Designer:  Isaac Childres (Forge War, Founders of Gloomhaven, Gloomhaven, Return to Dark Tower)

Artists:  David Demaret (Batman: Gotham City Chronicles, Claustrophobia 1643, Mythic Battles: Pantheon), Alexandr Elichev (Android: Netrunner – 23 Seconds, Founders of Gloomhaven, Gloomhaven), Josh T. McDowell (Forge War, Founders of Gloomhaven, Gloomhaven)

Publisher:  Cephalofair Games (Forge War, Founders of Gloomhaven, Gloomhaven)

Genre/Mechanisms:  adventure, campaign/battle card driven, cooperative game, exploration, fighting, grid movement, hand management, legacy game, miniatures, modular board, role playing, scenario/mission/campaign game, simultaneous action selection, storytelling, variable player powers

Funding Status:  At the time of this posting, Frosthaven is already fully-funded. Pledges currently total more than 18x the initial funding goal with 4 days left to go on the campaign!

Player Count:  1-4

Solo Mode:  yes

Complexity:  heavy

Risk:  low

What It’s About:  “A standalone adventure from the designer and publisher of Gloomhaven that features sixteen new characters, three new races, more than twenty new enemies, more than one hundred new items, and a new 100-scenario campaign.”

How It Works:  “The core game play of Frosthaven remains very similar to the game play of Gloomhaven. You will form a party of mercenaries with your friends and head out into the Northern Coast, fighting through numerous scenarios in an expansive campaign spanning over 100 scenarios.

Each scenario is played out through rounds of combat against fully automated enemies. Each round, you will play two cards to determine when and how your character will act out their turn. Each card has two special actions, and on your turn, you can perform the top action of one card and the bottom action of the other.

These actions are powerful and unique, offering a plethora of choices and varied play styles, depending on which character you choose. However, default actions are available too, just in case your plans get ruined by an enemy’s ability card or even by the actions of your own teammates. This system eliminates the alpha player through simultaneous hidden action selection to capture the chaos of battle.

With everything in this box, you will still find no dice. Instead, a deck of attack modifiers will provide the uncertainty of battle with one drawn every time you attack. Over time, however, you will be able to customize the deck, adding and removing cards by completing battle goals and leveling up.

As players interact with the town and move along the branching story paths of the world, they will always be working towards completing personal quests. By meeting certain objectives, a player’s character will retire, unlocking new buildings in town, new events for parties to encounter, and additional perks for the achieving player. After retirement, a player will create a new character, which are unlocked through buildings and scenarios, and continue the adventure.”

Comparisons:  Gloomhaven, Gloomhaven, Gloomhaven. After all, while Frosthaven is a standalone sequel, it is still essentially the same gameplay. And for anyone new to the Gloomhaven/Frosthaven world, keep in mind that while there is a storyline, and it does take place in a Dungeons & Dragons-like fantasy setting with a bevy of character classes, the focus of these games isn’t really on the storylines, but on the tactics of battle and the gameplay itself, as well as the retiring of character classes and unlocking of new ones. In that sense, typical dungeon crawlers aren’t really the best comparisons. The legacy-type elements are also generally limited to the stickers you’ll be placing on the board, and if you opt for the removable stickers, that undoes any kind of permanence of the game. So Gloomhaven isn’t really a legacy game (despite being listed as one at boardgamegeek), particularly because it doesn’t really have components that are destroyed, doesn’t follow a set campaign, and is also highly repayable. For all of those reasons, the best comparison outside of the Gloomhaven universe may be Mage Knight.

What Should I Pledge?:
$100 Frosthaven: a copy of Frosthaven.
$145 Frosthaven Bundle: a copy of Frosthaven, the Frosthaven Solo Scenarios, the Frosthaven Removable Stickers, and the Forteller Narration.
$240 Frosthaven Bundle + Organizer and Coins: everything in the Frosthaven Bundle pledge level, plus the Broken Token Organizer and a set of 60 metal coins.
$285 Game Play All-In Bundle: everything in the Frosthaven Bundle pledge level, plus a copy of Gloomhaven, Gloomhaven: Forgotten Circles, the Gloomhaven Solo Scenarios, the Gloomhaven Removable Stickers, and the Gloomhaven: Forgotten Circles Removable Stickers.

Add-Ons:
$100 Frosthaven (each additional copy)
$15 Frosthaven Solo Scenarios
$20 Frosthaven Removable Stickers
$15 Frosthaven Forteller Narration
$80 Frosthaven Broken Token Organizer
$50 Frosthaven Metal Pin Set (6)
$100 Gloomhaven
$30 Gloomhaven: Forgotten Circles
$18 Gloomhaven Digital (Steam Early Access)
$15 Gloomhaven Solo Scenarios
$10 Gloomhaven Removable Stickers
$6 Gloomhaven: Forgotten Circles Removable Stickers
$20 Metal Coin Set
$50 Gloomhaven Metal Pin Set (6)

KS Exclusives
None listed, although it’s unlikely you’ll find the Metal Coin Set, Pin Sets, or Solo Scenarios outside of this Kickstarter campaign.

All-In Total: In the continental U.S., you’re looking at $145 for Frosthaven Bundle plus $20 for the Metal Coin Set. That’s assuming you’re not interested in the Pin Sets, digital game, or very expensive Broken Token Organizer. If you’re late to the party and still don’t own a copy of Gloomhaven, then you’re looking at $285 for the the Gameplay All-In Bundle plus $20 for the Metal Coin Set. You’ll also need to add in your state sales tax if you live in CA, IN, or MI. And if you’re purchasing both Gloomhaven and Frosthaven items, shipping will be more expensive ($71) because it will ship in two waves, bringing your grand total to $356 (not including that pesky state sales tax). If you still wanted the Broken Token Organizer for Frosthaven along with the Gameplay All-In Bundle, you’d need to purchase it as an add-on, bringing your grand total to $436.

Frosthaven completes its Kickstarter on Friday, May 1st and tentatively ships in March 2021.