I am really interested in this, and I’m not sure why. Just looks deep. I’ve never played the board game, but I’m thinking of picking up the Steam version. How would I determine if this is for me? Is there a summary or a wiki I should look at?
I’m in a similar boat, though I actually own both Gloomhaven and Jaws of the Lion. Any time I crack the rulebook some small part of me dies and I wake up hours later having blacked out. I’d still love to find some way to dance with this big, beautiful thing.
Started playing the computer game for the first time with a Cragheart and a Tinkerer, normal difficulty. 6 missions in, no mission failures yet (one victory on the very last action before the second char exhausted), but not a lot of XP – still level 2. Both are moderately on their way to retirement, however.
Do you like complicated “combat” puzzles on a hexmap with enough randomness every turn so your plans are always being messed up? Go for it. If that sounds frustrating, perhaps give it a pass. It’s hard to play casually on your own with no other good players to take up your slack.
The boardgame manual is available online, maybe give that a perusal? Though the scenario book and character classes make up the actual game, so you’d only see the complexity without the payoff.
Yeah, if you are like me, it is sooo tough to predict what games I will love and which I will loathe.
But with Gloomhaven, I think the things to keep in mind:
It’s kind of chess-like, in being stylized and bloodless.
It’s going to appeal to calculating minds, who find it fun to ponder things.
It’s full of complications and complexity with competing goals (defeat the enemy, gain XP, gather gold, add perk points – goals that can frustrate each other).
It’s likely to involve a certain amount of re-playing scenarios (the game is structured around losing some… that’s why your characters do not die, they become “exhausted”).
It’s got a lot of the same kind of RNG as poker – the game is about figuring out the odds and acting accordingly, but that only means actions are more likely to succeed, not that they always do.
Also to keep in mind, the game has been out in TT for a long time, so almost any rule question can be Googled. And the game has a lot of atmosphere. But it is slow moving.
I was going to answer Ike, but you stole all of my points before I came up with them.
As a PC strategy gamer AND board gamer, it ticks a lot of boxes.
It sounds wonderful and I may just pick it up. My concern is that I have limited time for the next few weeks (moving, &c) and no one to play it with. I’m guessing it’s a crazy time sink. Is it fun to play solo or do I really need to go make friends?
I played it with a friend but seems perfectly playable solo.
I’m having a blast playing solo, but you do have to invest a lot of time, particularly when you are just figuring out the correct way to play and have to replay the first adventure 3 or 4 times.
I’d imagine playing with other people would take longer, if you’re really cooperating. Having to negotiate with other players as to who is going to buff what, and at what speed, seems like it would be very difficult.
Scenarios take way longer with other players, especially if you play by the non-solitaire rules and you can’t see each other’s cards and communication is very limited.
I mostly play solo, but did have some fun playing Jaws of the Lion with a friend over the summer.
The rules say you aren’t really supposed to coordinate at that level of detail. The intention is to cut down on analysis paralysis. So the conversations should be something like ‘I’m going to try to move to the next room’ not ‘I have a card with initiative 35 that is going to let me move to the next room and then I’m going to range attack for +3 and muddle 2 targets’
I never followed that rule
How is the multi-player implementation of the steam version? I’m guessing each player needs to have his own copy of the game.
You’re not allowed to say a number out loud or use language that can give a number away or name the card you’re going to play or stuff like that. “My initiative is half my age” is right out. But you can say something like “I’m gonna stun that elite scout” or “I’m planning to go fast this turn” or “please don’t block the doorway” and that kind of communication and planning naturally takes much longer with multiple players.
I bought it, largely due to my poor impulse control. Another question! Is there a story? Or is this mostly a tactical battle game?
There is a story and a definitive end mission of the campaign, but there’s also quite a lot of side missions.
To be honest, playing through the board game one mission a week, along with all the branches in the story, made it pretty hard to follow. It might be easier in the digital version, but I have my doubts.
I found a bug that reliably hangs the game when I load my save, and I think there bug reporting page is broken. So I think I’m done with this for now.
What’s the difference between the campaign and the guildmaster mode? Game says I should try guildmaster mode first. Any thoughts on that?
So far I’ve played through the first half dozen or so tutorials. Its a great looking game. It seems like it has some really deep and satisfying systems. What does character progression look like? Do you get more cards or do your abilities get stronger? What role does gear play?