Gloomhaven

It's still one of the best dungeon crawlers ever made, but now it's on PC.

As packaged content, this adaptation of Jaws of the Lion is a surprisingly effective remodel of the cardboard product. Despite abandoning the material’s original purpose of providing a more streamlined introduction to Gloomhaven’s systems, the design team produced an entertaining and effective side campaign that will extend the life of Gloomhaven and bring fresh perspectives to this storied game.

Short of somehow also being a massive box full of toys, secret envelopes, and bears to rummage around in with a group of mates, I couldn't ask for more from this loving and skillful adaptation.

Gloomhaven's gameplay is deeply challenging and dense, and it almost always manages to provide a satisfying payoff in equal measure if you are able to look past its menus and control flaws (and can stomach its load times on Switch). It isn't for the faint of heart, but those who stick with its complex, card-centric tactical gameplay will find a great strategy game.

How Deep is Your (board gaming) Love?

While you get a sense of the depth and excellence of the table-top game that it adapts, digitally Gloomhaven is a bit of a mess

Honestly, I would only recommend it for die-hard fans who are often on the go and have no other way to enjoy Gloomhaven. Does that mean it’s a bad game? Absolutely not, but the Switch version hides a fantastic game under layers of problems unique to Nintendo. It’s a genuine shame that Gloomhaven is plagued by so many technical challenges. The Switch release could have been a great opportunity to expose a wider audience to to an otherwise remarkable game. Now it’s likely to land in the eShop bargain bin.

Gloomhaven is a challenge for a specific niche of fans of high-difficulty strategy games. With over 120 scenarios and countless hours of dungeon exploration, it's a solid choice for those who want an immersive and challenging experience.

Gloomhaven was a tough one to review not because the game itself is bad, despite feeling clunky to navigate using a controller; no, it’s just after playing for many hours I realized that it’s just not for me. Its systems are deep and allow some great tactical plays to happen. The game allows for players to enjoy with four of their friends but much to my chagrin it doesn’t have a quickmatch function; so sadly, I was playing solo. I think with friends this would be more fun, just like playing a session of D&D is more of a blast with friends. I would recommend this version for those like me who were intrigued with the board game but just know that Gloomhaven is not for the timid.

Gloomhaven as a video game is a faithful recreation of the board game into the digital world. This is both commendable and detrimental. It is a good game, but there is also a reason no one sits around a table and plays by themselves and this is pretty much it.