I’m relatively certain PAX Unplugged 2019 was full of awesome announcements andgreat gamesto demo. In fact, some of theDualShockersstaff was on the convention floor and will have some write-ups for you in the coming week. However, I was unable to pay attention to anything else because Issac Childres has finally pulled back the curtain on the upcoming sequel toGloomhaven,the number one rated game on Board Game Geek. Somebody hold me, because I’ve watchedthe hour-long videoof its reveal four times and can’t stop my personal hype train forFrosthaven. Let’s take a deep dive into Cephalofair Games’upcoming masterpiece(I’m assuming).
Frosthavenis set in the lands north of the town of Gloomhaven. Importantly, this is not just an expansion to the base game.Frosthavenwill be fully standalone; however, portions ofGloomhavencan be brought over into the sequel (more on that below). This means that while the design is obviously informed byGloomhaven,Cephalofaircan push the boundaries even more in design and content creation. If the hour-long video is a good indication, it appears the main takeaway was that we just needed more of literally everything.
For example,Gloomhaven’s 16 characters always felt distinct from each other; my Scoundrel played completely differently from my friend’s Cragheart. Where the Scoundrel is quick and supremely deadly, the Cragheart felt more tank-like and used traps to deal with enemies.Frosthaventakes the differentiation in classes to a completely new level.
True,Gloomhavencharacters felt different, but they still mostly had the same basic actions. Outside of some summon characters and a few other outliers, the actual mechanics everyone was interacting with were mostly the same. That doesn’t appear to be the case inFrosthaven. At least with the first six classes that Childres revealed at PAX Unplugged last weekend, they all will have their own unique way of interacting with each other and the hordes of monsters you’ll face.
Take for instance the Deathwalker. This new character was described as a shaman-like character who “ushers” people into death: she can then use their spiritual shadows to help her control the battlefield. It’s an intriguing play on the idea of summons fromGloomhavenand means that she’ll have to constantly manage her “resources” of dead enemy shadows. Pairing her with a devastating damage-dealer seems like an incredible option.
Most of the new characters have some type of new resource to manage. The Germinate is actually two consciousnesses fighting for control of one body. Each consciousness has its own set of skills, allowing you to swap back and forth between them as needed. One consciousness specializes in melee combat, while the other is a ranged attacker, making it a great class for anyone wanting to play a hybrid class. The Blink Blade sounds a bit like something fromPrince of Persiawhen being described. He is able to speed up and slow down time at will through the use of time tokens: this means that you’ll need to appropriately manage your time if you want to deal the most possible damage.
The other three classes are similarly diverse, and these are just the starting six characters. Like inGloomhaven, ten more characters are unlockable during the campaign.Gloomhavendid an excellent job of using the unlockable classes to really flesh out the game’s tactical depth, so I assume the same will happen inFrosthaven.
Fortunately, if you have aGloomhavencharacter you absolutely love and can’t leave behind, you will be able to bring them forward toFrosthaven. In the reveal stream, it wasn’t completely clear if old characters will get updates to bring them in line withFrosthaven’s new design choices; however, it’s a good move that will surely please fans.
You’ll also be able to bringGloomhavenitems with you toFrosthaven. This could be an important step for veteranGloomhavenplayers, as the team is changing up how items work quite a bit. InGloomhaven, you would just spend money to buy new items. WithFrosthaven, money is less important and you will be using resources like wood and metal to craft new items. you’re able to also use those resources to upgrade the town of Frosthaven.
Truthfully, the sheer number of options at your disposal is a little dizzying.Gloomhaven’s 22-pound box was already stuffed to the gills with content, andFrosthavenseems like it’s going to have even more. I mean, the game even has a season system that will dictate when you’re able to build town improvements and which event deck you’ll pull from when completing town and road events. It’s a frankly ridiculous amount of content.
And that’s not even considering what Childres described as an “Exit-like” puzzle game within the game that will come included. Essentially,Frosthavenwill have a series of in-universe puzzles for your group to tease out that will play out over the course of the entire campaign. Again,Gloomhavendid this on a smaller scale originally, but Cephalofair looks to have completely outdone themselves here.
As a massive fan ofGloomhaven, I’m of two minds about this game. On the one hand, it’s everything I want: it takes everything the team learned from the original and fixes many of the problems, all while cramming even more content into the box. That’s awesome. I might never finish it, but it’s still awesome.
However, I worry about an even more complex game making it a tougher game to get to the table.Gloomhavenis massive, and just the setup takes 15-30 minutes for each scenario. There are so many rules for players to remember; it is not a game you can play casually. You need to have real buy-in to make the experience worth it. Does tossing even more in the box make it an even harder game to get into?
The obvious answer is probably yes. So, I suppose the better question is “does it matter?” Will an even deeper experience thanGloomhavenblow up Kickstarter and fly up the Board Game Geek charts? Will it have the community in a tizzy as people are desperate to grab their own? Will I drive around the greater area of my local metropolitan for hours looking for a copy?
Who knows? I assume the community will absolutely eat this up, but wonder if it can replicate the out-of-this-world success thatGloomhavenhad. I also question its chances to be a massive mainstream success. I also don’t know if any of that matters. After all, Cephalofair already has a streamlined version ofGloomhavencoming in the form ofGloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion. If that game can attract the casual audience in a major way, thenFrosthavenprobably doesn’t need to have mass-market appeal. It just needs to somehow provide an even better experience than the number one game on Board Game Geek.
Personally, I’m absolutely giddy about the prospects forFrosthaven. I have reservations about how the game will do with more casual board game players; however, that doesn’t mean I’m not frothing at the mouth waiting to pick up my own copy.Frosthavenwill be hitting Kickstarter in March 2020, and Cephalofair plans to have it on backer’s doorsteps in early 2021. That FedEx delivery notice can’t come soon enough.
