Gloomhaven

[Anderas]

Say, is anyone of you people in gloomhaven?

How does it play?

[DullandRusty]

I have not but have talked at length with my wife's brother who plays it. He loves it. It's all card based for movements, attacks, etc. I could be wrong, but from what I understand each card has a value that leads to exhaustion if not playing your hand right. The story is supposed to be epic. The heroes you play reach have their own goals. Once accomplished you retire that hero roll a new one. New classes become available as you play. It's a big investment, a big amount of time, but seems like big fun. if I hadn't invested so much to make an expanded heroquest meaning homebrew cards,3D terrain lots of other minis I would have probably bought it. But since I have spent much time and $ including painting time too on hq, i focus my play on hq instead.

[Weltenlaeufer]

No firsthand knowledge here but I came across this when I researched the game a while ago. Shut up and sit down makes really cool and hilarious reviews

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKc5XhvkC8M

And while you are at it, you gotta check out their dune review....I was dying.

[Dezziedc]

I've had a few games.

It starts off appearing very complex. However as you play, the strategy of the game becomes much clearer. And it is very much about strategy and working together with the other players. You do have cards but you have to choose the cards (based on the character you choose) you want to take with you to the dungeon - so you don't get to take all of them with you into the dungeon. And then some of those cards will work well with other players cards and with your own cards. So you have to choose them wisely and use them strategically.

To get through a dungeon isn't easy (first dungeon my mate died and I just snuck through by the skin of my teeth). And the game itself is epic - it takes forever to get through a single dungeon (we did one a night as it can take hours depending on the number of players), so you have to be committed to play. Setup takes a while so allow enough time to get organised up front.

It is fun to play, but as DullandRusty said, it's a big time commitment.

**UPDATE - just watched the Shut Up and Sit Down Review - that's exactly what it's like. Even down to the player numbers. We just had 2 players most of the time and it was manageable. When you add more it starts to get convoluted. Still fun, but you have to manage much more stuff. Outside of that, he explains the game really well. That's exactly how it's played.

[BigDaddio]

I haven't played it yet, but own it. I've recently established a gaming area with a dedicated table where I can safely leave a game set-up in case I cannot devote enough time in one sitting to complete it. Gloomhaven is one of the games I'd like to try sooner rather than later. Hopefully before I receive Frosthaven at least lol.

[Anderas]

ok, long set up time and long game play. Long game play is ok. Set up time, I don't like set up time

I've just backed Frosthaven. So I have one year at least to set up our hobby area. It's in hibernation since corona; then my wife came and made her office inside. But corona should be over some time soon, right?

[laukiaerkko]

Hey guys,

Gloomhaven is the second best game I have ever played. After HeroQuest ofcourse It is more of a Euro-style board game rather than a dungeon crawler. You have a lot of knowledge about many things that will happen before you start your turn and then almost all of the information is laid out when the initiative is revealed. I personally like chucking dice even if it is more random than a Euro-inspired dungeon crawl that is heavy and thinky. Sometimes you just need to chill and kill some goblins. If you play gloomhaven solo I will guarantee you will make mistakes and not notice it. Simple games that give the adventure feel like HeroQuest get to the table quicker and are less thinky.

I would still recommend Gloohaven if you enjoy HeroQuest even if it doesn't have the traditional fantasy races. It has a similar feel albeit being more Euro-y.

Cheers,
Erkko

[Orc26]

I just started playing the new Gloomhaven prequil on TTS with a friend. (He owns a copy and we would be playing in person if not for other reasons... I don't want people to think I have an eye patch, peg leg, and a hook)
-I really like it, except that I have the worst luck with the modifier deck...
-The card mechanic feels really hard to explain, but takes about 3 seconds to demonstrate. Then there is just the figuring out good strategies with your character, the other player(s), and your "deck" of cards.
-I really like that it isn't boring carbon copy fantasy and that is one of its strongest points.
-After one level you will know if the game is for you or not though. Even though it is 100% a dungeon crawl, it doesn't feel like any other dungeon crawl and if you don't like the feel you will know right away. (Our first game was with a 3rd player who told us he didn't like how he knew exactly what the enemies were going to do on their turn before their turn happened.)
- It also takes a minute to get used to the "table talk" limitations. (You can say I'm going to quickly attack that guy with a strong attack, but cannot say I'm going to attack that guy with a 4 attack at initiative 14)
Over all I recommend it but if someone didn't like it I wouldn't believe them crazy. Also there are so many parts and I would hate to actually set up the table and not be using a TTS mod that literally does all the work.

[Kurgan]

I played it once with three other people. It was complex, but I could see playing through a few quests you'd start to get the hang of it. Looks like a lot of content in the (HUGE) box if you wanted it to be a regular thing. You could easily sub in your own miniatures for this game too and spend some extra time tricking it out if you wanted. I prefer dice to cards, but that's me. Keeping track of all the various cards takes some getting used to. Of course I'm comparing this to games I've played for years, so starting anything brand new is going to take some time.

[Lemmeron]

I have played about 15 ? scenarios and retired a few characters and unlocked others. I love how different each plays, and how difficulty scales with party level. Most quests are well balanced and can be won or lost on a poor choice. Really like playing the rogue

it is a big game, alot to set up, basically you have to set it up BEFORE everyone arrives to play because it takes a while to get it all sorted