Gloomhaven Board Game Review

[@ClawSpike]

This is the best intro talk of all your videos. lol. You two are the best!

[@giancarlocaltabiano5184]

Lol. Thanks! Great to hear :)

[@greenspartan1213]

Thank God a review that isn't just some one sitting in front of the camera

[@TechnicolorSprite]

I want to get this game it's so hard to get a decent price. I found out today that miniature market had restocked some copies and it sold out in less than 2 hours.

[@quintinstanczak1941]

So what was the other game you guys gave a 10?

[@christian_daigle]

Yea, my question also. Gloomhaven definetly deserves a 10!

[@giancarlocaltabiano5184]

A very, very, different type. The game was called Concept. 10 on 10 for other reasons entirely

[@aaronschrock8579]

ah where my fellow nerds at

[@polischristodoulou4357]

I just love this game,certainly one of my best gaming experience ,played more than 100 hours and 20 missions and i have to say there are plenty of cons or room for improvement .Those of course are not enough to satisfy my thirst for more..

[@AkihabaraPoultry]

I used to love Radioactive

[@a.7801]

The prep for this game looks insane. Is this worth it for a person who casual sometimes plays a boardgame?

[@KingOfNormans]

Great review! Now I'm curious, though; which game got the other 10/10?

[@giancarlocaltabiano5184]

A very, very, different type. The game was Concept. 10 on 10 for other reasons entirely

[@RageBadgerGaming]

Obviously the greatest dungeon crawler to exist. Very good coverage.

[@wrcpatrick]

That;s some high praise. Definitely has my interest.

[@jccusell]

Excellent review. Very well written, concise, balanced. Subbed.

[@swawanify]

Oh shit it's that dude from radioactive

[@TheTrienco]

Let's be nitpicky and add one con: the life and XP tracking is fiddly and might not hold up very long. Of course that is a non-issue if you back the current KS (or get just the new dials as upgrade or use any other way like dice, tokens or 3rd party trackers).

[@giancarlocaltabiano5184]

I did hear people complain about the life trackers online. We must have gotten lucky with our copy as, they weren't fiddly at all.

[@TheTrienco]

It's working okay for me in the center of the tracks, but since the tokens are a bit wider than the cutout, closer to the ends it gets increasingly fiddly (and worrying) to squeeze them in. Though since that's fixed in the reprint and the new trackers are offered as upgrade, it's really a tiny nitpick. Especially since it sounds like some copies are fitting well anyway. Overall it takes my least favorite genre (Dungeon Crawler) and makes it awesome by replacing "run around and roll dice to kill stuff" with a more Euro-y approach and hand management.

[@shaolinlueb]

there is so much to this game, i don't know if i'd buy it.

[@madfiddler]

Digging the hell out of Gloomhaven. Badass proper! What other game did you give a 10 to?

[@giancarlocaltabiano5184]

A very, very, different type. The game was Concept. 10 on 10 for other reasons entirely

[@Chris-kx5lk]

Well done overview and review. Nice job.

[@patriciogarcia6804]

Well that seals it guess I must get Gloomhaven!

[@CesarIsaacPerez]

Great review as usual. But I see a huge negative: all the enemies are cardboard standees on clips. That's really disappointing.

[@giancarlocaltabiano5184]

I disagree.... with the amount of minis it would require for this game, it'd bring the price point to at least 500$ Trust me.. for 99$ US dollars and free shipping (add 20$ for the hero minis), I don't think I've seen a better deal anywhere in terms of what you get. (Gameplay longevity, components, great balance). But I do hear your concern. It's just a matter of preference. For me minis are a plus, a bonus, if the game is good. But I'd rather have a lower price point than pay through the nose for mini. All subjective of course. :)

[@Flamingcloud083]

The minis come with the game so you don't need to add them for $20. That is only for people who want extras or bought that standee version in the first kickstarter.

[@MrRadialdrift]

The only issues with the standees is that they rip all the time. it's a combo of cheap cardboard chits and incorrect sized stands

[@giancarlocaltabiano5184]

Right? Game cost like 99$ It's ridiculously low for what you get. It's a great deal IMO.

[@CosmicTavern]

I'm kind of getting tired of games with a ton of minis. They are a pain to store and organize. Also I never paint my minis so the cardboard standees in games can sometimes look cooler than my poor unpainted minis.

[@GamingRulesVideos]

Great video. Nice to see people loving the game. Hope the rules vids I did were a help to learning the game for you :)

[@giancarlocaltabiano5184]

Indeed your instructional video was extremely well done :)

[@MrJadude]

best video yet

[@FuroKazuya]

Actual review starts at about 13 minutes in. Don't get me wrong, I personally like a (brief) intro summarizing what the game is about, but the title is very misleading if it's just called "review" and 80% is game/rules explanation. Example: In a review video, I don't care if the discard pile is on the right or left side.

[@giancarlocaltabiano5184]

Our reviews include a playthrough. I'm not going to write "XYZ Playthrough and Review" for each titled video. We've been doing this format for almost a decade now. If you want solely a review from us, you're more than welcome to skip ahead to the last portion of our video where we mention the pros and cons.

[@ClarkPotter]

Oh my god start the review already.

[@ClarkPotter]

Great game walkthrough.

[@MrRadialdrift]

This isn't a Legacy game, not even close to one. Here are some cons that you missed. Con #1, it takes ages to set up each mission, (30-45 mins no joke) Con#2, the standees rip very easily, cheap cardboard chits combined with cheap plastic stands (Legends of Andor did the same thing and they did it right first go) Con#3, the big map board is pointless and can be thrown out as it takes up room in the box Con#4, the rules need a lot of work, hence why he has made 1500 changes to the second ed rule book Con #5, the HP and XP markers are useless and don't work, hence why he has had to re-designed them for 2nd edition, Con #6, due to the randomness of the A.I attack deck, some Boss missions are 20 times easier than run of the mill basic missions (this breaks the story telling and the immersion) Con #7, game was sold as a legacy game and it is not a legacy game, putting stickers on a map that tell you what missions you can do, when the mission book tells you the exact same thing is not "legacy" Con #8, the game can't be stored in the box properly once you pop everything out, you need to go and buy many many boxes to fit the thing back in, it didn't even come with plastic bags and there are a ton of cardboard chits. Con #9, once you complete the mission objectives you are not allowed to go around and loot coins, this can only be done during the mission, and this is the most stupid rule in the entire game, so much so that I ignore it. Also this game is 98% combat, so if you are after more of a story driven game, this isn't it. You will spend 3-4 hours doing a mission, 1 minute reading the text at the conclusions of said mission, then you will do a cross roads type card when travelling to or from Gloomhaven that equates to, "you see a bird in the sky, do you A. Shoot it or B. Let it fly by. So think of Decent, without a DM and about the same amount of story telling. So how exactly is this game a 10/10?

[@giancarlocaltabiano5184]

I said LIGHT Legacy ;) Made sure I threw in the word LIGHT in there, because it is not a full-fledged Legacy game. Con#1 It literally takes us about 10 minutes to set-up. I suggest you organize everything before hand. We have baggies for everything, so saves us a lot of time setting-up. Con#2... NONE of my standees are ripped. not one. I did however snap of one of the base, but that was my fault as I applied to much pressure on it. Con#3 As for the map, we I would have agreed with you originally. But when you unlock 3 to 4 scenarios at a time (sometimes 2 per mission, and you find a random scenario, either from the mission or city event) It's really helpful as a point of refference. Especially if you have one of the objective cards which tells you to do a mission in each specific regions ;) Con#4 Rulebook does need work, but there's an official FAQ online on Board Game Geek that already answers pretty much any questions. Con#5 Yes, I've heard of all the complaints concerning these online after the review we posted. We must have gotten lucky on our end, as they are not fiddly in our copy. Con#6 Out of 95 possible scenarios, you might have easy bosses, and harder "run of the mill" scenarios, and that'll switch and even itself out. Usually before beginning a scenario, you might have to start with Curses, Poison, Wounds or whatnot. Those aren't random factors. If you get lucky through the AI attack deck, that's just luck, not poor design in my opinion. Doesn't deserve a con for that. Con#7 This was already answered as in me saying it's a LIGHT legacy game. Con#8 EVERYTHING fits back in the box. We even add plastic bags to separate everything. Not sure how they don't go back in on your end. We've had to remove some of the foam though, But we still have some of those in the box. Con#9. You can play by ignoring those rules, but personally that would just make Loot Ability cards utterly useless. This is not an RPG, it's a tactical boardgame. If you're looking for an RPG, play an RPG. Here, you have choices to do... Loot/attack/rest etc.... It's a boardgame with RPG elements to it. Another objective card is to get X amount of worth of gold. Getting rid of the "loot" option reduces the challenge. But hey, if you want to play like that go ahead :) Yes... 98% of the game is as I stated above a tactical boardgame with RPG element. Personally I don't mind that, and the story I find is still engaging, and our group is always eager to find out more on this. Again... if you prefer an RPG, this is not it. you are right on that front. But it's not an RPG... It's a boardgame. So there you have it as of why WE scored it 10 on 10. You can certainly disagree with us, but it doesn't change how we feel for it.

[@dall1786]

Bort Henderson i'll assume you meant the BG Descent?

[@NFLed]

@Giancarlo Caltabiano: I have never heard of this game until now, ironically from a link on yahoo.com's front page. I very much enjoyed your video, as well as the detailed comments from @radialdrift and your well-thought-out replies. Once the 2nd edition is ready my wife and I might end up purchasing it.

[@Harvestersz]

Sorry, But that's a bunch of hogwash. :-) This is more about your shortcomings rather than the game's.