Gloomhaven – Review

Our Score: 9/10

In Gloomhaven tactical-RPG and dungeon-crawling are combined in the famous board game’s digital version. Your fate will undoubtedly be the same whether you are driven to Gloomhaven by the call of adventure or by a passionate yearning for riches that glitters in the dark.

The TTRPG Gloomhaven is great, and Gloomhaven on Steam closely matches its original form. With possibly a few more side encounters than what are included in the board game, the storyline, the characters, and everything else remain largely the same.

Furthermore the Solo Scenarios: Mercenary Challenges DLC is a digital rendition of the Solo Scenarios board game expansion. Take on 17 brand-new, meticulously constructed missions created by Gloomhaven Board Game creator Isaac Childres. Every circumstance offers a different reward. But there’s a catch—you can only finish each task with its unique mercenary!

Each lethal scenario is built on the advantages and disadvantages of a certain mercenary, and the prize is suited to them. You have time to improve your talents. Because the situations are accessible if the necessary mercenary has completed the Story Campaign and reached level 5. Additionally, the tale scenarios for that character might help you obtain the Guildmaster’s goods. The Solo Scenarios may also be finished independently and imported into the hosts’ or your own subsequent session by using your existing multiplayer save. While an alternative, you may watch in real-time as your pals fail miserably!

Digital Dream

The fact that players don’t have to set up the board, remove the opponents from their decks, mix them, or keep track of health and condition tokens all enhances the Gloomhaven experience on Steam. Yes, you lose the physical part of Gloomhaven. But if you play the game alone on Steam, you can expect to finish a mission in as little as 20 minutes. As Compared to the at least an hour required to set up and play the physical edition of the game. In my years of playing tabletop games, I almost always choose physical over digital games, but the ease of Gloomhaven on Steam allows me to play Gloomhaven more frequently and efficiently.

The entertaining features you’d expect from a digital adaption are also included in Gloomhaven on Steam. Including attack animations, music, alternative character skins, and difficulty adjusters. Which, once more, are amazingly similar to the difficulty adjusters in the board game.

Excellent elements include interactions, plot development, mission choice, visiting the merchant, and city events. The menu panels make a lot of sense, and it’s wonderful to follow along with the story as it’s being read to you at the same time by a deep, calming voice. Players are effectively drawn into the story by the narration and images that emerge on the screen.

Even if you and your pals aren’t in the same room, the multiplayer is fun and may recreate those moments of fellowship. I can easily play this TTRPG with my internet buddies thanks to Gloomhaven on Steam. The gameplay remains the same, and it is a huge amount of fun.

Modern Embrace

The good thing about Gloomhaven is that it can run on most modern PCs and laptops, including Macs. So even if you have a somewhat older laptop, chances are you will be able to play this game without much of a fuss. And since it’s a TTRPG, framerates don’t need to be incredibly high like that of an FPS game. I think this is a great strength for this game as it’s easy to get your friends into it. No hassle of setting up things, no hassle of needing a powerful systen. Just drop in and start playing.

Furthermore, the game runs on the Steam Deck as well. So you can now play your game on the go. And while it isn’t perfect at the moment, it’s very playable. Hopefully in the future with a patch or two, this experience can be improved.

Final Verdict

Gloomhaven is a fantastic digital rendition of the TTRPG of the same name. The Solo Scenarios: Mercenaries Challenges is also a great conversion of the physical expansion with the same name. If you’re looking for a good TTRPG experience that supports both solo play and multiplayer, this is the game for you.