Macworld - UK (2022-02)

62 Macworld • February 2022

MAC GAMING

is Gwent, the card game based on the

hugely popular Witcher series (not

to be confused with Thronebreaker –

another Witcher game that includes

some card game elements).

You don’t get to play as Geralt the

Witcher himself, instead starting by

choosing a faction, such as the blood-

thirsty warriors of Skellige, the crafty

Scoia’tael who rely on tricks and

traps, or the self-explanatory monster

faction. You then act as the leader

of that faction, compiling a deck of

25 cards that represent your various

fighters and magical skills, and then

choosing 10 cards that you take into

battle at the start of each round.

Each game consists of three rounds,

and whoever wins best of three will

emerge as the victor.

Like most card games, Gwent

depicts the battleground split into two

halves, with you and your opponent

lining up forces ready for battle.

However, Gwent also splits each

player’s battle zone into two rows, for

separate melee and ranged combat.

This adds an extra element of strategy

to each move, as you need to think

carefully about how to deploy all your

forces – an archer dropped into the

front line of melee combat will be easy

pickings for the first axe that swings

their way, but put them further back

and they’ll be able to pick off their

enemies with deadly efficiency.

It’s great fun, and the hand-drawn

artwork adds a nice sense of gritty

Witcher-esque atmosphere to your

battles. The game is free to play,

but you can buy additional card

packs to add new characters and

skills to your deck if you want to,

starting from about £5 each. The only

disappointment is that Gwent is now

available on just about every type of

computer and mobile device except

Intel Macs, so you’ll need one of the

newer M1 models.

10. Hearthstone
    Price: Free from fave.co/3rO8Llo
    Hearthstone has been around for a
    few years now, and Blizzard’s typically
    slick presentation quickly established
    it as one of the leading computer card
    games. Like most card games, the
    basic version of Hearthstone is free
    to play, but offers a wide range of card
    packs that you can either buy with
    real money – starting from £2.99 for
    two packs of five cards – or earn by
    collecting gold and treasure within
    the game itself.
    Picking up a trick from the long-
    running success of World Of Warcraft,
    Blizzard also releases special
    ‘expansion packs’ for Hearthstone