Gloomhaven (Second Edition)

The one that started all of this, gone back over with a finer brush.

A band of mercenaries with their own reasons for being in Gloomhaven takes jobs, opens doors that should have stayed shut, and gradually works out what is going on underneath the city. This is Isaac Childres revisiting his 2017 original with Drew Penn and Dennis Vögele after years of community feedback: same world, same story, cleaner rules. Setup is faster, the rulebook has been rewritten, and a good deal of fiddliness has been sanded off.

Each turn you play two cards and use the top half of one and the bottom half of the other, which is the whole design in a sentence — everything is a trade-off, and your hand is also your health. Run out of cards and you are finished for that scenario, so the real resource is time rather than hit points. Characters retire, unlock sealed boxes and change the campaign permanently. At 3.7 weight it is lighter than Frosthaven and the better entry point of the two.

Perfect for: Groups who have said "same time next Thursday" and then, remarkably, meant it.

1–4 players | 60–120 minutes per scenario | Age 14+

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