Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales

 PC
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 679 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 529 out of 679
  2. Mixed: 63 out of 679
  3. Negative: 87 out of 679

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  1. Esthete
    Mar 22, 2019
    8
    I liked Gwent into the Witcher 3 Wild Hunt, and this one is just a bunch of special effects, a braking Unity engine, micro characters, but the story is not bad.
  2. Ryrmos
    Oct 23, 2018
    10
    Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales is a perfect game. If you are done with it, then try Gwent: The Witcher Card Game.
  3. haktaro
    Oct 23, 2018
    10
    This game is just awesome. The story is amazing with interesting and engrossing characters and the gameplay is fun and surprisingly innovative. It has a lot of twists and makes you think. I just love how story and card gameplay create this epic tale in your head. Very refreshing design. Oh and the voice acting, sound and music are top notch. Im 10 hours in and can't stop playing :)
  4. Tanarur
    Oct 23, 2018
    10
    This game is an absolute blast. CDPR done it again. If you told me that a card game would be one of the best games of 2018, I probably would have laughed you off. However, I'm very pleasantly surprised.
  5. Boomshakala
    Oct 23, 2018
    10
    Thronebreaker, once an expansion for Gwent has grown into so much more. The implementation of story specific Gwent mechanics has surprising depth to them. The cell shaded visuals bring out a certain charm very reminiscent of Telltale. I've quickly grew to love Meve as a protagonist as she is not your average elegant queen who always fights for good. Some of the choices presented make herThronebreaker, once an expansion for Gwent has grown into so much more. The implementation of story specific Gwent mechanics has surprising depth to them. The cell shaded visuals bring out a certain charm very reminiscent of Telltale. I've quickly grew to love Meve as a protagonist as she is not your average elegant queen who always fights for good. Some of the choices presented make her out to be an extremely morally grey character, very fitting for the Witcher world.… Expand
  6. Brok
    Oct 23, 2018
    10
    This is a perfect bonus to Gwent: Homecoming. Excellent story and more expansive than most games double its price. Can't wait for the next one but probably should as quality takes time and this game sure does reflect it.
  7. Diptihuda
    Oct 23, 2018
    10
    Amazing voice acting. Top notch animation. However, the absolutely gorgeous artstyle, captivating story and genius game design is what makes Thronebreaker a cut above the rest. IMO more big companies should also start investing in more indie-like titles like CDPR did with this game.
  8. bronzi
    Dec 12, 2018
    7
    Great storytelling and dialogue, and meaningful decision-making.
    The game overstays it's welcome by about 20 hours, and the puzzles require a great deal of patience. I ended up using a walk-through for many of the puzzle encounters, as I couldn't be bothered to even attempt them.
  9. Jrgreen
    Jan 4, 2019
    10
    Brilliant story, excellent characters, beautiful artwork and atmospheric soundtrack. Every decision you are asked to make has real consequences, that you really end up caring about when they have such an impact on the characters you grow to love. This is one of those games that stays with you long after you finish playing.
  10. julgzfz
    Feb 10, 2019
    9
    The core of this game is the story, and an amazing one it is. Choice & Consequence, surprises, betrayals, vengeance, redemption... fantastic.
    The rest of the mechanics, Gwent and exploring, don't rise to the same level of excellence, but they are more than fine too.
  11. td_b4ar
    Jan 18, 2019
    9
    Look, I just hope CDP will sell it, it's just awesome, i mean i,ve been playing games since Prince of Persia 1 or, hell, Dizzzy in CGA! And this. This is outstanding. Easy mechanics (i mean if you can read ;), easy to understand, seems mediocre at first sight BUUUT MAAAN it grips you right from the start. Story isn't nothing new. but it's well told, well presented and with a twist. Music,Look, I just hope CDP will sell it, it's just awesome, i mean i,ve been playing games since Prince of Persia 1 or, hell, Dizzzy in CGA! And this. This is outstanding. Easy mechanics (i mean if you can read ;), easy to understand, seems mediocre at first sight BUUUT MAAAN it grips you right from the start. Story isn't nothing new. but it's well told, well presented and with a twist. Music, encounters, effects. This game is just perfect example of (not so) low budget lo and behold, absolutely great in giving you the entertainment without needless grind. Love it. Price to fun ratio is beyiond MetaCritic scale. Buy it Full price, it's worth it. And if you happen to be an Etherlords or Magic: Planewalkers fan, it's a no brainer.… Expand
  12. pankowecki
    Jun 4, 2020
    8
    50 hours of gameplay. Wonderful art. Great story. The battles are a bit repetitive.
  13. TheUglyCasanova
    Feb 20, 2022
    4
    Not really GEENT at all when nearly every battle is a stupid "puzzle" which you can just retry over and over until you get it...this is not what I signed up for. I wanted to build a deck and grow it, but nope, that's not much of the game as you'll be hitting scores of 100 within an hour, which pretty much kills any sense of getting stronger.

    Tiny little click and hold spots all freaking    Not really GEENT at all when nearly every battle is a stupid "puzzle" which you can just retry over and over until you get it...this is not what I signed up for. I wanted to build a deck and grow it, but nope, that's not much of the game as you'll be hitting scores of 100 within an hour, which pretty much kills any sense of getting stronger.

    Tiny little click and hold spots all freaking over...spoiler, not fun to harvest!

    Only good parts are the dialogues. Glad it did bad so they can put their resources elsewhere since this was rightfully a flop and a half.    … Expand
  14. AJCk19
    Jul 19, 2023
    4
    Other tcg are just more fun, ranging from hearthstone to magic the gathering. This is really only if you are a Witcher fan or you are banned by one of the mentioned games.
  15. whatever523
    Jun 16, 2019
    9
    I don't enjoy the card puzzles that are based on math. It's not about being witty or tactical, but dead boring calculation of what card you have to play when.

    Other than that, the game is pretty great.
  16. RMDsilva
    Mar 27, 2020
    8
    Great little game.
    Card game mechanics used in an interesting way, almost to the full potential.
    Story is nice and motivating, nice pacing, etc.
    Good trip.
  17. JMKM543
    Dec 21, 2018
    8
    Thronebreaker, though at face value a mere card game, proves it's merit with fantastic story/narration and player choice options that will leave you guessing if you've made the right choice. The game play is enjoyable though admittedly easy, with what seems to be an incredibly steep difficulty curve in regards to the last boss. The only thing holding Thronebreaker back is it's laterThronebreaker, though at face value a mere card game, proves it's merit with fantastic story/narration and player choice options that will leave you guessing if you've made the right choice. The game play is enjoyable though admittedly easy, with what seems to be an incredibly steep difficulty curve in regards to the last boss. The only thing holding Thronebreaker back is it's later chapters where choices feel less weighty and the horrid final boss that becomes borderline impossible without the right allies in your deck. Overall Thronebreaker proves it's worthy of The Witcher name.

    Reviewed on PS4    … Expand
  18. mrdocmrdoc
    Dec 30, 2018
    10
    Got it on PS4. The storytelling it up there with Witcher 3. I havent been able to put it down! MUST for people who loved Witcher 3 story.
  19. MarcusYami
    May 25, 2019
    10
    Great story, if you like point a clicl games with a good story and interesting puzzles, and decisions that make a difference than this is a must play!
  20. sanyadita
    Feb 4, 2020
    9
    I think this game is very unappreciated. It has own story and interesting gameplay. As for me I don't like multiplayer games, but adore card games. And this game is exactly that I need. Singleplayer project where I can relax after hard working day
  21. ksejoshot
    Jul 16, 2020
    8
    30 horas de juego para el modo historia de gwent, con decisiones que tienen peso en la historia y buenos giros de guión, buenos escenarios, y eso que nunca he sido fan de los juegos de cartas, pero el The Witcher 3 me enganchó con ese minijuego, es buenísmo aquí el modo combate estrategia de cartas. Recomendado, vale cada euro.
  22. Zloybig
    Nov 11, 2018
    6
    I have played for Thronebreaker and Gwent card game for last 5 days... Thronebreaker has an interesting story mode. Ordinary fights are quite easy but puzzle quest let your brain start working)
    For the music no comments... it's just awesome. What I don't like that cards in TB game and cards in Gwent is different, have different power and different skills. Some of the cards you found in TB    I have played for Thronebreaker and Gwent card game for last 5 days... Thronebreaker has an interesting story mode. Ordinary fights are quite easy but puzzle quest let your brain start working)
    For the music no comments... it's just awesome. What I don't like that cards in TB game and cards in Gwent is different, have different power and different skills. Some of the cards you found in TB can be used in Gwent game, frames etc.

    This game should be exclusive on GOG only, bought it for 199 Yuan(29USD), then I found that in 5 days TB has released at Steam and price is 128 Yuan( 18 USD).    … Expand
  23. ArminW
    Nov 14, 2018
    6
    It's actually... quite OK. No more, no less.
    And I personally consider The Witcher 3 of of my favorite games ever and played Gwent in that almost obsessively...
    The story is, indeed, very good. As are the handpainted visuals and the music. Gameplay, however, was disappoining. They bastardised the original card game into something that fits all, puzzles and story battles and normal    It's actually... quite OK. No more, no less.
    And I personally consider The Witcher 3 of of my favorite games ever and played Gwent in that almost obsessively...
    The story is, indeed, very good. As are the handpainted visuals and the music. Gameplay, however, was disappoining. They bastardised the original card game into something that fits all, puzzles and story battles and normal battles, and lost the basic idea behind it.
    The most important thing is: in a card game, I want to know the rules. In Thronebreaker, they are contantly changed, completely wanton, and the opponents never play by the same ones as you. Deckbuilding is oversimplified (No "theme" decks as in Witcher 3, just one in which you mix units for maximum cheese...).
    The results from battles have no meaning whatsoever for the story campaign (just "win" or "lose", it makes zero difference if you win by 1 point in the 3rd round or steamroll your opponent by 83:0 and 167:0). No difference for morale, losses or resources spent.
    Economy is meaningless, you just pick up resources like in a bad mobile game, buy every upgrade available and have tens of thousands of gold and building materials in the final chapter with nothing to spend it on.
    MANY descriptions of special rules for puzzle battles are vague, unhelpful and sometimes plain misleading. And, all things considered, the balance is quite bad. Most battles are trivially easy, once you found the cheese in your deck, some puzzles are completely obscure, and the final battle is the utter opposite: A complete and totally ridiculous bag of silly cheats for an opponent, who breaks EVERY rule of classic Gwent, replaces every destroyed units immediately from a 90-card deck, randomly boosts his troops and conveniently draws an extra card-card or a silly, all-immune 75 power boss whenever needed. Can actually be beaten, by simply replacing the deck with a special flavour of cheese, but is, to me, no fun at all.
    As I said, it's not bad, just...a bit disappoing compared to what i've come to expect from CDPR.    … Expand
  24. ConcernedAlien
    Nov 6, 2018
    6
    Pros: Some puzzles are interesting and offering real fun. Early story plot. Letters that appearing in game makeing story more interesting.
    Cons: No need to adjust the deck (except final battle). You can play anything on hardest level. Lots dialogues you want to skip without reading, especially later in game. Story is linear, your choices doesnt affect the story. It is only about what card    Pros: Some puzzles are interesting and offering real fun. Early story plot. Letters that appearing in game makeing story more interesting.
    Cons: No need to adjust the deck (except final battle). You can play anything on hardest level. Lots dialogues you want to skip without reading, especially later in game. Story is linear, your choices doesnt affect the story. It is only about what card you keep in deck and what card will "leave" you, and summary narration at the end of game. Many invisible walls makeing game "longer". You don't need to worry about resources, you ending game with zillions of gold. (hardest level). Dont have to craft like 70% of cards, you will win anyway. Camp improvements are mostly meaningless (army limit you dont need to rise, cards you dont need to craft). You will win anyway.    … Expand
  25. ForeverRev
    Nov 9, 2018
    5
    Fantastic story and well-written characters without a doubt. Game is incredibly enjoyable and would recommend for a great and interesting story. However, I will focus on the negative parts of this game:
    - No firm strategy: when you enter battle, you get a hand of random cards with the option to shuffle a few times. Since the cards drawn are all random, there is no decisive strategy to it.    Fantastic story and well-written characters without a doubt. Game is incredibly enjoyable and would recommend for a great and interesting story. However, I will focus on the negative parts of this game:
    - No firm strategy: when you enter battle, you get a hand of random cards with the option to shuffle a few times. Since the cards drawn are all random, there is no decisive strategy to it. The randomness offers a lot of variety without a doubt, but it kills the need of a well-thought out battle plan. Instead, you end up forfeiting and resetting until you get the cards that you just need for the coming battle. There is an ambush-aspect in this game which should have been the only aspect that offer random cards. RNG is most notable during the final battle, where you need those specific cards you'll rarely get.
    - Can't experience it all in a single run: if you prefer to fully experience a game in a single run, then this game is not recommended for you. In certain situations you are presented with multiple choices, however choosing one option will autosave the game after the short narrative ends. Although this forces the player to properly think through every choice, it doesn't offer the full game experience. There is no quicksave and quickload option, meaning you are not able to find out what would happen if you chose option B instead of option A. There are choices that will impact you later in the game, however that is another matter and cannot be changed.
    - Repetitive: this game offers a steep learning curve for new players, but it gets easier to master after that. Once you've got a full grip of the mechanics, done quite a few puzzles and battles, it ends up becoming rather stale. The first few puzzles you solve gives you an amazing feeling, but as you continue to encounter them, it becomes bothersome and pointless.

    - Minor issues: conscripts that are given in abundance when you have no use for that many. Few bugs, none too concerning.

    EDIT: the battle "upper keep" (final mission) is almost entirely RNG-based. You cannot win unless you get those lucky cards, and the opponent doesn't draw a card worth 75 and boosts by 10. Doesn't matter how well you've played, since luck is the only way you'll win and it is frustrating.    … Expand
  26. Jellygrass
    Oct 28, 2018
    8
    As a person who bought the game just because it's from the witcher series,I must say I am enjoying it rather well even though it is a card game which i don't usually play whatsoever. From the graphics down to the game play mechanics and story telling, It is superbly made. I especially like the moral choices which actually enhances the game play more since walking around collecting items isAs a person who bought the game just because it's from the witcher series,I must say I am enjoying it rather well even though it is a card game which i don't usually play whatsoever. From the graphics down to the game play mechanics and story telling, It is superbly made. I especially like the moral choices which actually enhances the game play more since walking around collecting items is what you will be doing most of the time. But, the game is far off from perfect. I do have some nitpicks that really disrupts the pacing of my game for the first half of my playtime. Some might agree with me on this one

    It's the puzzles.Oh god,the puzzles. Im not gonner go in dept about it of it but basically to me it's just trial and error. You keep doing over and over again until you find the right solution and it can be repetitive at times. Finding the solution took me more time than it should for me to advance the game even though the puzzles are optional. I felt like they should have placed it in the middle of the game instead at the end of the tutorial since most players like me are still trying to figure out how the game mechanics works and a unfortunate soul like me stumble into one right after I've finish tutorial. I can't lie but there are some puzzles that are fun and kept me captivated.

    Overall, it is a solid game made from CD Project and a great time waster if you have extra hours on your hands. The price I would say is just right with the additional 4k graphics pack( which is free btw) and oh, just remember that this game is a little different from the gwent you used to play in the Wither 3 The Wild Hunt. To me, it's just gwent with extra 'steps'    … Expand
  27. BLADELING
    Nov 16, 2018
    6
    It's a visual novel with card game elements. Not even remotely a RPG.
    interactive audiobook component: trivial plot offset by a very charismatic protagonist.
    Card game component: some interesting puzzle but casual mechanics.
    it's very similar to a mobile game, it could be a GWENT DLC.
  28. Brickthegrim
    Dec 1, 2018
    10
    Why a ten? This is an indie game made by a AAA developer. So although the gameplay is simple the graphics are beautiful and the story was engaging and phenomenal. The characters are well developed and interesting and the world they are in that of the Witcher lore is always nice to learn more about.

    I would highly recommend this game even just for the lore and story. My single only    Why a ten? This is an indie game made by a AAA developer. So although the gameplay is simple the graphics are beautiful and the story was engaging and phenomenal. The characters are well developed and interesting and the world they are in that of the Witcher lore is always nice to learn more about.

    I would highly recommend this game even just for the lore and story.

    My single only complaint is after a while I created an overpowered deck and the game just got to easy.    … Expand
  29. mrdollar
    Nov 25, 2018
    10
    I love how the jealous hates rate this game as 0 meanwhile marking garbage Fallout 76 or Mass Effect 4 as 10. If your chosen series sucks at least don't try to harm others by faking the score.
  30. passionne
    Jan 7, 2019
    9
    Good :

    - awesome mix of a cards game and a RPG, where strategy is key - many actvities : puzzles, normal battles... - numerous cards types : units, artefacts... - good story - many choices with consequences - charismatic characters - 50 h of game - voice acting and sound excellent - The Witcher world - brief apperance of Geralt, Gaskier... Bad : - The map graphic quality    Good :

    - awesome mix of a cards game and a RPG, where strategy is key
    - many actvities : puzzles, normal battles...
    - numerous cards types : units, artefacts...
    - good story
    - many choices with consequences
    - charismatic characters
    - 50 h of game
    - voice acting and sound excellent
    - The Witcher world
    - brief apperance of Geralt, Gaskier...

    Bad :

    - The map graphic quality is not great but not really a problem since the map is not used too often, compared to the time we play the cards.

    Conclusion : one of the best games I have played. The developer and editor CD Project Red is really talented : the 3 Witcher games were jewels and Thronebreaker is the worthy heir. Other companies like Electronic Arts and Activison which make bad or average games should draw from them.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

23
#23 Best PC Game of 2018
31
#31 Most Discussed PC Game of 2018
37
#37 Most Shared PC Game of 2018

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 51 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 47 out of 51
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 51
  3. Negative: 0 out of 51
  1. CD-Action
    Feb 13, 2019
    80
    Thronebreaker is a feast for those collectible card games fans who don’t care for online play or tournaments and instead would like to follow a well-written story that introduces an array of vivid characters and presents you with tough choices. [12/2018, p.56]
  2. Worth Playing
    Jan 18, 2019
    90
    Overall, Thronebreaker is a revolutionary game within the CCG genre, and I hope other companies take note. With a 40-hour story to support an engaging card game, there's nothing else quite like it, and its unique nature is to its overall benefit. It's made me realize how much I can and do enjoy card games when they're done right.
    Read full review
  3. Gamer.nl
    Jan 2, 2019
    85
    A singleplayer version of Gwent, that sounds boring, but it actually is amusing. It's written very well and tactical it knows how to challenge a gamer.
    Read full review
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