From a long running series of games spanning across multiple themes and collaborations, just launched their brand new title set in one of my favourite worlds. The Witcher is a series with dense lore spanning multiple games, books and films which makes it perfect for spin off experienced from another perspective but Geralt’s.
What is Reigns?
Reigns is a charming choice driven story telling deck builder. The mechanics are very simple, players will swipe left or right to make their choices and appease one of 4 ‘factions’. Easy right?
Well this faction in Reign: The Witcher are Human, non human, sorcerers and monsters. The choices players make appear to be simple but juggling the factions likes and dislikes proves to be more difficult. It’s not just about keeping the bars high as filling up the ‘human’ faction to the brim means Geralt is invited to ball and swarmed by fans resulting in his death.
But Geralt is not quite the main character here, that will be Dandelion. The witty bard that everyone loves to hate is building up his fame by singing about the famous Witcher’s adventures, and with every ballad sung and tavern filled with cheer. Players will level up their fame which will inspire the bard to come up with new stories.
A theme that fits the gameplay perfectly
When the bard gains inspiration for a new story players will unlock a new card that will be permanently added to their deck. Every run players will draw 3 cards which essentially determine what the song will be about. Balancing tasks such as ‘making a troll smile’ and ‘support the scoia’tael’ can prove very difficult together as the human faction will quickly decline in their presence. Those cards don’t only provide a structure and a goal to the run but will also provide benefits or negatives that players will have to factor in.
Most of the run is reading prompts and accordingly swiping left or right to balance out the Witcher’s standing. But you can’t have a Witcher title without monster slaying and this title delivers. Out of all the bars players will want to fill up the monster bar high as that leads them to an encounter that, well requires slaying a creature.
I must admit I had trouble with the grid based ‘rhythm’? Mechanic that give me Crypt of the Necrodancer vibes. As blocks indicating the players and enemy actions are falling down the players’ task to avoid damage and instead dishing it out. Among runes appearing that allow Geralt to use signs and special attacks coming from the monsters, this becomes a fantastic break from the relaxing text based game play.
My conclusion
Overall I think Reigns:The Witcher combines the two franchises extremely well. Having minimal experience with Reigns before, this title makes me want to re-visit their other titles, and a must try for fans of either. The characters, the world and the music fit the gameplay and the humour perfectly. Strong recommend, especially on handheld devices such as the switch or mobile phones.
