The breakout star of The Witcher 3 was in-world card game Gwent [official site], which proved so beloved that a full, free-to-play standalone spin-off was greenlit. It includes, of course, the all-important multiplayer mode, which The Witcher 3’s strictly vs AI version lacked. Our Adam declared nu-Gwent to be “one of the best games at E3” when he had a fiddle with an early build back in June, and I do trust that boy’s taste (I’m only saying that because he’s away at the moment so won’t read this). CD Projekt planned to release a beta next month, but sadly it’s slipped. … [visit site to read more]

Not much moving, not much shaking in last week’s top ten best-sellers, as the after-effects of the Steam sale are still felt and, without many major new releases or breakout hits, there’s that creeping sense of PC games in 2016 returning to business as usual. HERE COMETH THE BRANDS. We do get one new entry though, and it’s a pretty one. … [visit site to read more]

No new indie millionaries this week: we’re still looking at the consequences of the Steam Summer Sale, so the weekly list of best-sellers is entirely devoid of new releases. Hordes of people who’d sat on the fence about 2015’s big games jumped on the discounts, and that means many familiar names. Of course, you discerning bunch went and bought all the games we recommended instead, didn’t you?

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A shorter than usual weekly Steam best-sellers chart this week, primarily because almost everything is explained simply by the words “Steam Summer sale”, but partly because I’ve already spent a chunk of today compiling a big list of Sale recommendations to help our beloved readers’ purchasin’ decisions. You can have a pithy and/or explantory line about each game next week, promise. Meantime: these are the ten best-selling games on Steam last week. Expect next week’s to look wildly different, thanks to the ongoing and regularly changing sale. … [visit site to read more]

The Witcher 3 s second and last expansion, Blood and Wine, does a fantastic job of bringing the series to a close. CD Projekt clearly wanted to finish Geralt s story with a flourish and this is evident in so much of the expansion s design.

It s also a conclusion that brings the series full circle, although it does so in a way that, in typical CD Projekt fashion, is much subtler than you might expect from a game of this ilk. There s no getting the gang back together for a round of drinks and to reminisce about the Good Times (well, there s a little bit of that if you know where to look), and no revisiting of important locations from earlier games. Instead, Blood & Wine looks back at the series as a whole through its enemies.

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The Witcher 3 is a wonderful game in a very literal sense. It is full of wonder, from the startling entities that stalk its darkest corners to the stories that echo through the ages, and even the alternately bleak and brilliant weather, which I enjoy on an almost metatextual level, appreciating the techniques that paint storms and rainfall onto the world. I could spend hours just watching the skybox transform. It’s also grounded in reality of a sort though and shot through with an understanding of folklore, superstition and historic belief systems.

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Can a free-to-play standalone version of a card game within an RPG really be one of the best games at E3? I played Gwent [official site] yesterday and I’ve been thinking about it ever since.

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That there Ian Video Games was telling the truth, you know: The Witcher 3‘s card game Gwent is being spun off into its own standalone game. Gwent: The Witcher Card Game [official site] will be free-to-play, and is due to enter beta in September.

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You’ll never guess what Ian Video Games heard down at the trademark and patent office! Oh, yes, of course someone said “This is the daftest idea I’ve ever heard”, you’re right there. His patent does make a certain sort of sense if you think about it, though. Inevitably some Frankenstein will make a perpetual motion machine by strapping buttered toast to a cat and hurling it off a roof – but how will they safely attach the toast to the cat? Cushioned heat-resistant toast straps. Always thinking ahead, that Ian.

Anyway, no, the other thing he heard: someone filing a trademark for a standalone version of Gwent, the card game from The Witcher 3.

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It’s yer regular round-up of what shifted the most copies on Steam over the previous week. Last week, Total Warhammer was dark master of all it surveyed, but a bug-eyed old friend has displaced it after just one week…

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