Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales

Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales is a role-playing video game developed by CD Projekt Red. It is a spin-off of The Witcher video game franchise, and acts as the standalone single-player component for Gwent: The Witcher Card Game. Thronebreaker was released on 23 October 2018 for Microsoft Windows, on 4 December 2018 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and on 28 January 2020 for Nintendo Switch.

Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales
Developer(s)CD Projekt Red
Publisher(s)CD Projekt
Director(s)Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz
Writer(s)Jakub Szamałek[1]
Composer(s)
SeriesThe Witcher
EngineUnity
Platform(s)
Release
  • Microsoft Windows
  • 23 October 2018
  • PlayStation 4, Xbox One
  • 4 December 2018
  • Nintendo Switch
  • 28 January 2020
Genre(s)Role-playing, digital card game
Mode(s)Single-player

Gameplay

In Thronebreaker's 30-hour-long campaign, the player takes the control of Queen Meve, the ruler of Lyria and Rivia, during the events that precede The Witcher video game. As the leader of one of the northern kingdoms, Meve leads a small opposition force who must battle and build alliances to take the north back. The game has a system of choices and consequences that will shift the story (fully voice acted and narrated by an entity called Storyteller[2]) in a different direction or affect the gameplay.[3]

The game world consists of five regions never explored in The Witcher franchise before: Rivia, Lyria, Angren, Mahakam and Aedirn.[4] Exploration happens across a number of large maps with an isometric perspective similar to Baldur's Gate. Queen Meve's army is represented by a customizable deck of cards and combat takes place in matches similar to "Gwent" with a few differences.[5]

Each player takes a turn to play a single card from their hand, or pass and end their turn. Different cards have different values, some have special abilities that interact in many ways. Whoever has the highest total value on the board after both players hit pass wins the round.[6] After a single round, all played cards are discarded and new cards are drawn instead. The goal is to win two of the three rounds.[7]

Maintaining alliances is crucial to the gameplay. The hero cards are present only as long as allies are with Meve and will leave the deck as soon as they depart the party.[8]

Release

Thronebreaker was initially conceived as a single-player campaign for Gwent: The Witcher Card Game,[9] but repurposed as a standalone game in August 2018.[10] It was released on 23 October 2018 for Microsoft Windows and on 4 December 2018 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.[11] A Nintendo Switch version was released on 28 January 2020.[12]

Reception
Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
MetacriticPC: 85/100[13]
PS4: 79/100[14]
XONE: 85/100[15]
NS: 84/100[16]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Game Informer8.5/10[17]
GameSpot9/10[18]
GamesRadar+[2]
IGN9.4/10[19]
PC Gamer (US)81/100[20]
The Games Machine9.2/10[21]
Slant Magazine[22]

Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[13][14][15][16]

The game did not meet the sales expectations of CD Projekt Red.[23]

Accolades
YearAwardCategoryNominee(s)ResultRef.
2018 Global Game Awards Best Story Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales Won [24]
IGN's Best of 2018 Best PC Game of 2018 (People's Choice) Won [25]
Best Strategy Game Nominated [26]
SA Gamer Awards Best Puzzle Won [27]
Unity Awards Best Desktop / Console Game Nominated [28]
PC World Editor's Choice Awards Best Game of the Year Nominated [29]
Best Single Player Won [29]
2019 New York Game Awards Herman Melville Award for Best Writing Nominated [30]
Game Informer's Best of 2018 Biggest Surprise Won [31]
RPG France Awards RPG éditeur Won [32]
German Video Game Awards Audience Award Won [33]
Digital Dragons Awards Best Polish Game Nominated [34]
Best Polish Game Design Nominated [34]
Best Polish Game Art Nominated [34]
Best Polish Game Soundtrack Marcin Przybyłowicz, Mikolai Stroinski and Piotr Adamczyk Won [34]
Central & Eastern European Game Awards Best Narrative Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales Won [35]

References
  1. Dekker, Jacob (28 September 2018). "Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales Is Much Bigger Than We Thought". Gamespot. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  2. Sullivan, Lucas (18 October 2018). "THRONEBREAKER: THE WITCHER TALES REVIEW: "THE NEW GOLD STANDARD FOR HOW CARD GAMES CAN ELEVATE THEMSELVES"". GamesRadar+. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  3. Northup, Travis (28 October 2018). ""Ace in the hole" – Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales review". Gaming Trends. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  4. Aitken, Lauren (4 December 2018). "Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales review". VG247. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  5. Singletary, Charles (3 November 2018). "Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales review - All hail Queen Meve". Shacknews. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  6. Halliday, Fergus (22 November 2018). "Thronebreaker - The Witcher Tales review: More Gwent For The Gwent God". PC World Australia. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  7. Riccio, Aaron (1 November 2018). "GAMESReview: Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  8. Gravelle, Cody (10 December 2018). "Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales Review - Gwent At Its Finest". Screen Rant. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  9. Marks, Tom (27 September 2018). "Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales Inherits All the Best Parts of The Witcher 3". IGN.
  10. Chalk, Andy (29 August 2018). "Gwent's singleplayer Thronebreaker mode becomes a standalone RPG". pcgamer.com. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  11. Robert, Purchese (18 September 2018). "CD Projekt Red dates full Gwent: The Witcher Card Game release, and standalone Thronebreaker adventure". Eurogamer. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  12. Romano, Sal (28 January 2020). "Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales Inherits All the Best Parts of The Witcher 3". Gematsu.
  13. "Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  14. "Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  15. "Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  16. "Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales for Switch Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  17. Vazquez, Suriel (1 November 2018). "Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales". Game Informer. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  18. Barbosa, Alessandro (18 October 2018). "Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales Review - Queen Of Cards". GameSpot. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  19. Hafer, TJ (23 October 2018). "THRONEBREAKER: THE WITCHER TALES REVIEW". IGN. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  20. Savage, Phil (18 October 2018). "THRONEBREAKER: THE WITCHER TALES REVIEW". PC Gamer. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  21. Paschetto, Nicolò (18 October 2018). "Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales - Recensione". The Games Machine. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  22. Riccio, Aaron (1 November 2018). "Review: Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  23. https://www.polygon.com/2018/11/17/18100180/thronebreaker-the-witcher-tales-pc-gog-com-steam-cd-projekt-red-sales
  24. "Global Game Awards 2018". Game Debate. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  25. "Best PC Game of 2018". IGN. 10 December 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  26. "Best Strategy Game of 2018". IGN. 10 December 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  27. Holden, Garth (11 December 2018). "SA Gamer Awards 2018 – Best Puzzle". SA Gamer. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  28. "Unity Awards 2018". Unity.com. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  29. Halliday, Fergus (13 December 2018). "Editor's Choice Awards 2018, Part Four - Gaming". PC World. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  30. Keyes, Rob (3 January 2019). "2018 New York Game Awards Nominees Revealed". Screen Rant. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
  31. "The 2018 RPG Awards". Game Informer. 10 January 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  32. "Awards 2018 : Les choix des lecteurs". RPG France. 29 January 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  33. "STRAHLENDE GEWINNER UND GUTE NACHRICHTEN BEIM DEUTSCHEN COMPUTERSPIELPREIS 2019". Deutscher Computerspielpreis. 9 April 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  34. "Poznaliśmy laureatów Digital Dragons Awards 2019". GRY-Online.pl. 27 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  35. "Central & Eastern European Game Awards announce winners of 2019 – MORDHAU awarded for Best Game". Gamasutra. 21 October 2019. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
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