Thursday, June 21, 2018

This one has been making waves for a while, but I've only now noticed it says 1-4 players. Any of you have experience with it from a solo perspective? I don't play boardgames much, though I have an interest (especially as my kids get older). I do have the Ravenloft D&D game since it was a no-brainer with solo rules and tons of minis included, and this one seems like an equal or greater value at this price point?

This one has been making waves for a while, but I've only now noticed it says 1-4 players. Any of you have experience with it from a solo perspective? I don't play boardgames much, though I have an interest (especially as my kids get older). I do have the Ravenloft D&D game since it was a no-brainer with solo rules and tons of minis included, and this one seems like an equal or greater value at this price point?

Originally shared by Zachary Baudoin

Idk if this is "affordable" but Gloomhaven is on sale at walmart.com
http://www.shacknews.com/article/105696/save-over-50-on-gloomhaven-with-this-walmart-deal

16 comments:

  1. i have GH and have played it solo. Mechanically i find it somewhat difficult (but not overwhelmingly so) to track solo - you're trying to synergize the cards you play across multiple characters, which means a lot of back and forth between each deck. i would play it more if it didn't require so much detail work in tracking the campaign - keeping track of exactly which cards are unlocked, which treasures have been collected, etc. Most people seem to like that - it's very RPG-campaigny - but it's a huge turn off for me. It's not even the amount of campaign tracking details, but the fact that i feel compelled to triple-check them to make sure i don't break the game. That's a huge time sink.

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  2. As far as value for the money goes: GH has an unprecedented number of missions in the core box: nearly 100, approximately half of which a given campaign will encounter (depending on choices made). No other adventure game comes anywhere close (in the core box) in that regard.

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  3. Todd Rokely You can play it solo or with a group.

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  4. I didn't like it. I paid $139 online with free shipping. I even bought the $20 restickable stickers (NOT WORTH IT) so they did not stick to the map, which they are not easy peelable and restick. I played the first mission and it ain't the dungeon crawl I thought it would be. Now it sits in a big box on my my bureau unused since February.

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  5. Stephan Beal Tracking info between and during games is eased significantly by using one of the several apps that are freely available. I use one for iOS that tracks everything from individual players progress, world state, it even has individual monster deck tracking for each scenario. Speeds up play and setup.

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  6. Virginian John Gloomhaven is definitely not for everyone. It is much more “puzzley” than your standard dungeon crawl (and of course, there are no dice, which for some friends of mine is a big negative). The character progression is a bit too slow for my taste, and I wish there was even more world-building and narrative than there is. It is still the most impressive solo/co-op RPG/board game hybrid I have played, and an incredible value for the money.

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  7. Todd Rokely the D&D board games (Ravenloft, Tomb of Annihilation, etc... 4 or 5 of them?) are 1 to 4 players I think and a great value jusy for the minis and dungeon tiles.

    Thanks for the responses, all. I picked it up and will check it out and maybe pass it on if it's not my cup o' tea.

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  8. Brian Jones the campaign-tracking apps don't help (i've tried): they just move the work from paper to app. One still has to enter the data and make sure they enter it correctly. Also, there's a higher risk of losing the data. At least one of the apps allows the user to export the data (it's an sqlite db), which is an absolute must - i wouldn't even consider an app which didn't. Nonetheless, the idea of locking my long-lived GH state in an app i didn't write myself makes me kind of ill. i'd rather have it on paper, in the same box as the rest of the game.

    The monster tracking/deck apps are a huge help, administratively speaking, but i still find it tremendously clumsy to switch back and forth from board to app :/.

    i haven't played my GH since December. i tried once about a month ago, but the paperwork aspect of it turned me off of it.

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  9. I think I'll pass on this one for now, and I'll save some money for the upcoming D&D Adventure System game that's supposed to be announced this August.

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  10. Spencer Salyer I think you will have no problem selling it if it turns out not to be your kind of game. Good luck!

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  11. Thredith Undomiel tell us more... :-)

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  12. Spencer Salyer Well, there's no much info available yet, except that it will cost around $79.99 USD (the standard edition), or $159.99 (the premium edition, which will include pre-painted minis, as it happened with Tomb of Annihilation, or Temple of Elemental Evil) once released. The idea is that it will be compatible with all previous releases (in terms of tiles and rules; also, it's gonna be 1-5 players so YAY!), while offering new content (as it happened with Tomb of Annihilation). Also, it is supposed to be based on a new campaign setting, which will be available around September. That means the theme won't be that of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, nor Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage, according to what was said back in February because the game will serve as an introduction to the upcoming D&D campaign (https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/39687/new-dungeons-dragons-game-way). There are pre-orders available ($55.99 USD for the standard edition), and some sites say it will be in shops around August 29th.

    I'm really looking forward to that one!
    miniaturemarket.com - Dungeons & Dragons: 2018 Adventure System Board Game (Standard Edition) (Preorder)

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  13. Is this the same game Thredith Undomiel ? This one is 2-4 players, so no solo option, but the MSRP is lower. Miniature Market has a separate preorder for this one, so I'm guessing it's not the same?
    comicbook.com - 'Dungeons & Dragons' New Board Game Revealed

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  14. Coop games (unfortunately) often say 2+ when they really mean 2 or more characters, as opposed to players. In every BGG forum there are always a small handful of people who ask "can I play this solo with multiple characters?"

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