After almost four years, the newest Reigns game is coming, and this time the card-based royalty sim is centering on Geralt of Rivia himself in a crossover with The Witcher. The aptly titled Reigns: The Witcher has you handle quests on behalf of the White Wolf as you navigate the RNG looking for the most desirable outcome possible.
But there's an important distinction to be made, because although the subject of the new Reigns is Geralt, the narrator is actually Dandelion, everyone's favorite bard. Or he’s mine, at least - and I know a few! Anyway, this means there’ll be a musical quality to your readouts, letting you hum along to the increasingly distressing situations you find yourself in.
Yen, Triss, and Vesemir will make appearances, along with many other names and faces from across the Witcher canon. There are minigames to keep Geralt sprightly, because he’s hardly going to let himself be confined to some cards, is he?
For the uninitiated, Reigns involves assembling runs based on luck of the draw. Your deck includes characters and encounters, and each one requires a singular decision that'll impact your stats one way or another. Collapse is inevitable, but you learn something each time that helps the next run.
Developer Nerial has made several installments so far, including ones based on Game of Thrones and Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Each has distinct mechanics tailored to the setting, and Reigns: Three Kingdoms even included multiplayer. This time, narrative designer Oscar Harrington-Shaw and design director Francois Alliot say the formula is more combat-forward.
"In the fight scenes, we tried to recreate the feeling of the Witcher dancing with a sword around his enemies within the simple format of our game and the swiping mechanic," the devs tell GamesRadar+. "The fights are inspired by Crypt of the Necrodancer, swiping left and right in rhythm to avoid the enemy’s attack while preparing to strike."
Asked how to describe the game to fans of the main RPGs or books, the pair says, "It’s fundamentally a Witcher fan-fiction simulator. You play as Geralt, trying to survive on the Path, but within the songs of Dandelion. So the scenarios which you face stay true to the confines of the Witcher universe; they’re quests which Geralt plausibly could have gone on, but they’re also storylines which Dandelion has written to entertain an audience, perhaps after one or two drinks.
"Players can expect to see humorous riffs on familiar tales alongside brand new adventures! It will feel both familiar and new to anyone who knows this world."
If it looks and sounds like Geralt dies a lot, that's because he does. "He dies a lot, in very creative manners," the devs say. "Each run is revealed to be Dandelion trying to tell a new story of the Witcher, endlessly making up his adventures and his demises."
Reigns: The Witcher will arrive on February 25, so not long to wait. It's going to be a while for The Witcher 4, but at least we have this to help keep us busy.
