The Witcher: Old World, designed by Łukasz Woźniak, is a board game developed by Go on Board in cooperation with CD PROJEKT RED. The project was announced on February 10, 2021 and started shipping to backers in the first half of 2023 before being made available through retailers by June 2023.
Set on the 10th-century Continent, players assume a role of earliest, freshly-trained witchers from one of the six witcher schools: Wolf, Cat, Griffin, Bear, Viper, or Manticore. Stumbling on various events via adventure cards, the witchers face monsters, fulfill contracts, and encounter old races. Plus, occasionally, a brawl with another school's witcher may occur on the Path.[1]
The character development is done through acquiring new skills, brewing potions etc. The gameplay is based around deck building, with deck representing health, stamina and combat abilities.[3]
Development[]
The idea first started to transform into a concrete game in 2016, when Woźniak contacted CDPR. The studio said they would license a board game for The Witcher if the right idea came around. After some back and forth between the two, Woźniak showed his prototype to CDPR in May 2020. CDPR liked it, but suggested the game takes place years before Geralt of Rivia to allow for more natural, competitive play with the witchers.[4]
Both studios work on the game, with CDPR's side headed by Rafal Jaki.[5] The game's crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter began in May 2021 and ended in June 2021 with all of its stretch goals met. Apart from the standard game, players will be able to buy the unlocked expansions separately. The game is planned to be released in Polish, English, German, French, Spanish, Italian and Czech.
Features[]
Assets for Kylar, the Cat witcher.
Like previous entries in CD PROJEKT RED's The Witcher franchise, the game has ambiguous moral choices. It lets players construct their own unique decks of cards by choosing from a wide range of abilities: attacks, dodges, and signs. The starting deck contains 10 school-specific cards. Through card synergy, more powerful combos are achieved, prompted by each witcher school's hallmark perks:
- Wolf's Swordsmanship makes them masters of the sword
- Cat's Speed keeps them one step ahead of the opponent
- Griffin's Magic helps them overcome dangerous fights
- Bear's Armor makes their defense nearly impenetrable
- Viper's Venomous Steel enables them to inflict poisonous wounds
- Manticore's Shieldmaster helps them defend from opponents
Quests and battles—chief sources of income, items and skills—aside, bonus coin can be earned via dice poker.[6]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Witcher: Old World board game announced!
- ↑ Rafal Jaki: "There will be a solo variant as well."
- ↑ The Witcher: Old World - game announcement
- ↑ The Witcher: Old World - working with CD PROJEKT RED
- ↑ Rafal Jaki: "I'm the lead on the project on CDPR side and I do hope you will join us..."
- ↑ Collect Coins — and Trophies — in The Witcher: Old World
External links[]
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