The Witcher: Old World Expansions Review

After a successful Kickstarter, Go On Board has released their tabletop board game The Witcher: Old World to retail. Based on the series of books by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, which has also seen the release of several video games and a Netflix TV Series, the successful Kickstarter also included several expansions that add options to the gameplay beyond the core box. If you've already checked out our review of the core The Witcher: Old World game, then read on because in this article, we'll have a look at the 3 available expansion packs.

We've covered The Witcher franchise extensively on the site, and you can read our review of The Witcher 3, and the spinoff games Thronebreaker and Gwent.

What Is The Witcher: Old World?

The Witcher Old World is a tabletop board game, set hundreds of years before the events we can read about and watch (though not as far back as The Witcher Blood Origin). Each player takes on the role of a Witcher from 1 of 5 different schools and race to be the first to collect 4 trophies. You can read about the core game in full in our The Witcher: Old World review.

How Many Expansions Does The Witcher: Old World Have?

At retail, The Witcher: Old World currently has 3 available expansion packs. There were some other expansions available during the Kickstarter (Ciri and Lost Mount), but the only way to get hold of these now is to buy a Kickstarter copy in the second-hand market.

What Does The Witcher: Old World Skellige Add To The Game?

The Witcher: Old World Skellige expansion adds an entirely new area to the game, including 3 islands to explore and new exploration and event cards, which also include additional islands that can be discovered. Travel to the islands takes place using the ship miniatures included in the expansion, and each time the players travel by sea, the difficulty increases and Dagon may emerge for the players to battle. A Dagon miniature, along with all the cards required to use them are included in the expansion.

The Skellige expansion offers a great deal in the small package. I love how the artwork on the map matches the main board where it fits and exploring the islands adds to the replayability of the core game.

What Does The Witcher: Old World Mages Add To The Game?

The Witcher: Old World Mages expansion adds 5 new Mage characters for all, or some of the players to use instead of Witchers. To use a Mage, players take the play board and miniature and use the Mage action cards rather than the Witcher ones. The main difference with Mages is that they have Wisdom instead of Defence and they have access to Energy, which they can use to activate additional effects on their cards, rather than the initial damage soak that Witchers have with their Shield stat.

Mages adds some interesting ways to experience the game, adding a little to the replayability of the game, but there's not the same depth that the Skellige expansion has.

What Does The Witcher: Old World Legendary Hunt Add To The Game?

The Witcher: Old World Legendary Hunt expansion adds a new win condition to the game. The expansion includes the miniatures and components for 7 legendary creatures, one of which is chosen for the game, and defeating it becomes the only way to win. This does add to the replayability of the game but focuses the game entirely on combat. Each of the 7 legendary creatures does offer a real challenge, as each has a special ability that hampers the players, and also 4 additional unique attacks. The Ice Giant for example makes the players discard 4 cards from their deck during their first turn attacking it, and one of the Cyclops' unique attacks makes players discard a strong attack card or take 4 damage.

If you enjoy rushing to buff up your combat prowess, and the combat focus of The Witcher: Old World, then this will add at least 7 additional games to the experience, but they can also be combined with the other expansions, providing a lot of extra replayability, if you enjoy the extra complexity of multiple expansions. 

What Are Our Final Thoughts On The Witcher: Old World Expansions?

Out of the 3 currently available expansions, Skellige adds the most to The Witcher: Old World in terms of depth. Mages changes up the player experience slightly and Legendary Hunt creates a combat focus to the game. All of them are interesting and add enough to be worthwhile individually, and combining them adds replayability, but Skellige adds a lot more to the game across the board with the new area to explore new events, and a new monster to fight.

Should I Buy The Witcher: Old World Expansions?

If you've played The Witcher: Old World and loved it, then Skellige, Mages, and Legendary Hunt are worthwhile purchases. If you only want to pick up 1, then I would start with Skellige as it adds the most, and still stays within the core gameplay. If you've played all the Witcher schools and want some variety, then Mages offers that, and if you really love the combat, then Legendary Hunt really focuses that experience. If you haven't played The Witcher: Old World yet, unless you're getting the expansions in a bundle deal, then I would hold off until you've played the core game and see which part you enjoy.

The copy of The Witcher: Old World Expansions used to produce this preview were provided by Asmodee UK.