Watch 37 minutes of Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales gameplay

YouTube YouTube
Watch On

Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales is a card game—it's based on Gwent—and also a "true Witcher RPG." If you're not quite clear on how that's going to work (which is entirely understandable), a new 37-minute gameplay video lays it all out. 

The video begins with Nilfgaard's invasion of Lyria, then skips ahead (to avoid spoilers) to Meve's effort to break the siege of Dravograd. The full battle plays out, demonstrating the Gwent-style gameplay, resulting in a Lyrian victory (sorry, not avoiding that spoiler) and then some conversation and a decision to be made—to throw financial support to Dravograd, whose grain stores were lost in the siege, or to keep money and resources focused on bolstering the army.   

"Some immediate, some far-reaching—eventually, a time will come when you have to deal with the consequences of the decisions you make," the narrator says. 

From there, Meve takes to the overmap and encounters a side quest, which results in a shortened battle: The rules are the same, but it only lasts for one round.   

The core mechanics mean that Thronebreaker is likely going to appeal to card game fans more than RPGers, but it looks like a legitimately fresh and interesting take on a genre that typically doesn't go in too heavily on narratives. It comes out on October 23 and is up for preorder now exclusively from GOG

TOPICS
Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

Latest in The Witcher
A close-up of a scared young girl's face as she stumbles through the woods, a crown of twigs and flowers upon her head.
CD Projekt says it's not using generative AI on The Witcher 4 because it's 'quite tricky when it comes to legal IP ownership'
Tub Geralt, just chilling in his tub.
The new Witcher novel is a prequel called Crossroads of Ravens where Geralt is 18 years old, and it'll be available in English in September
The Witcher 3
Geralt will definitely appear in The Witcher 4, Doug Cockle confirms (again): 'I can't wait to see what they do'
bathtub geralt
I regret to inform you that The Witcher 3 is a decade old this year, but you can forget about unceasing mortality for a few hours at the anniversary concerts
Geralt thumbs up
Witcher author reveals that Geralt is 61 years old in The Witcher 3, with even weirder ramifications for Henry Cavill's Netflix performance
A still from the cinematic reveal trailer of The Witcher 4, showing unt Witcher
CD Projekt had to nerf Ciri for The Witcher 4 after she fully unlocked her spacetime teleportation powers in the previous game: 'Something totally happened in-between'
Latest in News
Assassin's Creed Shadows promo image
Ubisoft scores a legendary ratio against Elon Musk on his own platform—which hopefully marks a final end to all the Assassin's Creed Shadows' culture war nonsense
Tzarina Katarin Bokha, the Ice Queen of Kislev
Total War: Warhammer 3 rolls out a cool Kislev overhaul, changes befitting Tzeench’s magic, new projectile units and creakier skeletal horses
An image of a golden first place award from Geoguessr
'We're actually getting GeoGuessr on Steam before GTA 6': the Google Street View puzzler arrives on Valve's platform this April
Napster client circa 1999
Former music-pirating platform Napster to be reborn rather ironically as a metaverse for musicians to connect with their fans after $207 million deal
The snazzy red and black HyperX Cloud Alpha wireless headphones float in a teal void. The microphone is attached to the headset.
The best wireless gaming headset is now even better in the Amazon Big Spring Sale, boasting a more than $50 discount
A chip being held up in an Intel fab
Intel is reportedly 'working to finalize commitments from Nvidia' as a foundry partner, suggesting gaming potential for the 18A node