There's Dungeons & Dragons, and Then There's Gloomhaven

Gloomhaven is arguably the best board game on the market right now, but it has been notoriously hard to find at retail. To make matters worse, resellers put an already expensive game completely out of the reach of most budgets. Fortunately, it appears that supply is beginning to catch up with demand. At the moment, both Amazon and Walmart have Gloomhaven in stock for $139.99. Shipping is free in both instances, which is significant because the game weighs 20 pounds.

Basically, if you can't find a good DM for Dungeons & Dragons or don't want to invest the prep time, Gloomhaven is a great alternative. The games are very different mechanically, but there is definitely a crossover appeal here. Ideally, you'll be able to play both because, as many have pointed out, they scratch a different itch.

Still, $140 is certainly expensive for a board game, but it's a lot better than the reseller prices that routinely hovered in the $200 range. Plus, if you look around the Internet for reviews, you'll find that the game is likely worth the investment. Just take a look a the description:

"Gloomhaven is a game of Euro-inspired tactical combat in a persistent world of shifting motives. Players will take on the role of a wandering adventurer with their own special set of skills and their own reasons for travelling to this dark corner of the world. Players must work together out of necessity to clear out menacing dungeons and forgotten ruins. In the process they will enhance their abilities with experience and loot, discover new locations to explore and plunder, and expand an ever-branching story fueled by the decisions they make. This is a legacy game with a persistent and changing world that is ideally played over many game sessions. After a scenario, players will make decisions on what to do, which will determine how the story continues, kind of like a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book. Playing through a scenario is a cooperative affair where players will fight against automated monsters using an innovative card system to determine the order of play and what a player does on their turn."

• For 1-4 Players
• 60-120 minute playing time
• Co-operative play Euro-inspired tactical combat
• Every turn a player will play two cards out of their hand. Each card has a number in the center, and the number on the first card played will determine their initiative order. Each card also has a top and bottom power, and when it is a player's turn in the initiative order, they determine whether to use the top power of one card and the bottom power of the other, or vice-versa

If you do pick up Gloomhaven, you might want to keep an eye out for the removable sticker set. The pack contains "a replacement for every map, achievement, and enhancement sticker in the core game, and also includes replacement seals for character boxes, secret envelopes, and the town records book."

An expansion called Gloomhaven: Forgotten Circles is also on the way, and can be pre-ordered here. It includes 20 new scenarios that take place after the original Gloomhaven campaign.

Note: This is not a sponsored post, but if you purchase one of the awesome products featured above, we may earn a small commission from the retailer. Thank you for your support.