Just over a month after announcing the end of support for Gwent: The Witcher Card Game on consoles, CD Projekt Red will launch another Witcher spin-off for the Nintendo Switch. Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales arrives on the hybrid console on Jan. 28.
Gwent itself has an interesting history. Originally implemented as a mini-game inside The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, it was eventually spun out as its own standalone collectible card game. But the mechanics themselves fell flat, and interest in the game waned. In April 2018, CD Projekt wrote an open letter to the community promising a complete relaunch of the franchise. That relaunch was expected to include Thronebreaker as a kind of single-player campaign. Instead, it was spun out as a standalone card-base RPG.
Released in October 2018 for PC, Thronebreaker was well-received by fans and critics alike. It riffs on the traditional Gwent format, using cards not just for combat encounters but for non-combat encounters as well. Playing it at times feels like performing a series of clever card tricks.
Thronebreaker is out today via the Nintendo eShop for $19.99.