When You Don't Want To DM Dungeons & Dragons, There's Gloomhaven
07/06/2018 10:04 am EDT
Yesterday we mentioned that Gloomhaven, which is widely considered to be the best board game on the market, was in stock with a "reasonable" $139.99 price tag at both Amazon and Walmart with free shipping. This is a rare event because Gloomhaven has been notoriously difficult to find without a markup in the $200 range. That having been said, the game has been selling like 20-pound, box-shaped hotcakes, and the price has been fluctuating on both sites. In other words, if you want to get it, don't wait too long to pull the trigger.
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.
Despite the high cost, you'll likely love Gloomhaven. In fact, it's currently the #1 rated board game of all-time according to BoardGameGeek's rankings - a title that has only changed hands six times previously. Do a search around the Internet for reviews and you'll find that the rank is likely well deserved. The official description reads:
"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.
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