Gloomhaven Critic Reviews

Even if you have never heard of the legendary board game Gloomhaven, you should not miss its digital adaptation. If you enjoy ingenious turn-based strategies and dark fantasy, Gloomhaven is the game for you. In addition, thanks to multiplayer, you don't have to go on dangerous expeditions alone, and thanks to the support of creating new scenarios, the game offers an endless number of adventures and rotten dungeons.

A high-quality adaptation of the board game with plenty of content and rich replayability. What it does seek to offer, the gaming experience of a classic tabletop board game for one or more players, it achieves in an almost flawless way.

The best-reviewed board game in the world gets its own digital adaptation - and it’s excellent. The board game comes to life thanks to beautiful animations and sounds. This is a true treat for any strategy game enthusiast.

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

An excellent digital version of a very good boardgame. Good for both veterans of the tabletop version (due to new content like the Guildmaster campaign) and newbies willing to try a peculiar fantasy experience (and manage a lot of cards).

Gloomhaven’s jump from board game to PC keeps the game as strategic and satisfying as it ever was, all while streamlining the experience and opening it up to new avenues of play. The genuine effort of the creators shows through to a game that is worthy for fans and newcomers alike to struggle against the hordes of doom that threaten your very cards.

At its core, Gloomhaven is a deep tactical experience that’s immensely satisfying once you get to grips with its layers upon layers of systems. It also includes multiple options to vary the difficulty, so newer players don’t feel overly punished by making mistakes, whilst strategy aficionados can dial up the challenge to match their ability.

Gloomhaven is a solid version of the classic tabletop experience that offers turn-based combat, unique classes and abilities, and detailed quests.

Gloomhaven is a great way to bring the boardgame powerhouse to the PC and let many players enjoy its strategic and puzzle structure.

Although I was far from mastering the techniques and rules of Gloomhaven after my time with it for review, I do commend Flaming Fowl for a job well done. They have delivered a well-curated digital version of an extremely complex and intimidating tabletop experience — fans of the original or those curious to dip a toe in without breaking the bank should check it out.

Gloomhaven offers hours of mental challenges with a sophisticated battle system. It is based on a board game but tries to go beyond that. Those already attracted to the idea of Gloomhaven can have it here for less assembly and with an additional Guildmaster mode. Since this digital version becomes tiresome after a while because the vast number of missions ultimately feel repetitive, it’s better to play in small doses. The game is recommendable, but probably playing it online with friends in co-op mode is closer to the original’s experience.

That aside, Asmodee continues to demonstrate why it is the best digital board game developer going around. Gloomhaven itself is a little insular compared to the likes of Game of Thrones, Arkham Horror, Ticket to Ride, Pathfinder and Lord of the Rings, so I suspect it will appeal to a narrower band of players than some of Asmodee's other adaptations, but the faithful quality of that adaptation and the stellar production values make it an easy sell to existing Gloomhaven fans, and the ideal way to those that were intimidated by the size (and cost) of the box when they've seen it in their local game store to give it a go in the first place.

Gloomhaven tries to bring the experience of the board game on our screens, but fails to recreate the feel of being around a table. The game, although very loyal to the source, lacks pacing and the missions (very repetitive after a while), even at the lowest levels, are incredibly hard and for the most part frustrating. It is definitely overwhelming for a new player, and way too much relying on RNG for a good result. A good opportunity that sadly doesn’t really deliver.

Gripes aside, I love Digihaven for everything it does, and I love it even more because of how accessible and simple it makes such a magical tabletop experience. It’s not just a great tactics game in its own right, but a gateway to introduce the Monopoly-scarred to how nifty, gratifying, and ambitious the best digital board games have become over the last several years. Gloomhaven? Massive bloody grin-haven, more like.