Gloomhaven - Gameplay Overview

Gloomhaven, the digital adaptation of the most highly rated physical board game of all time by Flaming Fowl Studios, is not your typical Tactical RPG. In Gloomhaven, you lead a party of fearless mercenaries, guiding them through dark and dangerous dungeons in search of untold riches.

Put your strategy to the test in unforgiving turn-based combat Victory belongs only to the most daring players with the sharpest minds! At the start of early access, 4 out of the full roster of 17 mercenaries will be available to build your party: The Cragheart is an expelled member of the proud Savvas race, now deprived of their rank.

Though he still displays terrifying physical strength and can unleash devasting rock attacks. The Brute is the fearless frontliner from the Inox tribes. He never hesitates either to use his raw strength or to demand payment for it. The Scoundrel is a swift, self-serving assassin fresh from the city streets.

The dungeon’s dark corners hide her perfectly, until it’s time to strike. The Spellweaver is one of the very few chosen Orchid sages. She left her meditation to bring order to the land with powerful magical and elemental attacks. Each mercenary has dozens of unique abilities, paired to form ability cards.

Prepare your deck of cards and equip your heroes carefully before entering a dungeon. You will need to combine these abilities with clever tactical choices to survive the challenges within, especially the more difficult ones. Inside the halls of the dungeon, every choice you make has life or death consequences.

A turn begins with the selection of two ability cards for each character. Each card carries its own initiative score, determining the order of play for the upcoming turn. The choice of your ability cards is therefore of the utmost importance: it will affect your tactical options, the turn order and your overall strategy.

The enemies you face also pack their own set of deadly abilities, drawing their own initiative for the turn. Their abilities vary wildly, ranging from simple melee attacks to powerful spells. For each turn, a character uses one top half and one bottom half from their two selected cards, before both cards are discarded.

Be careful as some of the most powerful abilities will be burned instead: they can only be used once per dungeon. Gloomhaven will test both your tactical planning and your control of resources. Remember the golden rule: never run out of cards! Resting will allow you to recover your discarded cards, at the cost of burning some precious ones you already have.

In Gloomhaven, you fail when all your characters are out of health points or cards left to play. Be prepared to challenge yourself as the game will show you no mercy and the only answer to an untimely death is to come back stronger. In the Rogue-like Mode, you travel from town to town in search of fame and fortune, choosing your own path and stumbling upon the occasional encounter along the way.

The tougher the Adventure, the greater the reward. As you triumph in these adventures, your mercenaries will find and purchase rare equipment, gain levels, upgrade abilities, and complete objectives, unlocking new parties of mercenaries in the process.

And if you dare, you can even try your luck against bosses, hidden in the depths of the most dangerous dungeons. Early Access starts on July the 17th, but be prepared for an ever-evolving challenge with loads of new content regularly coming your way.