What's going on?

"The necromancer is dead and the city is safe... for now. But there's still work to do. The city guard want us to check out the sewer, or there are rumors of a dragon in the mountains. And we've still got those cultists to follow up on."

"I'd like to go after the dragon. I need to visit the mountains for... reasons."

"I'm good with whatever, but give me a few minutes to level up. And if we're dragon hunting, I think I want to buy some blessings."

This could be the table talk for any fantasy RPG. In this case, it's players of Gloomhaven, Cephalofair Games' Euro-inspired dungeon crawler, trying to pick a new mission. Each scenario will test the planning and tactics of the players, providing rewards to level up characters, unlocking new scenarios, and advancing characters toward retirement (which opens up a new character class to play). Up to four players cooperate, with the game providing instructions for the monsters.

My earliest reviews on this site were for Fantasy Flight Games' then-new dungeon crawler, Descent. For those familiar, Descent was built as a one vs. team game, an Overlord opposing heroes

What's in the box?

If you're going to be let down by Gloomhaven, it's not for lack of stuff. The box weighs in at 22 pounds and is stuffed (good luck getting it all back in- my box lid rides 2-3 inches above the bottom). There is the rule book and the scenario book (with 95 scenarios). Seventeen characters are available, with eighteen plastic minis for them (a tantalizing mystery from the start, why does one character get two minis?). There are 34 different monsters included, each with a stat sheet and four, six, or ten cardboard standees. There are also 13 boss monsters, each with their own stat sheet and standee.

A dungeon crawler needs a dungeon, so Gloomhaven provides 30 double sided map tiles. There are also over 100 overlay tiles which can add traps, terrain, or even reshape rooms.

What about cards? Full size decks provide town and road encounters between scenarios; personal quests for characters to aspire to; and random dungeon cards if the 95 scenarios aren't enough for you. Smaller decks include attack modifiers for each player and the monsters; the item deck with over 100 unique items and copies of many; ability cards for the monsters (mostly unique, but guards will share one deck whether they're city, bandit, or inox guards, same with archers and shaman); and battle goals, providing a bonus for achieving something or playing with a handicap in a scenario. Each character also has a unique set of action cards and modifiers.

What's the story?

Gloomhaven is fantasy, but it doesn't trace its pedigree to Tolkien and D&D. There are no elves, dwarves, or orcs here. A single dragon appears. There aren't even any spiders, but wild life does show up in bears, hounds (pretty close to wolves), and snakes. There are undead, in the form of skeletons, called living bones and featuring an extra arm; zombies, called living corpses, powerful and slow; and ghosts, as living spirits. Gloomhaven also has demons, but they're really more like evil elementals of earth, fire, frost, and wind, along with sun and night. Going further afield are the Harrowers, swarms of insects taking a humanoid shape that may be friend or foe. Oh, and there are oozes. You'll love to hate oozes as they divide and multiply. Playable species, there are of course humans. The vermling may be recognizable as a rat-person race, though psychic powers seem part of the package. The quatryls are like gnomes crossed with grey aliens and are the main users of technology in setting. The strong race role is filled by the inox, a nomadic race of large, furry humanoids, with three horns on their heads. The orchids are cave-dwellers, who have crystals growing out of their bodies. And the savvas are powerful rock people with a glass in their chest which holds the element they've mastered.

The classes, at least the starting ones, may bear some resemblance to D&D classes, though the connections are more strained the further you go. Although each character is presented as a (species)/(class), some classes could be universal. The scoundrel, a fast moving class focused on loot and doing extra damage to enemies near their allies, similar to a D&D rogue, could really be any species, but the character we have is a human scoundrel. Likewise, the brute seems similar to a fighter, having high hit points and defense with a focus on melee attacks, and might be any species but here it is an inox. The orchid spellweaver might be any magic user, fragile with strong area attacks. The quatryl tinker has to stretch to fill the cleric space, with its cards describing different inventions, though it does have some notable healing abilities. The last two starting characters are much more species-specific. The mindthief could be a psionic rogue, but its abilities to summon rat allies marks it uniquely a vermling. And the cragheart only works as a savvas; a savvas who fails to master an element has their glass chest shattered, but they can still use their natural bond with the earth.

Characters are mercenaries, come to the city of Gloomhaven and given work by a valrath merchant (a species notable for their demonic appearance, like a D&D tiefling, but are considered well-mannered and known of their diplomacy). From there, new scenarios will open up, revealing several storylines. Some quests will cut off others, while other side quests may emerge from chests and random encounters. Besides the main storyline, each character chooses between two random personal quests. These may involve accumulating wealth, slaying certain types of creatures, or visiting different regions. When a personal quest is completed, that mercenary is retired. Usually, one of the 11 locked characters will become available. The player makes a new character from the unlocked box, or any box previously unlocked (including the retired character class). The new character gains free perks based on how many retirements the player has had, and starts at a level based on the prosperity level of the city.

How does it play?

The scenario is the main part of the game. A scenario typically has three to six rooms, though only one is revealed to start. There may be special rules for the scenario (crypts typically inflict curses are the players, for example) or new rules may appear during exploration (that door you opened set off an alarm, and new enemies will spawn as reinforcement each turn). Upon completion, players receive bonus experience, and may get additional rewards or have new scenarios opened up. Most scenarios require revealing and defeating all monsters, but there are also escort quests, escape quests, and scenarios where you just need to defeat a boss.

Each player assembles a hand of cards, set by the class to be between 8 and 13. At first level, there will be level 1 cards equal to the hand size, plus three X cards available. At each level 2nd-9th, the player will gain a new card from a choice of two, as well as from any cards not selected at previous levels. The hand size never changes, so these new cards will replace earlier cards (which are still available; although higher level cards are typically more powerful, lower level cards may be more useful in some scenarios).

The player action cards have a top and bottom action, with attacks usually on top, and movements on the bottom. Each turn, a player will choose two cards, and then choose the initiative number on one of their cards. On their turn, they'll play the top action from one card and the bottom action from the other card. Herein lies one of the biggest differences from other dungeon crawlers, and what might turn off players. You may want to just walk over and hit this monster, but your cards may not allow it. You can always default your bottom action to a Move 2 (move two hexes) and your top action to Attack 2 (attack an adjacent monster with a base damage of two).

Usually cards are discarded after played. Some cards will have persistent effects, or charges (gain +2 on your next four attacks). Some stronger cards are Lost, removed from the game until the next scenario. You can also Lose a card from your hand, or two from your discard to prevent a single instance of damage. At the end of any turn, you may declare a short rest, recovering all discarded cards except for one random card that is Lost. Or you may declare a long rest instead of playing cards, taking no actions except to gain a little healing and recover all discarded cards except for a card you choose to Lose. In this way, the cards serve as timer. Without using any Loss cards, a character with a 10 card hand can play five rounds before needing to rest. Now with nine cards, they can play four more rounds, dropping to eight cards, and so on. Using stronger cards and preventing damage has to be balanced against how long the scenario will take. Running out of health or cards means the character is Exhausted, but other players can still finish the scenario. There are no dice in Gloomhaven. For each target of an attack, you pull a card from your attack modifier deck. This 20-card deck mostly consists of -1, 0, and +1 cards, with a -2 and a +2. There is also a Null card (causing 0 damage, but allowing other affects such as Poison to occur) and a x2 card, either of which causes the deck to be reshuffled when drawn. As a character advances, they'll improve the deck by removing negative cards and adding in more beneficial cards. The deck is also modified during play by the addition of Blessings and Curses. These mimic the x2 and Null cards, but are removed after drawn. Monsters share a single attack modifier deck, which is only modified by Blessings and Curses.

Each group of monsters draws an action card which sets their initiative and dictates their actions. Usually this is some combination of moving and attacking, but some monsters can summon, buff, or heal. When executing its turn, each monster will Focus on the nearest character. If the route is blocked, a monster might do nothing for the turn. Learning the monster AI and how to minimize attacks is one of the keys to success in Gloomhaven.

Many campaign games have a simplified introductory scenario. Gloomhaven does not. Although the first scenario falls on the easier side of things, a group can still wipe out on it. Part of this is coming in without any play experience. Without a sense of pacing, it's a lot easier to spend Lost cards early and exhausting your character. There are rules for reducing the difficulty level at any time. The level ranges from 0 to 7, affecting the monsters' health and damage, along with trap damage, the value of looted gold, and the bonus experience for success. Standard level is the average level of the characters, divided by two and rounded up. So a first level group would face a level 1 scenario at normal difficulty, but could down shift to level 0, or go up higher for greater risk and reward. If you're playing solo, you're expected to play at a level higher than normal, but without the higher rewards; an option rule opens up communication between players, and while not recommended, it would have a similar effect on scenario level.

Playing with others

Co-op games can run afoul the Alpha Player problem: one player dominates the game, turning it into a solo game where the other players just implement their instructions. Gloomhaven combats this through secret information. You're instructed not to reveal the names of the cards you're playing or their exact effect. Likewise, your initiative is secret until everyone reveals their cards. You can certainly discuss strategy, but it's supposed to be vague. "I'm going early and I'll try to kill the wounded elemental" is fine. "I'm going on 18 and I have an Attack 4 to kill the wounded elemental" is right out.

Gloomhaven also fights the Alpha Player with self-interest. Slain monsters drop gold, but looted gold is not split among the party; these are mercenaries putting themselves first. So maybe you want to focus a little more on what gets you gold, so you can get a better item back in town. You'll also have a Battle Goal, kept secret from the party. If you need a monster present at the start of each round, you may decide it's better to bash down the next door rather than a slow mop-up of the current room. My experience is these work, along with there just being so much information to keep track of. I know what's in my hand, and I've got an idea what my partner can do. But I'm not keeping track of his hand, so the most I can do is suggest "It'd be great if you can take care of this monster this round" or "I'm bleeding out, if you have any healing please send it my way."

Is this a legacy game?

Is Gloomhaven a legacy game? My short answer is No, my long answer is Yes, BUT... Board Game Geek defines Legacy Games as "A legacy game is a game that gets permanently altered after playing it.". For me, a legacy game adds new rules and makes permanent changes. Most importantly, there is no going back. In Pandemic Legacy, after playing April, you can't put the rabbit back in the hat and easily go back to playing in February. I'm not saying this is good or bad, and I'm quite fond of Legacy games. But, Gloomhaven doesn't meet my qualifications.

So yes, there are permanent changes, but nothing that can't be turned back. As new quests are unlocked, you add stickers to a map board, which makes it interesting to look at but could be tracked with paper. Likewise, there are stickers for achievements, but these could also be tracked separately. Eleven of the characters are in sealed boxes, but you could stuff them back in (a note, the community is very good at not spoiling these. On Reddit, you'll get modded for using the actual class names, so they're referred to based on the class symbol). The most permanent change are Enhancements, a system described in the rule book but not initially unlocked. As written, Enhancements improve character cards with stickers and persist; one reason to play a character that's already been played is to take advantage of previously assigned Enhancements. I'd argue this too can be worked around; I played about half the campaign with one group, before resetting and restarting. I'd used card sleeves and attached the Enhancements to the sleeves, so resetting just meant replacing the sleeve. In digital Gloomhaven, they've implemented non-persistent Enhancements, cheaper than the book prices, but only good until retirement. My understanding is the designer preferred this but wasn't sure how to implement it for physical pieces.

In a case of bad iconography, many of the Road and City event cards have a symbol that implies destroying the card after use. Per the rules text, it just means removing the card from the game, so another area where permanent change is avoided. What Gloomhaven is is a campaign game. You won't finish it in one session. Your characters will grow in power and discover new things. The town will likewise grow, with events, scenarios, and retirements contributing to the town's Prosperity and unlocking new items. There is also a Town Records book, sealed until the first retirement.

Should you buy?

Gloomhaven is at the time of this writing the number one rated game on Board Game Geek. It's one of my favorite games and I have sunk hundreds of hours into it. So should you buy it? Well, maybe. There are balance issues. I don't think they're bad, and trying to find perfect balance between seventeen classes each with around 30 cards is going to be tough. But, someone playing the Brute may find they just can't keep up with the other characters. Or sometimes characters will present a false choice. A key feature of the mindthief is Augments, powers which provide a persistent boost to their melee attacks. I think the intent is that you switch between these often. Right now you Muddle your enemies, a little later your attacks provide you Healing or Shield. But the best Augment by far is the Mind's Weakness, which gives a flat +2 damage on attacks. Summons are another area where the game expects them to be more impressive than they are. A summoned ally will fight for you, but it uses the monsters' rules for choosing a target. The result is a summoned ally may throw itself against a foe it can't hope to hurt, or run into trouble and get killed off quickly.

There is a learning curve. As stated, the first scenario doesn't hold your hand; although simple for Gloomhaven, it can still be overwhelming for a new player and can be lost. For some, that will motivate them to try again and get it right. For others, "I spent an hour on this thing and we didn't get anywhere? Forget it!" (even in defeat, you do keep gold and experience earned, so there is still progress). Also, you will make mistakes. Usually the best response it to chalk it up to experience and move on. (among common mistakes- using the modifier cards out of your character box instead of the standard modifier deck; ripping up cards; treating the Null as a miss when it just means 0 damage; not common, but I have seen reports of people treating potions as single-use items, instead of once per scenario) The card system may be frustrating to people. As I mentioned, someone who just wants to move and attack is not always going to be able to do that. Or being in perfect position for a card... except that card is already in the discard pile.

I do think the unique characters and cards are one of the strengths of the game. You'll have to take my word that there are some very cool classes locked away. But the starting classes mostly have some special mechanic. The spellweaver starts with the smallest hand size, but they also have a unique card that recovers all their lost card. The result is they can blast away with their devastating area spells, lose them and then recover and play them again. The mindthief has their augments, which, even though there is a Best One, that card still means they can default to an Attack 4 at any time, which is pretty potent at low levels. The cragheart is able to create and destroy obstacles, reshaping the battlefield. Even beyond these unique features, any class gives access to some combos that you'll feel very good about pulling off.

In the negative column, Gloomhaven is expensive. Even discounted, you're paying over $100, very steep if you aren't sure you'll like the game. But, there are two cheaper alternatives. Jaws of the Lion is a trimmed down, introductory Gloomhaven. There are four new classes and fewer quests, but it also retails for a lot less and will teach you the game. Or, there's a digital version of Gloomhaven on steam. This features the full campaign and all the characters (Jaws of the Lion is also available as an add-on). There's also the Guildmaster mode, an alternate campaign mode used in early release. Either of these options brings the Gloomhaven experience at a more budget-friendly price.

So those are my thoughts and cautions. Gloomhaven is not going to be for everyone, but I rate it a 5/5 and think it provides an awesome dungeon crawling experience.