Gloomhaven Buttons & Bugs is possibly the BEST SOLO Board Game: FULL REVIEW

theMCGuiRE review takes a look at the brand new Gloomhaven Buttons & Bugs. This is the smallest form factor of Gloomhaven yet and it may be the best core experience due to its streamlined approach, true solo aspect, and fantastic little adventure.
#gloomhaven #buttonsandbugs #boardgames
This is not available in retail just yet but watch for it to be soon.
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[@beanthegene]

You hit it all perfectly. The game is fun, there's a ton of content with all the characters and difficulty levels, setup takes just a minute or two, and it captures the combat/strategy of classic Gloomhaven. Components are solid, aside from the horribly warped cards (fixed with sleeves) and the lack of consideration for the colorblind. (I can't tell most of the dials apart, and even a few of the cube colors are indistinguishable to me in certain light.) Overall, it should be an insta-purchase for anyone!

[@kevinfitzgerald9319]

Nailed it. The complexity of running 2 characters led to so much analysis paralysis that scenarios could take hours, and losing a scenario after all that was just crushing. Frosthaven’s starting characters were so complex that I sold the game after 1 scenario

[@robertwhitely8872]

This is an excellent review - great info and thoughtful. I now want to buy the game. Great job!

[@jeffcarrier9808]

I printed his Gloomholden and was super excited to see this streamlined retail product! I should have my copy any day now I believe. Hoping this gets me back into GH enough I also resume JotL past scenario 5. Tiny Epic Dungeons also has a lot of value for a small box that size. But it's more of a random scenario, with extreme difficulty/luck.

[@groveman1852]

Great review! I'm right there with your opinions on GH. I agree with the analysis paralysis analogy. I dealt with that, but the dropping out of characters after a certain number of rounds just feels so artificial, and more like a balancing band-aid. That's what made me put it away. I've got to try this at 20 bucks, though!

[@skycollide5068]

Awesome review! I had accepted that I would never own a Gloomhaven game due to its cost, box size, and table space needed. Jaws intrigued me, but I never pulled the trigger. This is a must buy for me. Hopefully down the road they up the card quality a bit and the color choices for the dials. I do wish there was a 2-player variant. Otherwise, looks about perfect.

[@theMCGuiREreview]

Yep - just sleeve the cards. I just used penny sleeves but full quality sleeve would keep the cards perfectly flat. They still have a little movement with penny sleeves but it was good enough for me.

[@boodesultan12]

sounds like i should get clear/invincible card sleeves beforehand which isnt too bad with 20-ish euro to me, i did see someone on reddit using their colored d20 as substitute to disc health marker which i thought was cool and genius replacement

[@hermanturnip3984]

I've been thoroughly enjoying this game for the past couple of weeks. I have one major complaint: the blue and green dials are too similar to my eyes. Wish they upped the hue for each.

[@jeffrey5270]

Fully agree with you about Gloomhaven’s solo mode. It’s what keeps it off the table for me. Two handed for that game is just too much for me so I’m super excited to try this!

[@xelthos2051]

I'm red green deficient, the dial colors suck, lol. I use the numbers, not the colors, for knowing the enemy.

[@drewkennewell4267]

Pro-tip from a wargamer: Get yourself a sheet of plexiglass or for a cheaper option use the plastic sheet from a cheap poster frame. Put it over your map card and no more warping. We mainly do this with wargame maps because they are primarily paper and also warp like a motherfucker

[@Copterman]

You sold me. I also didn’t like gloomhaven solo. Excited to try this.

[@bbos3447]

Someone should make a card holder like what they did with Azul mini. Hold the card flat and have indentations to place your figures and markers

[@AFatalPapercut]

Just can't bring myself to purchase anything else made by Isaac Childress. The dude has completely lost his friggin mind. And no, there's no separating the art from the artist in this regard.

[@azncisg]

Oh, what did he do?

[@rattenusrattoonus1880]

Well. He didn't design this box.

[@theMCGuiREreview]

I’m curious to why you say “he has completely lost his friggin mind”… are there reasons you feel this is the case. I have no opinion just interested as to why you say this.

[@mattkutrik]

@@azncisg I'm not sure, but this may have to do with Update #80 on Frosthaven. Isaac basically had a consulting agency (which a lot of movies/tv/videogames do and have been for decades) to review the narrative to make sure it was culturally sensitive. A lot of people argued "woke" and argued "why, it's fantasy and not real", but Isaac chose to go this route. Funny enough, it's a consulting agency, so you can take any advice they give or ignore it and we'll never know if anything was actually cut/changed, but people cancelled pledges due to this fact. Anyway, I'm not sure if this commenter is referring to that (which drew a ton of attention at the time), but Isaac is also very opinionated and vocal about other subjects, so it could be a number of things.