Gwent is a card game that is played one versus one. The game is played in a best of three fashion, where the winner of is determined by the player getting the most points in 2 out of the 3 rounds.

Cards used in the game Gwent are found throughout the Witcher 3 game, in example; by beating a new opponent in a game of Gwent or purchasing through merchants. The player can assemble his or her own deck.

At the start of a Gwent game the player is first met with a menu where he or she is able to make changes to the deck used in the match. To be allowed to play a game of Gwent the deck must abide certain restrictions. It can't have more than 10 special effect cards and must contain a minimal amount of 22 unit cards in it. The cards in the deck must also all belong from the same faction or be neutral.

The Gwent cards are divided into 4 different factions. Each containing their own deck color, set of unique cards and unique faction bonus.

• Nilfgaard - Wins at a draw
  
• Monsters - Random monster card remains on field at end of round
  
• Northern Realms - Draw an additional card after winning a round
  
• Scoia'tael - Always gets to start first

At the start of the match each player draws 10 random cards from their deck. Each player then gets 2 redraws where the must select one of the cards in their hand, remove it and grab a new card. The player is allowed to redraw same card twice.

After that a coin flip determines who gets to start first, unless one of the decks has the faction bonus granting them to start first.

After that each player is able to play 1 card after each other and perform bonus actions that come with the card. This is done until a player decides to pass a round after which the remaining player is allowed to continue to his or her liking and pass as well. When a player runs out of cards they will automatically have to pass.

When both players have passed the player who collected the most strength points wins the round. All cards on the field (including special cards) will be removed from play and a new round will start. If one or both of the players use the Monsters factions one random unit card will stay into play.

To effectively play Gwent both players must be careful with their cards as they'll need to be used throughout all 3 rounds. It is therefore important to use the cards to their maximum effect and attempt to win a round with as minimal resources as possible to have enough cards left for the following round(s). It may therefore be viable to lose a round on purpose using less resources than the opponent to win the following round(s).

Unit cards are the basic cards that allow you to build up strength points each round. At the top left each card displays their strength. They come in three different tiers.

• Close Combat
  
• Ranged Combat
  
• Siege Combat

The tiers determine where the card can be placed on the battlefield. This is important are special effects allows you to boost an entire tier placed on the field, while weather effects can reduce the strength of all units.

The strength of all units on your side of the field added together will determine your total amount of strength points.

Some unit cards have their own special abilities marked by a symbol on the card. The following abilities are present. Some shared between factions, while others are faction unique.

Weather cards are part of the special cards. They come in 4 different variations.

• Blizzard - Reduces base strength of Close Combat units to 1
  
• Fog - Reduces base strength of Ranged Combat units to 1
  
• Rain - Reduces base strength of Siege Combat units to 1
  
• Sun - Removes all current weather effects placed on field

Each weather card will hold effect till the end of the round or until the effect is canceled by another card. Both blizzard, fog and rain can be used side by side. Stacking weather cards is possible, but have no added effect although can be used to pass the turn back to the opponent. Any bonus strength acquired from the cards will not be affected (, apart from multiplicative strength bonuses which will be affected by the base strength drop).

The Commander's Horn is a special card which can be used on one of the friendly tiers on the battlefield. It doubles the strength of all cards in that tier (including bonus strength obtained from other effects). Like weather cards the effect is removed after a round.

Scorch is a special card which will destroy the cards with the highest strength value on both sides of the field. If more cards share this value they'll all be destroyed. Strength bonuses through effects will be taken into account for this.

Decoy is a special card which allows the player to remove one of his or her cards from the field back into their hand and replace it with the decoy. This allows the player to safe up high value cards on the field for following rounds, get additional turns to see what the opponent does or repeatedly use an effect of a card.

Each team has one leader card which can be used once during the entire match. Each leader card is unique in their faction and abilities. Depending on their effect they are either used passively or actively (like other cards from your hand, in which case they also use your turn).

To see the ability of the leader card from your opponent you can simply right click it during your turn.

The game is all about getting the maximal effect out of your cards to win 2 out of 3 rounds. Since cards don't get redrawn after rounds it's important to try and win using as little resources as possible, while making your opponent waste as many as possible.

To do so it's often advisable to start the first round slowly and try to either get your opponent to waste strength or pass early. Some good cards for this are the spy, decoy, healer and any low strength cards you couldn't get rid of at redrawing.

Spies are a good way to start off the match. You won't lose any resources yourself through the exchange of extra redraws, while forcing strength on your opponents side of the field and skipping your turns. Your opponent is still forced to play out cards at each turn, wasting strength as you have nothing on your side of the field. If the opponent can't counter with decoys or spies he or she will be forced to keep on wasting his or her resources or pass early. Similarly the decoy can help out early. It gives you the ability to counter your opponent from sending a spy or play out a strong card and return it back to your hand. Likewise having a healer in your hand allows you to play out a strong card, which you can return back on the field in round 2 or 3.

In case the opponent decides to pass it is up to you to decide whether it will be worth winning the round or sacking it. As the opponent isn't able to counter any moves you'll be able to quickly plan out how many cards you'll need for a win. If it still leaves you with an advantage the next rounds it's often good to take the win. If it would leave you weakened you better off taking the loss. Don't forget that the Northern Realms will be able to draw an extra card after the win.

Depending on how the first round went you'll be forced to win the next or given the ability to sack a round. Just like before it's good to start off with the weaker cards to see what your opponent is doing. It can even be beneficial to use cards with no effects to skip the turn back to the opponent. Look if the game is winnable and if not; sack the round trying to make your opponent waste as many cards as possible.

Synergy between cards. Different cards have great synergy between them. Apart form the obvious tight bond, commander's horn and other abilities there's also good synergy between other cards. A healer and decoy can work great together allowing you to use the effect of the healer twice and bring back two strong units.