‘Frosthaven’: It’s Just Like ‘Gloomhaven’ but Colder!
The adventure doesn’t stop at Gloomhaven! Head to the frozen north with Frosthaven, the follow-up to the wildly successful RPG board game.
What’s up, Gamers? There are a ton of exciting RPGs out in the gameverse, and there is no shortage of fabulous board games, either. But what if you could COMBINE those two things into one perfect, devastating creature? You don’t need ENGEN for that monstrosity because we have it in Gloomhaven and its highly successful follow-up, Frosthaven. Whether you’ve got a gaming group that loves to meet up to dungeon crawl every week or a TTRPG team that just can’t seem to find the right fit, Frosthaven has the experience for you.
Frosthaven: Gloomhaven 2.0
Frosthaven is a cooperative, skirmish-based, fantasy-adventure board game like its predecessor. Your team of adventurers each picks a hero and then works together to solve puzzles and defeat enemies. The box is designed as a full campaign, taking players through hours of procedurally generated content. Best of all, you don’t need a Game Master to run the game; Frosthaven itself takes the role of Game Master. Everyone gets a chance to be a hero in this “chilling” adventure!
Frosthaven was first announced at PAX Unplugged in 2019 and quickly became a Kickstarter success. It follows up on the story of Gloomhaven, taking the action to a stronghold in the north (hence the “Frost”). The game also addresses several of the issues with the first game, while maintaining the feel of the original. There are brand-new classes and heroes for you to play, but you can also bring in some of your favorite heroes from the original game. However, you don’t need Gloomhaven to play. Frosthaven is designed as a stand-alone game, allowing you to jump right into the exciting world of the game.
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Playing the Game
Frosthaven is played like a classic dungeon crawler, with each hero and creature moving on a hex-based board. Players familiar with TTRPGs, like Dungeons & Dragons or Pathfinder, will be familiar with this style. You select one of 10 brand-new classes, like the Necromancer or the mysterious Germinate, each with its own progression. Players must work together to cover each other’s weaknesses in combat scenarios.
During combat, players draw two cards from their hero’s action deck. Each card has a top effect and a bottom effect. When a player makes their attack, they decide which card will use the top effect and which will use the bottom. This allows players to move, heal, attack, and generally take actions throughout a Frosthaven encounter. As the game progresses, player characters rank up, just like in a TTRPG. Characters gain new abilities, and their players can improve the cards in their decks to reflect this.
A typical “encounter” lasts about ninety minutes, making it more than a typical board game round. However, it falls short of a standard D&D oneshot, so it’s a simple ask if you have a dedicated group. Just make sure you know what you’re getting into before you sit down.
Reception and Awards
Frosthaven had one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns of all time. Until the Cosmere RPG, it was the most highly funded project on Kickstarter, accruing almost $13 million from 83,000. Freelance writer James Palmer wrote in an article for Smithsonian that opening each campaign pack was like, “a series of little Christmases.” However, he also warned that the game’s length should not be taken lightly.
Is Frosthaven a D&D Game?
It isn’t officially associated with D&D, but just like Gloomhaven it shares many similarities with TTRPGs. You have dungeon-crawling, leveling up characters, magic…the whole nine yards. I feel like D&D COULD easily make a Gloomhaven or Frosthaven sourcebook. After all, Frosthaven feels a lot like the Ten Towns, the frigid setting of Rime of the Frostmaiden.
How Long Does Frosthaven Take?
Every Frosthaven session takes between an hour and a half and two hours. However, completing an entire campaign can take much, much longer. A complete run-through of Frosthaven, exploring all the secrets and fighting all the bosses, could take over 120 real-world hours. Make sure you know what you’re getting into with your group, and talk with the players about how much of the world they want to uncover.
Is Frosthaven Replayable?
Technically, yes, Frosthaven can be played an infinite number of times. However, after the first run, a lot of the big surprises won’t be surprises anymore. Still, that doesn’t take a lot of people out of the game, and you can always try the run again with different characters, new tactics, or different decisions. After all, Baldur’s Gate 3 is one of the most replayable games around, and Frosthaven follows the same formula. Just know you’ll have the inside scoop on your third and fourth playthroughs.
Happy adventuring!
