I was intrigued but also felt like the options often limited what you could do for the turn. Kind of like magic that hasn’t faded in the air, these elemental and such type of conditions can give players extended powers, which seems cool. I liked the idea of how they worked and interacted with power-ups that you could inspire and then people could use. You play two per turn, using the top combat-oriented option on one card, and the bottom movement-focused option at the bottom. Players have a custom deck that can be upgraded with stickers and they’re double-purposed like what you find in Card Driven Wargames, with two ways to use them. Gloomhaven has some interesting mechanisms, at least starting with the personal deck play options that let you come up with interesting card combos unique to your character. When we got to the rules, things seemed better. The mix of figures for the heroes and cardboard for the monsters just felt wrong.
Hey, Descent 2.0 has made me love detailed boards and cool miniatures while this felt like a throwback to the sad days when Steve Jackson Games tried to get us excited about Cardboard Heroes! Didn’t work on me then, not impressed now (I had similar misgivings about Dead of Winter, which hasn’t been to the table in a long while). There’s a lot of stuff inside that big chest but I was immediately underwhelmed by the boring game boards and cardboard standees for monsters. As the box was opened, the components were an inauspicious start. On Thursday morning, I sat down with his words in mind, hoping they would lower my expectations sufficiently that I would love Gloomhaven. When he got to Gloomhaven, his review was two words: The one bright (dark?) spot here was that the night before, a highly-respected game designer had run through his list of games played and offered his quick opinions. I was considering supporting the Kickstarter even as I had sworn to not buy unplayed games this year (probably not an unfamiliar refrain to you, dear reader). For the most part, the Gloomhyping had worked on me. Having been raised in the business world by the Pixie Dusters at Disney, where one of the key concepts is to exceed expectations, I’m keenly in tune with how important it is to go into a situation with them set properly. Deja vu, game edition.Įxpectations are a tough thing. More control, less randomness, a more serious design. I recall how in the late 80’s, I switched to GURPS from AD&D 1st edition for similar reasons. While my recent investment in Descent 2.0 to play with my son and friends is substantial, maybe Gloomhaven will give me the eurogame-powered alternative that will be worth the switch. I turned up early to my designated time all ready to be dazzled.
As it happens, a big fan of the game had been running daily games for novices, teaching them the game and then running them through his campaign with prescribed characters he had been developing. So, I was quite appreciative when my friend Jeff gave me his slot in a planned Gloomhaven session on Thursday morning. The hype, not shied away from by the publisher, was massive and growing. People I respected had been pushing it hard, talking about how amazing the whole thing was and putting a whole lot of money into the admittedly giant box offered by the publisher. Yet, Gloomhaven was high on my mental list to try because of all the hype that has been spread online about this game for some time, culminating in their highly successful Kickstarter campaign, which just closed. Having a limited time at the Gathering of Friends this year, I had not really made a proper list of must-play games. Gloomhaven here also got a little long.Įditor’s Other Note: If you are a Gloomhaven Groupie and want your opinion validated, Ars Technica has a good article for you. Bless you for your patience with this busy blogger. They’ll come out as soon as I can get a moment to write and edit them. Editor’s Note: Still getting around to my posts from Gathering of Friends 2017 last month.