Publisher: Cephalofair Games
Designer: Isaac Childres
Year: 2017
Players: One to four
Ages: 12+
Playing Time: 60-120 minutes
Genre: Euro-style fantasy adventure game
Retail Price: $140.00
Gloomhaven is a smartly executed and engaging title that mixes board game mechanics with RPG style storytelling to create a one-of-a-kind player experience — just don’t expect to jump right in.
What makes Gloomhaven shine is the collection of individual jewel case sized cardboard boxes and corresponding sealed miniatures. Each box contains a unique character with a complete deck of abilities and a small backstory. Certain characters can only be unlocked with the completion of certain objectives, adding a reward element to campaign progress. The miniatures accompanying each character are beautiful and would be a fun canvas for any miniature painter.
Player-characters take on the role of adventurers whose deeds will alter the course of life in the city of Gloomhaven, for better or worse. Each character has both a long-term personal goal, randomly selected at the start of the campaign, as well as an individual goal for each quest, also selected at random. Characters have encounters, earn experience, collect gold, and level up while pursuing their objective, often fighting quite a lot of monsters along the way.
Gloomhaven feels like a world, and makes sophisticated use of branching non-linear narrative paths. This, in turn, gives it an almost sandbox feel, an impressive feat for a board game. This is great for players who value agency in their game experience, but may 
Mechanically, Gloomhaven is intense, especially on a first playthrough. There are a number of fantastic explanatory videos, but they’re forced to cover a lot of ground and, as such, can be lengthy. It may be advisable to select a designated gamekeeper, someone who volunteers to watch, learn, and understand the rules and mechanics ahead of time and who agrees to teach fellow gamers as play occurs. Once acclimated to the system, however, it quickly becomes intuitive, increasing the ease and speed of play.
Among the game’s greatest achievements is the support for a variety of play styles. Each character has been carefully designed to encourage different tactics and techniques, meaning that no matter how you like to adventure, there’s a character for you. Likewise, Gloomhaven leaves itself open for players to inject as much or as little life into characters as they see fit. It’s possible to play as a straight board game and have a wonderful experience, or instead as a kind of facilitated tabletop RPG; it comes down to which style suits your group’s tastes best.
A word of warning, however: Gloomhaven is not for your group into light, casual games. While hardcore board game fans will find no end of delights in the title, more casual gamers quickly become frustrated. Managing your resource pool during dungeon encounters and coordinating with other players is imperative and having a player who’s checked out will only serve to frustrate the rest of the table. Likewise, the initial complexity makes Gloomhaven a poor fit for younger players or those who have difficulty with sustained attention spans. It also bears mention that the game requires no small amount of space; a standard card table and TV tray barely fit the required contents and left no room for food or drink. This is the kind of game that calls out for a dining room table to be fully-experienced.
For dedicated gamers looking for a mix of interesting mechanics, great worldbuilding, and engaging storytelling, Gloomhaven is hard to beat. While younger and more casual gamers may struggle, and a rules refresh may be merited if you’re planning to take significant time away, this is the perfect title for those who enjoy Dungeons and Dragons or other mechanically dense fantasy games.
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