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Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

GWENT vs Magic

GWENT 4.8★ · Free to download · ⚠ stale 75
Winner Tie
Magic 4.6★ · Free + IAP 70

Magic: The Gathering Arena offers a more established and complex TCG experience, but GWENT provides a unique and often praised gameplay style for Witcher fans, with fewer reported 'pay-to-win' issues.

Full reviews: GWENT · Magic

GWENT, based on The Witcher 3's card game, is lauded for its unique strategy and free-to-play accessibility, though it faces criticism for technical issues and departures from its original format. Magic: The Gathering Arena, while offering a deep and engaging TCG experience, is frequently criticized for its 'pay-to-win' mechanics, large update sizes, and server stability issues.

Head to head

Gameplay Experience tieR2R3R10R11
GWENT Many GWENT players praise its unique and strategic gameplay, finding it fun and engaging, with some even preferring it to the original Witcher 3 version R2R10. However, some long-time fans are disappointed by changes from the Witcher 3 Gwent, feeling it's been ruined or is too different R3R17. There are also complaints about rigged decks and balancing issues R11R13.
Magic Magic: The Gathering Arena is celebrated for bringing the complex and fun MTG experience to mobile, with many users enjoying its depth and strategic possibilities . However, a significant number of players express frustration with what they perceive as manipulated card draw algorithms and unfair matchmaking, leading to a 'pay-to-win' feeling R60.
Technical Performance and Reliability tieR5R6R9R13
GWENT GWENT users frequently report severe technical issues, including constant disconnects, crashes, inability to open card packs, decks disappearing, and problems with matchmaking R5R6R9R13. Some users also note long wait times for matches R6.
Magic Magic: The Gathering Arena also suffers from significant technical problems, including frequent crashes, freezing, server disconnects, and issues with loading screens . Many users complain about large, frequent updates that take up significant storage and require the app to be open R59R65.
Accessibility and User Experience tieR1R15R29R63
GWENT GWENT is criticized for lacking accessibility features for visually impaired users R1 and some find the interface less intuitive R15. There are requests for controller support R29.
Magic Magic: The Gathering Arena is noted for being difficult to learn due to its complexity and numerous mechanics, making it less mobile-friendly than some competitors R65. Users also complain about small text R65 and the lack of real social interaction or chat, which detracts from the game's community aspect R63.
Value and Monetization edge: GWENTR4R20R42R60
GWENT GWENT is generally praised for being free-to-play and allowing players to obtain everything in the game without spending money R20R42. However, some users feel it's 'pay to win' due to encountering opponents with expensive, broken decks R4.
Magic Magic: The Gathering Arena is heavily criticized for being a 'money grab' and 'pay to win' R60R66R75. Players feel pressured to spend money, and the game is described as stingy with rewards and wild cards, making it hard to build competitive decks without significant investment R60R102.
Support and Updates tieR6R11R13R81
GWENT GWENT users report issues with updates changing card numbers and provisions, impacting existing decks R11R13. There are also complaints about a lack of support R6.
Magic Magic: The Gathering Arena frequently releases large updates, sometimes weekly, which often fail to address existing bugs like crashes and server issues R81R90. Users express frustration that developers prioritize new content over fixing core problems R81.
Pick GWENT if

You are a fan of The Witcher universe and enjoy strategic card games with a unique twist, appreciate a game where you can get content for free, and are willing to overlook occasional technical glitches R20R42.

Pick Magic if

You are a long-time Magic: The Gathering player or are looking for a highly complex and deep TCG experience, and are prepared for a steep learning curve and potentially significant investment to stay competitive .

Evidence note: Both apps have a significant number of negative reviews related to technical issues and perceived unfairness in gameplay mechanics, despite their high lifetime ratings. The 'pay-to-win' sentiment is much stronger for Magic.

Frequently asked

Is GWENT truly free-to-play?
Yes, GWENT is free to download and many users report that you can get everything in the game without spending money R20R42.
Why do some players dislike the mobile GWENT compared to Witcher 3?
Some players dislike the mobile GWENT because they feel it's significantly different from the version in The Witcher 3, with changes to cards and mechanics that they believe ruin the original experience R3R17.
Does Magic: The Gathering Arena have 'pay-to-win' elements?
Many Magic: The Gathering Arena players strongly feel it has 'pay-to-win' elements, citing manipulative algorithms, stingy rewards, and the need to spend money to acquire competitive decks R60R66R75R102.
Are there frequent updates for Magic: The Gathering Arena?
Yes, Magic: The Gathering Arena has frequent, often weekly, updates that can be very large (around a gigabyte or more), requiring significant storage space and time to download R59R65R90R107.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 110 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R2] GWENT 5/5 · US Dope game: Very easy and fun
  2. [R3] GWENT 3/5 · US Fun but cards aren’t as good: Games okay but was expecting Witcher 3 Gwent and got somthing else entirely so I uninstalled rather play Gwent on Witcher 3 it’s okay if you want Gwent but haven’t seen a card over 10
  3. [R10] GWENT 5/5 · US Incredible!: And I don’t even like these kinds of games normally haha.
  4. [R11] GWENT 1/5 · US Rigged deck: The fact that you keep doing updates and changing the numbers of the cards and how long this game‘s been out, shows your incompetence and now that you’re learning players do the same thing in your updates shows how players can rig decks and you don’t even realize it do not play this game. You’ll find out fast. I’m uninstalling this game.
  5. [R5] GWENT 5/5 · US good game: but it stop
  6. [R6] GWENT 3/5 · US Dr. Strange: Could have more support. Sometimes there’s no matches or you wait a long time before match starts.
  7. [R9] GWENT 1/5 · US Not Working: Not working 2026
  8. [R13] GWENT 1/5 · US I was a fan: Played this game on and off for a while Lost of glitch’s but it was fun They nerfed monster so now I can’t use my deck because of provisions cost I’ve been using the deck for years I bought the season pass and got 63 keys because of rewards and went to use them they glitched and I got no rewards but my keys were spent anyway Game is not fun anymore sadly
  9. [R1] GWENT 1/5 · US Not Accessible: Based on the type of game, there's absolutely no reason that it shouldn't be accessible for people who are visually impaired using voiceover
  10. [R15] GWENT 1/5 · US Interface: Make it a bit more minimalistic and intuitive. · translated
  11. [R29] GWENT 2/5 · US Controller support: Requesting backbone controller support
  12. [R63] Magic 1/5 · US Pitiful!: MTG Arena is a polished-looking dumpster fire that somehow manages to make Magic less fun, less social, and less creative. Magic: The Gathering was built around interaction. Arena strips that away and replaces it with a handful of childish preset phrases, as if players are too fragile to handle normal communication. No real chat, no real social element, no personality. Just silent games
  13. [R4] GWENT 2/5 · US Pay to win, play to lose: It would be super cool to get 1 match in against someone who hasn’t spent $600+ on completely broken decks
  14. [R20] GWENT 5/5 · US CARE FOR A ROUND OF GWENT!?: Better than I expected it has the same feel of TW3 gwent and more in this game ,plus you can get everything in this game for free
  15. [R42] GWENT 5/5 · US It’s fun: I’m very casual I’m not spending money, and I’m still having fun!
  16. [R60] Magic 1/5 · US Want to love it but it’s impossible: What a complete disappointment. This game is genuinely fun, which makes it even more frustrating to see it ruined by what feels like a terrible algorithm that's more focused on squeezing money out of players than providing a fair experience. The gameplay increasingly feels designed to push you toward spending instead of rewarding skill or time invested. The dev
  17. [R81] Magic 1/5 · US Constantly putting out updates instead of fixing anything: The week before and during July 4th have had 4 separate patches to download but yet the game crashes at least every third match claiming no internet while my internet connection is fine please fix the severs before releasing bs
  18. [R17] GWENT 1/5 · US Why: Why would you ruin Gwent like this? It’s not anything like Gwent in the Witcher 3 game... like not even remotely. And the card game originated in the Witcher 3. You ruined the card game with this.
  19. [R66] Magic 2/5 · US Too pay heavy: It costs to play the card game as much as yu gi oh duel links for a game that could sell just cosmetics
  20. [R75] Magic 1/5 · US A money Grab. 0/10: If you wish to play magic, stick to in person. Unfortunately, this game does not use a random number regenerator at all for card draw. It is a manipulated game and is not a true traditional shuffle and play game. This makes the game integrity very questionable. Players are constantly bombarded with payments prompts, and that doesn’t even start with the gameplay. One of the wors
  21. [R102] Magic 1/5 · US Terrible matchmaking! INCREDIBLY EXPENSIVE!: Prepare to get constantly curb stomped! If you are new to the game you will be crushed. Want to try and build a deck? Forget it!Starter decks are god awful unbalanced trash. They are used to farm wins by experienced players who will only play the top decks. You have to win with a deck so you can get the trash cards. Good luck. This game is incredibly st
  22. [R59] Magic 3/5 · US UPDATES!!!!!: I absolutely love this game so the only reason I gave it 3 stars is because of the updates and how much memory the downloads take up.
  23. [R65] Magic 3/5 · US Good. But massive: This thing is huge. You can download the app normally but it’s so unoptimized that its patches are gigabytes of local storage necessary to play the game. Wizards needs to learn how to optimize space a little. The game is pretty good otherwise, just not super easy to see visually. Text is so small. Not as mobile friendly as something like hearthstone, and obviously way more compl
  24. [R90] Magic 1/5 · US Weekly HUGE updates gig+: What the actual heck? Weekly updates that are around a gigabyte + like….. that’s absolutely dumb. Half the time I get an error loading the game. The other half I get disconnected….. The game servers are pretty bad. Like it’s a cool phone game and is free. But such a let down bc it would be decent if the game worked properly and all you had to deal with is the dumb broken
  25. [R107] Magic 3/5 · GB Downloads: I dislike the constant content downloads that require you to keep the app open and be on the screen the whole time of the update that can take up to an hour of sitting there doing nothing

Synthesized from 110 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store