This is on sale. Is it likely to be enjoyable for someone playing largely solo? Not that I am adverse to multiplayer, only that timing, etc. rarely matches up.
I have been playing it exclusively solo, and I am obsessed with it. I think it is one of the most enjoyable games I have ever played.
I think the people disappointed in the game, it’s not due to playing solo, it’s that the game is not quite what it appears to be. It looks like a dungeon crawler, and certainly has elements of one. But in order to succeed, there’s a heavy dose of chess-like thinking, planning moves turns ahead of time.
If you decide to dive in, you will need to do the tutorial to get the basics, but as soon as that is done, I recommend switching to the main campaign. Better to learn the game on a very easy level of the campaign than on Guildmaster mode. The campaign is the original game which has charm and atmosphere, and almost all missions are very well designed. Better to lose some early missions there and learn the real game, rather than come away with some misguided impressions from Guildmaster, which is kind of a pale imitation. (And losing a mission entails no penalty. Characters do not die, they become “exhausted” and you get to keep any gold and XP. You just give it another shot, and can adjust things like party makeup and equipment and difficulty level before trying again.)
Danke!
I’d say so. I bought it to playtest it for my online covid gaming group, and I’m really enjoying solo play—more than playing the physical version solo, definitely.
It’s a (largely and admirably) faithful translation of the tabletop game. I notice considerable differences in solo digital play vs. group tabletop play, but these are down to how I interact with the game, rather than how the digital version is implemented.
CAN’T … RESIST … TBS …
Couldn’t resist. I started a new campaign with the original rules, and a different starting party – Cragheart, Spellweaver, and Mindthief.
I haven’t gotten far enough for the enchantment rules to matter, but wow, what a difference making Cragheart and Spellweaver central to those early missions. Almost like I bought a whole new game. Several missions have been MUCH easier with this configuration. But at least one was much more difficult. And it’s interesting how much less dominant the Mindthief is this time around. I had never stopped to think just how important the boring Brute was to the Mindthief being able to take over the game.
A question for more experienced players… On average, how often do you get to retire characters? Early on, I thought I’d read posters saying they were getting characters retired in ten or so missions, sometimes less. I can’t see how that is possible. I know I haven’t seen all the possible retirement goals, but only a couple appear to me to be things that could reasonably happen in that sort of time frame.
It really depends on the quest.
Some just happen naturally, sometimes really fast (kill 20 elites with a 4 mercs for example will hit that fairly fast on a damage dealing character). Some require visiting certain locations. Those can also go really fast or take forever. You can mostly control those. Yet others are like “do 15 scenarios” well that’s gonna take a bit, but it’s also going to happen in a predictable manner.
Ten missions is probably about right for an average. There will be outliers and if you beeline for a retire it can go super fast or if you actively avoid one it can never happen if you don’t want it to.
Okay, I am probably continuing to be dense on AI movement, but here goes another question, which is a mild spoiler:
Replaying Forgotten Crypt, the first mission where you are keeping Hail alive as she heads towards the altar several rooms away. She has movement 2, and begins 5 tiles from the first door.
First turn, I block the one tile that she can reach that would allow her to be just three tiles from the door, and I also manage to block all three tiles that would allow her to be four tiles from the door. So no movement of 2 will improve her distance from the door. So… she moved two tiles laterally, such that she is still 5 tiles from the door.
Is there any explanation for this?
My Gloomhaven group has been on pause since the pandemic started, but as I recall blocking all the closer tiles doesn’t stop movement. A monster will still move along the shortest path to a target, even if it’s the long way around.
Hmmm… Makes sense.
But two turns later, Hail did not move at all. She could have moved one tile closer to the door, but the door itself was occupied by one of my characters… I’m having trouble wrapping my mind around two seemingly conflicting principles: 1) If blocked from the target, then move even if the move is not getting you any closer, but 2) If the target itself is blocked, do not move at all.
The trouble in my mind is the meaning of “blocked.” The true target is several rooms away. So the real target is not blocked. But the doorway is considered the target because it is the furthest tile visible at present? But that isn’t true either, because the door was open at the time. There were visible tiles beyond. So I guess doorways are just considered a special case. But how about if the single-tile-wide hallway beyond the doorway had been blocked by my character? Would that have stopped Hail in her tracks, too? It is very murky in my mind.
Can’t remember the scenario, does it say what the NPC’s focus is in the scenario description?
It says “Protect Hail until she reaches the altar”
Basically if she can’t find a path to the door she’ll stop.
Scott and I had to look up how she worked because she was driving us nuts, but she does follow rules.
I found a post someplace about it, I’ll see if I can hunt it up.
Edit: I think I found it, but it’s a Steam discussion so I’m just gonna post images.
IIRC for us it was the monsters in doorways that was screwing us the worst.
You can never really let a monster stand or get into a doorway because she’ll just freeze and end up dying. And of course you need to clear a path and the rest of it. She targets doors until the altar is revealed also she always needs all of her movement I seem to recall (could be wrong on that). But if she opens a door, it’s gonna be a bad time most of the time.
Goilveig’s #2 does not seem to be true when he says "Players can easily block her in if they are in her path (since she won’t pathfind around allies, only around enemies).
The image below shows the first room at the end of the first round. Hail’s starting position was at the very bottom of the screen, and the door is at the very top (not where the art puts an arch to the “northwest”) Hail started five tiles from the door and ended five tiles from the door. She was going around my characters, who had blocked off all tiles she could reach with a move 2, that would have brought her closer to the door. Which was my initial reason for surprise and confusion.
I’m finally getting started on Gloomhaven digital after my wife and I finished the board game campaign back in 2018 (I think). I did the tutorials to refresh my memory. They are really well done. The UI is very clear and the graphics really capture the feel of the board game - but better. I’m kinda excited to start the campaign.
I think I recall people recommending playing 3 characters in this version to increase the tactical option. Is that true? Does it stay manageable juggling 3 characters?
I think 3 characters is probably easiest on average. 4 increases dungeon difficulty too much and 2 can sometimes be very difficult if you don’t have the right characters for the dungeon.
I was all set to use the original ability enhancement rule that is consistent with the board game, but the updated rule has rebalanced costs and may make it so I can get more overall enhancements. I’m not sure how often I’d be using the same class for permanent enhancements to matter that much. Anyone rolling with the temporary enhancements and happy with that choice?
Yep, I am. No regrets so far.
Boy was I humbled in my first mission. When my wife and I played the board game we lost maybe 3-4 scenarios the entire campaign. I figured I was primed to be successful for my digital campaign, but I had all 3 characters become exhausted with 2 enemies left. I guess I wasn’t aggressive enough.
Edit: I switched up my party from Brute, Scoundrel, and Mind Thief to using a Tinkerer instead of Mind Thief and won easily. My stupid Brute drew a x2 damage modifier and killed the last enemy a turn too early so I couldn’t loot the chest. Now I’ll have to play that one again. Can’t have unclaimed chests laying around!
Hey, glad to see you have jumped in. And yeah, that first mission is tough, especially if you aren’t aggressive enough.
I’m surprised, though, at yet another report of doing better without the Mind Thief. I consistently find him to be my irreplaceable party member. Combination of stuns (especially if using Frigid Apparition) with consistent 4+ melee damage (plus Fearsome Blade to push enemies into traps in that first mission). Time after time, he’s my go-to guy.