50 Fun Facts About Gloomhaven

Most dungeon crawlers settle fights with dice; what does Gloomhaven use to randomise attacks?

A deck of cards replaces dice in Gloomhaven: every attack flips one, and each character's own stack improves as that character grows stronger over the campaign.

Which website ranked Gloomhaven its No. 1 board game from 2017 until February 2023?

BoardGameGeek ranks games by its users' ratings, and Gloomhaven topped that list for more than five years while selling roughly 120,000 copies by August 2018.

Which designer created Gloomhaven, naming Dungeons & Dragons, Diablo and Final Fantasy among its inspirations?

Isaac Childres began creating Gloomhaven in 2013 and published it through Cephalofair Games in 2017. The films Willow and Labyrinth also fed into it.

Which crowdfunding site launched Gloomhaven in 2015 with a campaign that raised $386,104?

Kickstarter backers came back in far greater numbers for a second campaign in 2017, which raised about $4 million from over 40,000 people.

Rather than dying, what happens to a Gloomhaven character whose hit points drop below one?

The character becomes exhausted and leaves the map for the rest of the scenario, yet still shares in the rewards if the remaining party goes on to win.

What must a Gloomhaven character do on returning to town with a fulfilled personal quest?

Retire is the only choice: the mercenary's dream is fulfilled, and the group usually gets to open a sealed box that unlocks a brand-new class to play.

What do Gloomhaven players physically add to an ability card to enhance it permanently?

Stickers from the enhancement sheets are paid for in gold and never removed, so the upgrade stays with that class long after the character who bought it has gone.

Zen Studios turned Gloomhaven into a digital table for which arcade-style game in December 2023?

Pinball FX gained a Gloomhaven table in 2023, two years after the board game's full video game adaptation left early access on Windows.

Which Gloomhaven sequel, set in a small northern outpost, raised almost $13 million from backers?

Frosthaven drew over 83,000 backers in 2020 and was the most-funded game on its crowdfunding platform until the Cosmere Roleplaying Game passed it in 2024.

Which smaller Gloomhaven prequel, with a five-scenario tutorial, launched as a Target exclusive?

Jaws of the Lion was designed to appeal to more casual players, with 25 scenarios in which the party investigates a series of disappearances in the city.

When two enemies are equally close to a Gloomhaven monster, which of them becomes its focus?

The one acting earlier in the round's initiative order draws the monster, so a character who plays a slow card can steer its attack toward a faster ally.

A Gloomhaven monster whose card shows only a move finds its focus as if making which attack?

Melee is the default, so the monster heads for a hex next to whichever enemy it could reach in the fewest steps, even though it will not strike this round.

What does a Gloomhaven monster with a ranged attack and a move do when its focus is adjacent?

It steps away first, moving just far enough to lose Disadvantage, and it values that clean shot above catching extra targets with the same attack.

A Gloomhaven monster without Flying treats traps as obstacles unless which situation applies?

No other route exists is the sole exception: offered a ten-step detour around a trap or a two-step walk through it, the monster still takes the detour.

When several Gloomhaven monsters of one type take turns, which of them always go first?

The elites go first, then the normal monsters follow in ascending order of the numbers on their standees, which are shuffled when the figures are placed.

A Gloomhaven monster drawing a multi-target attack moves so that it hits its focus and who else?

As many others as it can reach is the rule, and when several hexes are equally good the players choose where the monster ends up.

How does a Gloomhaven monster that cannot reach attack range this turn use its movement?

It moves as close as it can to a hex it could attack from, counting the hexes it must physically walk, so staying out of reach never freezes a monster in place.

A Gloomhaven monster with no hex to attack from will not move or attack, but still does what?

Its other card abilities still resolve, so a monster sealed behind a closed door keeps shielding or healing even though it has no target to chase.

A Gloomhaven monster's Heal ability goes to itself or an ally in range, decided by which measure?

Most hit points lost wins, so a battered heavyweight is healed ahead of a nearly dead weakling, and the players choose if two candidates are level.

What do normal Gloomhaven monsters leave on their hex when killed that summoned monsters never do?

A money token marks each ordinary kill, but summoned or spawned monsters drop no such reward, so a boss that keeps calling in help never becomes a source of endless gold.

When a Gloomhaven monster card consumes an element, which monsters of that type benefit?

All that activate share the boost, not just the first to move, and monsters always consume an element when they can, so leaving one strong can backfire.

A Shield bonus on a Gloomhaven monster's ability card starts protecting it at which moment?

On its own turn the monster gains the bonus, which then lasts until the round ends, so attacking before a slow enemy has gone gets around its armour.

A Gloomhaven character opens a door mid-round; when do revealed monsters with lower initiative go?

Right after that turn ends, every revealed monster type that should already have gone takes its turn, so each new room fights back in the round it is opened.

Which Gloomhaven condition makes monsters treat a character exactly like an obstacle?

Invisible characters cannot be focused on or targeted, so one standing in a doorway can leave monsters with no way through, though splash damage may still hurt.

A long-resting Gloomhaven character counts as having which initiative value for the round?

99 puts the resting character at the very end of the round, and only then does the rest heal 2 hit points.

Obstacles and monsters never interrupt line of sight in Gloomhaven; which feature alone blocks it?

Walls are the only blockers, so a character can shoot straight past a boulder or a crowd of monsters, and two hexes split by one are not even adjacent.

In first-edition Gloomhaven, line of sight needs a clear line between which points of the two hexes?

Any two corners will do, one on each hex, and the same test governs close-up strikes, heals and every other ability that lists a range.

Which Gloomhaven ability ignores monsters and obstacles in range yet still needs line of sight?

Loot picks up everything within its range regardless of what stands in the way, but it counts as a ranged ability, so coins hidden from view stay put.

When does a Gloomhaven summon take its turn, relative to the character who summoned it?

Directly before its summoner is the fixed slot, and a new summon sits out the round in which it appears, so it never gets a turn the moment it is created.

A Gloomhaven summon is not steered by its owner; what decides where it moves and whom it hits?

The monster rules run every summon, which behaves as if it had drawn a plain Move+0, Attack+0 card each round while using its owner's attack modifiers.

During a Jump move in Gloomhaven, which hex must still obey the normal movement rules?

The last hex counts as normal movement, so a jumping character sails over enemies and obstacles but still suffers whatever terrain lies where the jump lands.

What happens when a flying Gloomhaven monster is pushed into a hex that contains a trap?

Nothing is triggered, because Flying ignores terrain even during forced movement; shove one of the same monster's grounded allies there and the trap goes off.

Which Gloomhaven condition adds +1 to every attack against a figure until a Heal removes it?

Poison also swallows the Heal that cures it: the condition comes off, but the figure regains no hit points from that Heal.

Which Gloomhaven condition gives a figure Disadvantage on all attacks until its next turn ends?

Muddle makes the figure draw two modifiers for each attack and keep the worse one, the exact reverse of what Strengthen does with Advantage.

Instead of losing hit points, how can a Gloomhaven character negate one source of damage?

Lose a card from hand, or two from the discard pile, and the damage vanishes, though any other effects of the attack still land.

A short rest costs a Gloomhaven player one discarded card; how is that card chosen?

At random is the price of resting quickly; a player who hates the result may suffer 1 damage to redraw once, while a long rest lets them choose.

Besides returning discards and healing 2, what does a long rest refresh for a Gloomhaven character?

Spent item cards turn upright again, so a long rest can ready the same piece of gear for a second use, at the cost of the character's whole turn.

Any Gloomhaven ability card can be played as a basic Attack 2 on top or which bottom action?

Move 2 is always available on the bottom half, and a card used for either basic action is simply discarded, even if its printed action would have been lost.

When two Gloomhaven players reveal the same initiative, what do they compare to break the tie?

Their second cards settle it, and if those match as well the two players simply agree between themselves who goes.

Who gets credit for the kill when a Gloomhaven monster dies from a Wound at the start of its turn?

Nobody does: the kill belongs to no one, whereas a monster that dies on a trap is credited to whoever forced it there.

Fire, Ice, Air, Earth and Light are five of Gloomhaven's six elements; which is the sixth?

Dark completes the set, and an element one figure creates can be consumed by any other, monsters included, before it fades from the table.

Whenever a Gloomhaven element is consumed, which column does it drop to, no matter where it started?

Inert is where a consumed element always lands, even straight from Strong, so a single infusion can never be used twice by eager teammates.

Which mode found only in the Gloomhaven video game offers about 160 missions of its own?

Guildmaster mode sits beside the full 95-mission board game campaign, and guilds and characters cannot be carried from one mode to the other.

Besides rotating it, what else may a Gloomhaven player do to an area-of-effect pattern?

Mirror it: a lopsided pattern may be flipped as well as turned, which matters for any shape that is not the same as its own reflection.

If Gloomhaven runs out of standees as a new room is revealed, which monsters are placed first?

Those closest to the opener go down first and whatever cannot be placed is simply left out, so a crowded map can thin the next room.

What does a Gloomhaven character gain for every three checkmarks earned from completed battle goals?

An extra perk permanently improves the character's odds in combat, and up to six can be earned this way on top of the one that comes with each new level.

Which city statistic in Gloomhaven sets the highest level a brand-new character may start at?

Prosperity climbs as the campaign goes on and also stocks the shop with new items, so latecomers need not start again from level 1.

What must a Gloomhaven party complete before travelling to a scenario not linked to its last?

A road event is drawn and read aloud, and the party must agree on one of its two options before turning it over to learn the outcome.

Which Gloomhaven starting class is the best healer of the six and brings a large hand of 12 cards?

Tinkerer players also get gadgets, traps and summoned contraptions, a jack-of-all-trades kit that makes the class the party's main support.

Which board game format, built on permanent changes and sealed envelopes, does Gloomhaven use?

Legacy games change for good from one session to the next, a format Rob Daviau first used in Risk Legacy in 2011.