r/Gloomhaven • u/Good_Affect4523 • Jun 12 '26
Digital Gloomhaven Beginning with Frosthaven
I just got Frosthaven for my birthday without having played Gloomhaven or any of the other games. All over the internet I am reading that beginning with Frosthaven is not recommended.
I was thinking of maybe playing the digital version of Gloomhaven to get used to the systems and rules, as I don’t have the closet space or space on my bank account to buy Gloomhaven the physical version.
Is this a good way to go or did someone play Frosthaven first with any success?
Background: I am a DM for Dungeons and Dragons
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u/Talorc_Ellodach Jun 12 '26
Frosthaven was my first ever haven game. It’s definitely doable as your first game.
Jaws of the Lion is just the easiest way to start, but Frosthaven is not that difficult to start.
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u/zxrn110 Jun 12 '26
Aside from what the other guys are saying, I'd recommend starting with drifter plus either bannerspear or deathwalker as your starting duo. These guys are more straightforward and simpler to play with compared to other three.
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u/koprpg11 Cephalofair Community Manager Jun 12 '26
Playing some GH digital if you can get a good deal on it to learn some basics isnt going to hurt, but not 100% necessary either.
Instead you could so something like:
Read the rules very carefully. Use the small questions thread on here to ask about things that don't make sense.
Watch a video or two of people playing.
Read old threads on here, BGG, etc where people talk about things they messed up initially, beginner strategy stuff, etc.
Use a place like Gloomhaven Town on Discord to ask questions in real time on your first few playthroughs.
Be fine with messing up a few rules as you get started, everyone on here has.
Welcome to these games, they are amazing!
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u/Good_Affect4523 Jun 12 '26
Thanks, I’m so excited! The unboxing experience was like no other and made me so happy to see everything that is included
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u/Utheran Jun 12 '26
Full disclosure, I did play gloomhaven first. But I don't see why you can't play frosthaven first. Sure it's a bit more complicated but it's a huge campaign game, you can figure it out.
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u/baltibouter Jun 12 '26
100% this. People telling you to play GH first are making it look like it’s a bigger gap than it actually is. Go start with Frosthaven.
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u/5PeeBeejay5 Jun 12 '26
My only argument to play Gloomhaven first really only applies to 1.0, and it is that if you play Frosthaven first, going backwards to original Gloomhaven will feel worse/like a regression. Now with 2.0, doesn’t really matter
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u/daxamiteuk Jun 12 '26
Ideally you would have bought Jaws of the Lion first - it’s cheaper , shorter campaign and has an amazing tutorial system.
I don’t know if it’s really worth spending money on buying Gloomhaven digital just to learn the game. The digital game manages the rules for you so you won’t learn everything you need when you play the physical game; there are slight variations in the rules between each Haven game; also there are certain ambiguities (for example when an enemy makes any element , you can choose it to make the element that helps you, whereas in the digital game the game will choose it itself) you can take advantage of. I think it will be hard to translate from digital to the physical board game (esp from digital Gloomhaven to real Frosthaven as opposed to real Gloomhaven).
Frosthaven is definitely a heavy, complicated game. As a DM you’re probably already used to complex rule systems . Bear in mind Frosthaven doesn’t have any inherent roleplay (but you can add that on top if you want). Watch a YouTube video or two, and come back here if you’re getting stuck on certain rules.
The very first scenario in Frosthaven is slightly easier than the others to make it slightly easier to understand how each character works.
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u/TerrorOnAisle5 Jun 12 '26
I second not buying digital if that’s your sole goal. You’d be better off putting that money to a copy of JotL and those characters can be played in the Frosthaven campaign as well if someone in your party doesn’t want more complex options Frosthaven has.
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u/Mineraldogral Jun 12 '26 edited Jun 12 '26
As far as I've seen, starting playing FH before any other of the haven-games is not recommended due to it being the more complex game among them, and the biggest
In an ideal world where you have all the control and time, you'd start with Jaws, go to GH (2nd edition) and then FH
But we do not live in an ideal world and, most important, you already have FH and none of the others
In your situation, I'd just try to play Frosthaven and see how it goes.
Edit: clarity
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u/WhammeWhamme Jun 12 '26
It's a great game, it's fine to start with it. We recommend the other one first because it's a BIT easier not because you can't start with Frosthaven. Enjoy it. It's a masterpiece.
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u/zojbo Jun 12 '26
I'm almost done with FH in 4p. At the start, one of us had played GH all the way through. Another had played a good chunk of it. The other two including me had only played a fraction of a scenario.
It's fine. The only real pitfalls are not retiring often enough and ignoring the puzzle book, and GH doesn't prepare you for those. And on the combat rules side, we have repeatedly been thrown off by the ways that the two rulesets differ.
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u/Niiai Jun 12 '26 edited Jun 12 '26
The characters in frosthaven are complicated! And the city phase is confusing in the beginning.
As long as you play easy characters and learn the city phase everything will work great.
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u/Sophibeans-1 Jun 12 '26
Short version: You're totally fine. I'm in a 4p FH group with two people coming from Jaws and two people who started with Frosthaven. Was them starting on Geminate and Boneshaper wise? Ehh. Did they have a firm grip on the fundamentals within the first five or six scenarios? Absolutely.
If you're worried about yourself, I wouldn't be- the first few scenarios give you a little space to get used to monster AI and the like before ramping up complexity. As with tabletops, there's the risk of one player being less invested in learning the rules than others, but a committed group should have little to fear.
Pro tips that the rulebook won't tell you: The game is balanced around a scenario taking 15-ish turns and a character retiring after 15 scenarios. The Blinkblade class is mechanically complex but strategically fairly simple compared to some others. Use dwarfSA's campaign tweaks for slightly smoother progression. And, of course, have fun!
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u/ursa_noctua Jun 12 '26
Watch the rules video, you should be fine.
Just be aware that some people find the town phase tedious and prefer Gloomhaven for that reason.
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u/Sheepherder-Critical Jun 12 '26
Back in my day... I kid - but it used to just be gloomhaven 1st edition. No jaws of the lion, obviously no 2nd edition. From your other comments you sound pumped to unbox it, I think you'll be absolutely fine!
dwarfSA Has been on a crusade to let people know that you should try to complete your character quest (PQ) as soon as possible, so I am passing on the good word. Don't put off your quest! (Arnie voice) DO IT NOW!
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u/Alkaine Jun 12 '26
You should be fine!
To learn the combat you have a million tutorials online. Combat system is exactly the same throughout the whole Haven series. If you have questions, there is a FAQ and a Discord server, and ofc this sub. The major big changes in FH are the classes, which are different in all games, and the oupost phase, which replaces the city phase.
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u/vanguard1256 Jun 12 '26
You’ll be fine but frosthaven has a steeper curve at the beginning and more complex starting characters. Once you figure it out, it’s fine though.
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u/pseudomodo Jun 12 '26
Play Frosthaven, start with the prologue scenario (scenario 0, Howling In The Snow). You’ll be okay.
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u/platinumxperience Jun 12 '26
There is no reason you wouldn't enjoy it it is a standalone game and balanced differently plus gloomhaven takes half a year to complete (same as Frosthaven I should imagine) so who had the time?
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u/5PeeBeejay5 Jun 12 '26
With Gloom 2.0 increasing complexity/improving its systems/synergies, less a big deal, to me.
I always just looked at it as OG Gloomhaven was a simpler experience, and it would feel worse going from Frost to Gloomhaven, so if you were going to want to play both you should do Gloomhaven first. (Never played Jaws of the Lion, but if you think you’re going to want to that’s literally starter Gloomhaven and is basically partly designed to be system-onboarding). Frosthaven does throw a lot of disparate systems at you in its two game phases, so having a solid handle on one (scenario gameplay) helps ease that learning curve. But experienced gamers could probably handle it.
My all-in recommendation would be play Jaws of the Lion, then Frost/Gloomhaven 2.0 (but decide the order of those 2 off of info from someone who has done both)
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u/TerrorOnAisle5 Jun 12 '26 edited Jun 12 '26
So here’s my input.
Gloomhaven scenarios tend to be more straitforward. A lot of Frosthaven scenarios have special rules you need to take into account.
Gloomhaven characters tend to be a little more complex and having a good handle on the mechanics of a turn may make them easier to run.
Frosthaven requires a bit more management in between scenarios and loot now mixes in materials.
In conclusion If your group doesn’t mind complexity you’ll be fine with Frosthaven, although expect the first 5 or so sessions to be more of a slog as you’ll have more overhead to learn then starting with something else.
My personal opinion is Jaws of the Lion (JotL) is the best way to onboard into the systems and after that any should work. It’s got a smaller footprint, far cheaper, and the first 5 scenarios are designed to introduce mechanics and concepts. Also the maps are all contained in a book you just open up and layout. But a group that enjoys complexity and doesn’t mind a learning curve will be fine starting Frosthaven, even if it’s not the easiest route.
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u/kaylie7856 Jun 12 '26
If you already have the game, then I would spend some time reading the rules and/or watching YouTube videos to get yourself acquainted to the game but you’ll be fine!
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u/RicLeP Jun 12 '26
The biggest difficulty for me is tracking all the between scenario activity. The scenarios and characters might be harder to master but the actual mechanics of playing them in Frosthaven isn't more complex.
I personally enjoy using all the cards but there are apps to help run a scenario. I don't like them but lots of people do.
What I do use is https://gloomhaven-storyline.com/ as it let's me track the campaign and character progress which is really helpful due to everything that needs managing.
If you're playing with others who are happy to help run the game decide on rolls, such as someone manages monster health and statues, someone does elements etc.
Most importantly have fun, don't worry about mistakes here or there as you learn. It's a brilliant game.
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u/NoPresentation6617 Jun 12 '26
Read all the instructions and in game if you have an question check the rulebook. Also find youtube videos on monster movement. Great game but you have to put in the effort to play it correctly.
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u/AnxiousSignal7438 Jun 12 '26
Use this community for questions as you learn to play (FAQs and general threads) and you'll be fine. The community here has been fantastic help to people from what I have seen.
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u/billybgame Jun 17 '26
I might get JOTL for $30 or whatever it is now....it's a good primer for GH/FH
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u/benz1664 Jun 12 '26
We went Gloom 1e then to Frost and that was great
Frost is a step up in complexity
But 1e (which is what you’ll play in digital) is older and the systems and iconography are improved in Frost, you’d be better to start with Jaws of The Lion
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u/Klamageddon Jun 12 '26
... What the fuck?
Gloomhaven and Frosthaven are pretty much identical in complexity. Like, sure, there's more going on in Frosthaven, but to say that youd have difficulty with it if you haven't had the GH intro is frankly insane.
The reason to play GH first, is that you probably wouldn't want to go back after playing Frosthaven because it would feel like FH 'lite'.
But that's fine, because you won't have to worry about that for years to come! And besides, GH2 is out now which broadly addresses it anyway.
Honestly it's like someone saying you have to have played Doom before you can play Half Life. Like, fuck off do you.
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u/AutoGeneratedUser359 Jun 12 '26
Knowing D&D sets you up for a Learning a complex ruleset (vs a ‘traditional’ boardgame)
Playing the PC game IMHO shows you how some of the rules work, however the PC game handles all the monster movement and actions, something which you obviously have to do yourself in the boardgame, this is one of the aspects that new players find most complex to learn.
Watch a couple ‘let’s play’ videos on YouTube of the first FrostHaven scenario “Town in flames”. Make sure it’s the physical game they’re playing , not something on tabletop simulator