GLOOMHAVEN (2017)

PLAYERS	TIME	DESIGNER	PUBLISHER
1-4	60-120 mins	Isaac Childres	Cephalofair Games

GLOOMHAVEN is epic. There is no other way to describe it. Whether you play it on your own or with
friends, this gargantuan force of cardboard tiles, action cards, and plastics minis will consume your
table and your afternoon in equal measure.

Sitting on the top spot of the BGG rankings, it was always a game calling out for attention. And it had mine as soon as I stepped foot into modern board gaming.

An imaginative and unique fantasy setting with a novelty way of moving and fighting using cards, all
while taking me on a multi-path legacy campaign? Where do I sign up?

But it was also an intimidating beast. Expensive and expansive, it was a scary gamble to add it to my collection.

Or more importantly, our collection.

You see I wanted this to be an experience, and if I was going to pay around £100 for a box that nearly
filled one Kallax shelf by itself, I’d want my partner in gaming to be interested as well.

Of course, after we fought our way through the awesome JAWS OF THE LION it was a no brainer; we wanted more! And GLOOMHAVEN did not fail to deliver. With our training wheels off, we ventured
further into the world Isaac Childres had shared and we loved every minute.

I went with the Cragheart, while my ‘eager to smash everything in sight’ fiancé
went with the Brute. And we got straight into the story, arriving at the town of Gloomhaven and
punching rats and bandits with equal glee.

At the time, this was the closest we got to D&D, and we played our characters as just that. Each
scenario would see us create more backstory for our little plastic avatars. Some pairings got on better than others. Some character decisions may have cost us a scenario. But we were both lost in the world and having the best time together.

And it kept getting better.

🎲

Of course, many people are put off by the undaunting task of setting up this game. There is a lot of cardboard to get out of the box and set up before you can even take your first turn.

But for me, that was part of the ritual. A quiet Sunday morning would see me setting things up ready for the day ahead. And it would be a day, because it was more efficient to set up and play several scenarios. Four, five, maybe six scenarios in a day was just how we loved spending time together.

Some people complain that missions got repetitive, and that is a little true. Most of the game mounts to nothing more than ‘start here’, ‘get to there’, and ‘crush everything that gets in your way’.

Sure, some tried to mix it up, especially in the late game, with squares you had to stand on to open
doors, and enemies with special rules. But we didn’t long for complexity. We wanted to pull off
impressive combat combos or die trying. That’s what this game gives.

The fun of playing as we did, just the two of us, made every session an occasion of ride together or die together. My mistake was our mistake. My glory was our glory. We cheered when the other
pulled off an amazing kill, and we commiserated when the other missed an opportunity due to poor initiative.

And the scenarios were just one half of the diamond that this game is. Because finishing missions was good, but what came next was great.

From spending gold on new equipment to levelling up and gaining new cards, we loved the after
game as much as we loved each session of wading through foe after foe.

The joy of getting a new card and showing my fiancé what I’d be able to do on our next mission
made her smile as much as I was. It was Christmas at least once every time we played this.

We felt like we could play GLOOMHAVEN forever.

But all good things come to an end.

🎲

Despite how big the GLOOMHAVEN box is, and despite all the amazing stuff it contains within, it
doesn’t last forever.

57 scenarios (or 27 days of playing) later and we got to a satisfying conclusion.

Did we ‘complete’ GLOOMHAVEN? Not in the sense of playing 100% of the content. We still had
mini’s sealed away in boxes and missions undiscovered. But our story had its rightful ending.

At £1.37 per hour of fun, we got a good return on our investment. We never had a bad time with the game. Our losses were opportunities to learn and improve, while some characters that
started off a bit rubbish slowly became favourites (before we felt unexpectedly sad at their
retirement).

But it wasn’t the joy of completing the adventure. It was the fun memories that we shared together. Thousands of gamers play and enjoy GLOOMHAVEN. And we all follow the same
story book. But that 57-scenario adventure was ours. It was a unique experience that we’ll always
look back on with fondness.

Of course, we were still hungry for more, so we gave FORGOTTEN CIRCLES a go. But like a spin off to your favourite TV sitcom, it didn’t provide the same joy as the original. So we stepped away and agreed that the expansion wasn’t for us.

And there was another beast on the horizon. Something bigger and potentially more amazing
than GLOOMHAVEN. We cried out for more, and @cephalofairgames heard us.

We have FROSTHAVEN, but have only delved in a little so far. It’s a return to the intimidation we
once had for its older sibling.

For now, GLOOMHAVEN holds my top spot, and it holds it firm. The only sadness I have is that we can never go back. The wow and wonder of discovery now lost.

GLOOMHAVEN is a game, but it’s also an experience. The more you let yourself fall into its embrace, the more it will give back to you. While it’s not for everyone, for those who like it as we did, it’s an unforgettable adventure.