Highly awarded · 2 organizations

Gloomhaven

Isaac Childres · Cephalofair Games · 2017

A cooperative tactical combat campaign set in a persistent fantasy world. Your party explores dungeons, makes story-driven decisions, and unlocks new characters across 100+ sessions. Card-driven combat replaces dice — choose two cards each round for simultaneous attacks, movement, and abilities.

Players

1–4

Time

120 min

Ages

14+

Difficulty

Heavy

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Why you'll like it

Hundreds of hours of content in one box
Card-driven combat eliminates dice frustration
Legacy mechanics permanently shape the world
Unlocking new classes feels like unwrapping gifts
Tactical hand management is endlessly engaging

How it plays

Gloomhaven is a cooperative fantasy campaign. Each player controls a mercenary with their own deck of ability cards, and together you explore dungeons, fight monsters and make decisions in a branching story.

Combat doesn't use dice. Each turn you play two cards from your hand, using the top action of one and the bottom action of the other, and the card's speed determines when you act. Your hand is also your stamina: as cards are used up, you get closer to exhaustion, so every scenario is a puzzle about using your cards efficiently.

Between scenarios, your characters earn experience and gold, buy items, unlock new abilities and eventually retire, which unlocks new characters. The box contains around 95 scenarios, enough for a very long campaign.

May not be for you if…

Massive time commitment — this is a lifestyle game
Setup and teardown take 20-30 minutes
The box weighs 22 pounds
Rules overhead is significant for newcomers
Best with a consistent group

Best for

Dedicated gaming groupsRPG fanscampaign loverssolo tacticians

Awards

2017Dice TowerGame of the Year
2017Golden GeekBest Cooperative Game
2017Golden GeekGame of the Year
2017Golden GeekBest Strategy Game
2017Golden GeekBest Solo Game
2017Golden GeekMost Innovative Game
2017Golden GeekBest Thematic Game
2017Dice TowerBest Cooperative

Appears in

Play Together Strategy Night

Where to buy

AmazonCheck price →

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Common questions

How long does a Gloomhaven scenario take?

Usually 1.5 to 2.5 hours including setup. The full campaign can last 100+ hours.

Is Gloomhaven good for beginners?

It's a heavy game with lots of rules and a big box. Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion is a smaller, cheaper version with a gentler tutorial and is a better starting point.