Gloomhaven Jaws of the Lion in about 3 minutes

[@3MBG]

I think Jaws of the Lion is genius. Gloomhavens biggest issue is its scale, scope and learning curve. Now that scale and scope is also one of its great strengths, but its intimidating. I think the idea of making a more accessible, affordable Gloomhaven is one of the smartest moves in board gaming since Games Workshop and MB decided the make Heroquest and get the D&D dungeon crawling experience in toy stores. The card driven combat which i love is still in the game, and really its just shorter gloomhaven with a tutorial. Which is exactly what was needed.

[@larsgutsein3910]

I"d find it even more genius, if they released an upgrade pack for the Gloomhaven veterans for ten bucks less. No life point dials, elemental table, standee holders and monster stat sleeves. No markers for money, wounds and treasures and no duplicate equipment cards. It is unsatisfying buying duplicate stuff.

[@3MBG]

Would you expect the same of Frosthaven Lars?

[@RageBadgerGaming]

Dumbing it down, so to speak, to not overwhelm people as they learn mechanics and introducing the mechanics over a few scenarios. At first I was like whoa, this jump introduced a lot. Then I thought about the Black Barrow. And how everything is tossed at you instantly. Definitely a genius teaching mechanism and a fun short Gloomhaven campaign.

[@larsgutsein3910]

​@@3MBG Interesting question... I would love to see standalone games that were optionally available as an upgrade to a base game. Concordia Venus is the one example I can think of. I would appreciate a Frosthaven option, but I do not expect it. It would not result in a smaller box, nor a noticeably lower price. Everybody ordering Frosthaven is prepared to pay big money for a big box. It would be great, if you could play the Frosthaven scenarios from the books, rather than map tiles. And have the removable stickers already in the box.

[@3MBG]

Yeah, i can definitely agree that would be a good thing. But not now, not once that many people have paid for the big frosthaven game. They would lose a lot of good faith with the people who backed them to get some good will from others, which is bad bad business.

[@dave0754]

When you say "one to four players", it sounds a bit to me like you say "it's a game for wonderful players" and it makes me smile. New Zealand accent is a one to four thing!

[@3MBG]

Its not just you. I have to change it in the auto subtitles every time ;)

[@calebkent4756]

@@3MBG Can't I just pretend that you think we are wonderful? =(

[@3MBG]

@@calebkent4756 do it :)

[@lp9092]

Haha

[@unicornshampoo]

"Jaws of the Lion" sounds like a legendary weapon or something on UrbanDictionary that would send your partner to the ER.

[@3MBG]

It reminded me of Shaka Zulus operational battle plan "the horns of the buffalo".

[@Fatpie42]

Own Gloomhaven, but getting started was a massive pain and keeping track of the rules was tough too. Jaws of the Lion, with its gradual roll out of the rules has helped to clarify a lot of the minutiae. Also playing some levels without being overwhelmed is a much more fun way to play. I had to play scenarion 1 of the original Gloomhaven six times before I could complete it. Sure, Scenario 4 is the first actually challenging scenario in JOTL, but since the first five scenarios are basically practice missions, that's pretty much perfectly pitched.

[@3MBG]

Yep, and a massive reason why i now say to anyone who wants gloomhaven to get jaws first

[@nickyuhas9209]

How long does a scenario take roughly? We played iss vanguard and each exploration phase in that took us around 4 hours with 4 people. Thanks!

[@dmipgoz]

I'm glad that Gloomhaven lite showed up. I'm gonna recommended it to people who just played Pandemic or some more stuff.

[@isaacredditt3597]

i love how you just broke down that game very well in 3 mins! that's awesome! I cant wait to play it now.

[@3MBG]

Cheers Isaac. That is always the plan :)

[@BerodranG]

I watched this video right after watching your Gloomhaven video. Your talking was at a much more relaxed pace for this one. :) I'm still impressed by how much info you give in around 3 minutes. Thank you!

[@3MBG]

I tried to do this one more about "your first mission in JOTL", whereas the other was "OMG THE WHOLE GAME IN THIS TIME CODE" Weirdly, that reflects the main difference between the two games. One eases you in, the other goes to 100 immediately.

[@SyDiko]

On sale at Target for $20 bucks, adding to collection ty for the 3min overview. :)

[@MrSuperdelf]

25 scenarios. "Treat it like a mini-expansion"

[@fernando47180]

I mean, he isn't wrong

[@Drossus]

Finished gloomhaven and loved it. Will definitely pick this up to tide us over until frosthaven. Really like the idea of having a copy to give people an easier entry to the system too. That first level of original GH does not hold your hand much.

[@3MBG]

No it does not. It throws you in the deep end. Like, i play a lot of games and complex ones at that, and it was a mission learning the whole thing and then having to teach it to people.

[@ScytheNoire]

Great job summarizing the game in such a short span. I was always interested in Gloomhaven, but the sheer size of it kept me away. That's a big commitment. So I will definitely be picking this up once it's widely available.

[@dopwop553]

Probably going to pick this up as a birthday gift soon! Love the co-operative games, and high fantasy is my favorite genre aswell. Unfortunately it seems it's hard to buy online in Europe right now, out of stock everywhere :S

[@DukeDamnChin]

We just got this game from our boarding buddies for Xmas and now, after this review, I'm pretty excited to try it out

[@RatchetSly]

I've always wanted to *try* Gloomhaven, but I've only seen it in shops at around the 150$ mark, and that's absolutely a "I gotta try it first" sorta price tag. A smaller, lighter version of the game that uses the same mechanics is great to hear about! Something to seek out once I can check out the game shops again soon. Also, pardon me for the question, but might I ask who the fellow in your avatar is? I know you've said it before somewhere, but I've forgotten; those are some excellent epaulettes.

[@3MBG]

Carl von Clausewitz, considered by many to be the most influential writer on modern strategy. My education was in Strategic Studies and i've used him as an avatar for over a decade as an homage.

[@RatchetSly]

@@3MBG Thank you very much for the response!

[@Awesome_Force]

Cool. I wanted to try Gloomhaven but didn't really have the space to leave it set up. This looks more reasonable for me. I'll be getting it when it comes out. :)

[@Memmnarch1981]

I haven't played Gloomhaven, but I´ll buy this in preparation of my Frostharten Pledge.

[@TracerQQ]

That's was quick! I like the page tear screen wipes

[@3MBG]

I'd rarely use those, as they can look a bit naff. But seemed really appropriate there, cheers.

[@danewiskow4198]

I already own Gloomhaven and I kinda wish I had this first. BUT, I do not regret buying Gloomhaven because it is truly one of the greatest board games ever made! I may check this out once my campaign is complete!

[@AthexTube]

Amazing adaptation of Gloomhaven, please bring the book format to Frosthaven!

[@johnpanagos5835]

I have played gloomhaven a lot, i would buy this book format even for gloomhaven

[@AthexTube]

@@johnpanagos5835 That too, probably would sell a lot if they offered that up for sale as an addon!

[@3MBG]

I suspect after the responses, they will do that. As the book is such a time saver

[@3MBG]

Looks like its happening based on a recent post on frosthavens KS

[@johnpanagos5835]

@@3MBG great news thnx

[@Necreon021]

One thing I did not learn from this if it's also a legacy game with stickers / card tearing / writing on components or you can reset it to 0 to replay any time.

[@3MBG]

None of that stuff in Jaws, that's only for the big box campaign

[@Necreon021]

@@3MBG Thanks for the reply! This is the only rich looking dungeon crawler I found so far in the price range we can afford so I'm really excited to get it one day now, thanks!

[@thechillcheck535]

Thank you for this! I have heard of people recommending Gloomhaven but have been put off by the sheer footprint of this game and the learning curve, but this looks manageable. Now back to the drawing board for spending budget then...

[@kaijuh]

I agree with Tom from SUSD in the Frosthaven review when he said this is by FAR the best of the 3 Gloomhaven games. I hope they release Jaws Frosthaven edition soon.

[@3MBG]

Hard to argue with that, as its the one most folks can actually finish

[@skbts]

I am just wondering when the companion app can work upon this one. I have got used to the helper and can’t live without it now :(

[@3MBG]

Not sure. I cant imagine it will take them too long to get it up to date

[@Skippan]

Read on Reddit that the unofficial app updated for this

[@colemurrell4417]

Great video! I have a question. Can you replay this game? This version is not a legacy game, correct? I would probably look to play with my girlfriend but then I’d also like to play it with a few friends and I’m not sure if the game is meant to be played like that or not. Any help would be appreciated!

[@3MBG]

Nah, all the legacy stuff is really in the main gloomhaven

[@RageBadgerGaming]

It's such a perfect way to introduce new people too. Hopefully the barrier of entry won't be so daunting now to some.

[@raptorrancher]

Coming in the mail now.

[@patriciaamerica7308]

Are you from NZ?! I just found your channel! I was looking at a gloomhaven in whitcoulls but wanted a wee review before. I need more friends that play boardgames :(

[@3MBG]

Absolutely, in Wellington

[@patriciaamerica7308]

@@3MBG Seems like all cool people/stuff is in Welly. Towel-wrong-ah here haha

[@3MBG]

Ah, one of my patrons is moving back to NZ next year, aims to start a board game cafe out your way

[@patriciaamerica7308]

@@3MBG really?! I would be a regular to that cafe 😁

[@Supersly666]

Great video, definitely going to get this!

[@CarlosRodriguez-ez3ls]

Great review of a great game! Thanks Jarrod!

[@WhatHappenedFFS]

Solo play only - how many characters must I control?

[@3MBG]

2 characters, but you can go up to 4. The game kinda breaks if you try to play with only one character

[@bigfootnintendorazr]

This is a lot of information

[@3MBG]

Cheers. I try to cram it in

[@bigfootnintendorazr]

@@3MBG that's totally awesome. Thanks for the video

[@TheShapingSickness]

Why isn't the modifier deck replaced with a many faces die?

[@3MBG]

because you can tune it as you level up. Removing poor cards, adding in better ones, and also adding in one that do bonus effects.

[@3MBG]

And to be clear, each player has their own deck as well. So each player tunes their own deck separately as they level

[@TheShapingSickness]

@@3MBG oh that's great

[@sunshinecycling]

So if you play solo, you play two characters. But if you play with more than one person, you don’t play multiple characters, right? Two play two and three play three….is that correct?

[@3MBG]

Yep, but nothing is stopping 2 players from playing 2 characters each if they want to.

[@derreklong3549]

@@3MBG I thought this too. Like maybe 3 or 4 games on just run duos on 2 player. Once you're getting the concept.

[@fernando47180]

Really late, but I spotted two mistakes in the way you handled the board game elements. 1: The health dial is supposed to start at your maximum health, and go down as you take damage. In this video, you instead set it at 0 to begin with, and increased the dial's value when taking damage. This is technically incorrect, even though it would have little impact in gameplay as long as you don't forget what your max hp. 2: When using character tokens to keep track of the uses of persistent effects, you first move the character token across the entirety of the top row, and once it runs out, you then move to the start of the bottom row. In the video, you used the start of the bottom row as the second position for the persistwnt effect, which is technically wrong, and could modify what uses of the persistent effect grant you experience points. That being said, of all the things to get wrong about the mess that the Gloomhaven rules are, these two are rather harmless, so, good work!

[@3MBG]

Ha, fair. The first one is probably just a hang over from other games like Arkham horror

[@fernando47180]

@@3MBG Yeah, I can see how past experience playing games can set one up for misinterpreting game elements. But as I said, GH has so many rules, anyone claiming to get everything right their first time playing it must be either lying or the game creator himself. Thanks for checking on my comment!

[@wicaksonoadi1035]

It's clear to me now. This game is meant to lure new people to the LION (king) of all board games that is Gloomhaven (and Frosthaven). Hence the name!

[@Ralai14]

0 interest in Gloomhaven I don't have enough space for it, does jaws of the lion stand completely by itself? I mean, is it great by it's own? I don't want an easier introduction to another product, I want a complete game.

[@3MBG]

Yes it does, theres as much, if not more content in the box as its competitors like Descent or Imperial assault. Its much less than gloomhaven itself, but that thing was overkill in many ways.

[@danewiskow4198]

I had second thoughts about selling my copy due to its size and commitment, but I downloaded a couple of apps that takes care of the monster decks and event cards, leaving more room on the table!

[@Fatpie42]

@I AM BOB'S TRIGGERED GLASS JAW MIND You are going to love this thing. Solid game in its own right, featuring the tutorial missions that the original Gloomhaven desperately needed.

[@Nazzers]

So the solo player has to play all 4 characters with their own hands of cards and you're playing two cards per turn each with top and bottom halves? Oof. I think I'm too dumb for this game.

[@3MBG]

You can solo this with 1 character, although 2 works better

[@Drago499]

Valeu!

[@3MBG]

Thank you!

[@josiahp.6960]

"Want a dungeon crawl but hate fantasy? Try Imperial Assault." But, Star Wars is fantasy. Class is in session. Science Fiction is a subgenre of fantasy, but what makes sci-fi different and distinct is the attempt of the narrative to explain the elements of the story that make it fiction. Blade Runner, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Alien, these are science fiction because they explain how humanity got to where the movie takes place. Star Wars, though full of lasers and wacky tech, doesn't seek to explain anything, from the technology, and the alien races, to the Force, making it a space-placed opera, a Fantasy. Another way of looking at it is this: Science fiction is something that could happen, but isn't desirable. Fantasy is desirable, but can't happen.

[@alex8480]

It's sci-fi

[@3MBG]

One could argue its science fantasy i guess

[@alex8480]

Lightsabers are sci-fi and could not happen

[@jmoon1581]

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