Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion Review

boardgamequest.com:

We review Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion, a dungeon crawling board game published by Celophair Games. In Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion, players get to experience the Gloomhaven system in a much more accessible package.

Gloomhaven is many things to the board game community. It was, until I started writing this review, the number one game on Board Game Geek (you’re welcome Brass!). It’s a thematic dungeon crawler that has broad appeal to both Euro and ameritrash gamers. It’s a legacy game where you retire characters and unlock new ones based on a life goal. Its straight-forward concept yet deep gameplay makes each of the 90+ scenarios a puzzle to solve.

Starting out in Gloomhaven reminds me of a story from high school. I was testing to be a lifeguard at a Boy Scout camp and the last drill was to save someone “drowning”. Long story short, once I swam to the water polo player I was supposed to save, he leapt out of the water, tackled me, and then proceeded to spend the next few minutes tossing me around the waterfront much to the amusement of everyone else watching before he got bored and let me save him.

What’s that story have to do with Gloomhaven? That’s kind of how the first mission felt but without the merciful ending.

Like most dungeon crawlers there are a lot of rules in Gloomhaven Jaws of the Lion so this section will just touch upon some of the key mechanics. The game also comes with a Learn to Play Guide which introduces the game and slowly adds mechanics through the first five scenarios to ease you into the experience (unlike its big brother which threw you in the deep end and smacked you around like my lifeguarding final).

Each scenario is played out in a spiral-bound book, like many Plaid Hat games, and has some