competitors) then fair play and I understand completely. Cheers

I also interest in this video game because playing video games is my hobby. But lately I could not get access to my steam account. So i decided to check vpn for it. I used this one tool  VeePN