So I never played GWENT. As in NEVER. EVER. Have no IDEA what it's like.

But I see this new game advertised... Thronebreaker... and even though it mentions you get some GWENT cards when you buy the game and it mentions that the battles are done through cards (like GWENT) it doesn't really make clear that actually playing and understanding GWENT could be a rather big deal.

So I get to my first battle... and as usual another new game with NO MANUAL... and I have absolutely literally no idea what I'm doing in battle. Now I can't say that about any other RPG I've ever played. There have been others where I was at somewhat of a loss perhaps as to why things weren't going as well as I'd hoped (hit chances.. etc.. etc..) but never have a played an RPG where I felt so out of sorts. I quite literally just played the cards with the biggest numbers on them. And won. If that's the case... and I don't really think it's that easy.... but if that were the case... why bother with battles at all? Just have an action call for a battle and have both sides draw three cards and the highest draw wins. But as I said I feel sure it's not really that easy.

It's just so frustrating to try and play new games today with half assed tutorials and NO MANUAL.

Remember The Witcher??? (Manual... great manual). Oh.. remember The Witcher 2?? Yeah.. manual. Oh.. anybody ever heard of that big fairly new game The Witcher 3 The Wild Hunt????? Umm.. yeah... manual.

Thronebreaker... fuhget about it.

You could've put on the store page that knowledge of GWENT was helpful/required to play Thronebreaker. Or... you know.. you could have included some sort of detailed information explaining the battle mechanics and every aspect of the cards and how they're used... sort of like those old things that used to come with games years ago that included detailed information explaining how the game was played.. even what EACH SCREEN AND EACH BUTTON on each screen did. Yeah.. they were called manuals.

I'm not really sure where Thronebreaker fits into the The Witcher series (here at gog/CDPR.. not talking about the books) as it's quite different from the other three Witcher RPG's and seems to be really some sort of expanded GWENT game. Sort of a GWENT game with adventuring I guess.

The art style works.. for what it does.. but it's not my favorite. It almost felt like I was playing Hero of the Kingdom albeit with a bit more RPG elements... but nowhere near the RPG elements of the other Witcher games.

I'm not going to hate on the game (or gog or CDPR) as that's not why I'm posting. I'm posting to just please ask AGAIN... that you understand that there is some percentage of players.. and i would say a significant portion although I probably wouldn't say a majority.. that really do like and APPRECIATE the work and results of a well done and included manual. And I understand printing costs make things expensive so NEVER, EVER, PRINT IT. Just include electronic versions for those that want them (and those that don't can ignore them.. no skin off them at all) and we can print them ourselves (and incur the costs of printing).

I'm not likely to pick up the game anymore. I know you don't care... you've got my $29.99... but it's also a good bet that if there is a Thronebreaker 2 you won't be getting that $29.99... (or whatever) as I'm just not interested in games that I can't understand what numbers mean, buttons mean, GAME MECHANICS mean. And unfortunately that's almost EVERY NEW GAME SOLD these days.

Guess maybe my game buying days are over. Oh well.. I've got enough to play three lifetimes anyway. Hate to think I'm going to miss the next great game though. I've been lucky to have experienced 5 games that reached the top of my all time great games list. Was hoping maybe for 5 more. (NOTE: One thing all 5 of those games had in common..... yeah... they included manuals... )

I'm done. Now all you fan bo... err.. guys can, you know, hate on me instead of what my criticisms are. The internet never changes. Enjoy.

Maybe set it aside for a few days and then check to see if a wiki pops up. Might also be some tips coming in the game forum here, again after a bit of time.

Good luck.

I agree that all games should have in-depth manuals that explain everything about the game's mechanics, which used to be the standard.

On the other hand, I disagree that games should have simplified/dumbed-down mechanics for the sake of making all players be able to understand everything about every game.

With depth comes complexity. Therefore, deep games are always going to have a learning curve to them. That sucks, but it's the nature of the beast. Better to leave it like that than to make every game a dumbed-down shallow affair just because some players will be alienated by deep/complex games (I mean that in general, I'm not saying that's what happened in the case of the OP).

You seem to be having a bad day. I say this, because I doubt a game lacking a manual, was the thing that puts you off buying games. Just give it a day or two, and then you'll realize, that in the grand scheme of things, it's not that big of a thing.

About games having manual, I've discovered about myself, that I've only read manuals that have sections adding to the lore of the game. Most games(99%) have tool tips to explain the UI, and that's enough for me. And gameplay mechanics have pretty much been exhaustively explored. There is very little innovation these days, and that's usually addressed via an in game tutorial.

Also, maybe I'm miss-remembering, but this has to be the most negative thread you've ever started.

I love the old game manuals. I devoured the lore and artwork in those glossy pages during the times in between my gaming sessions while I was supposed to be "studying". I was still technically studying hahah

Geez man, this game is not that hard... don't even think about trying to play something like Dark souls or Don't starve without an internet connection so you can check stuff on wikis then...

Interesting... post above mine was a blue one few minutes ago... thread also has the „staff posted“ sign... but now it was changed to a normal account...

You can try GWENT's tutorial, it explains some of the mechanics. I don't yet have Thronebreaker so I have no idea how its tutorial is.

Account name also changed.

Shitposting at work, nice!

Strange, the blue text is gone. Mysterious, mysterious...

Just a shame they couldn't remove the staff reply icon. ;)

Have you never played a card game in your life? This game doesn't sound like it was intended for you at all. The tutorial explains that hovering the mouse over a card reveals its abilities through shorthand terms, and right clicking the card will bring up a detailed page explaining what those shorthand terms mean.

lol, wtf
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/thronebroke?staff=yes

I suspect GOG didn't have a clear guidance to staff on how to interact in forum and twitter