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Frosthaven Hits Kickstarter As Campaign Rockets Past $4 Million
April 1, 2020 by brennon
It was somewhat inevitable that the next step for the 'Haven' series would go down well on Kickstarter. Well, Cephalofair Games' Isaac Childres' latest adventure into the realm of euro-based dungeon crawling has smashed through $4 million and keeps ongoing. Come and explore the world of Frosthaven...
Frosthaven is a massive game where you start off with a selection of six unique characters and go dungeon delving in search of fame, fortune and in this case, to help rebuild the frontier town of Frosthaven. As you dungeon delve and explore the world you'll follow long story-based questlines but also venture off on classic side quests too which will uncover more and more content.
Additionally, Frosthaven is a legacy game (unless you use specific accessories) so everything you do builds on the game experience, unlocks new options and charts a unique story for you and your group. This does mean that you might need the same group of people to really experience the strengths of Frosthaven together but there are plenty of options for making one-off dungeon delves and such too for when everyone can't make it to the same session. If you're looking for a game which drags you right down into it and doesn't let go...this is the game for you.
As well as the new characters which come with updated and refined sculpts to match you'll also find yourself getting stuck into lots of more new mechanics too. One element which really stands out is the crafting system. When you go delving into dungeons now you instead bring back a mix of treasures, some of which don't glitter. As well as gold you'll also find yourself snagging materials like wood, stone and other more magical bits and bobs, all of which can be used to either build structures within the town of Frosthaven or armour, weapons and items for your heroes.
You'll, therefore, have to balance how you want to spend your resources. Do you want to continue to make the town prosperous or would you prefer to outfit yourself and your gang with better weapons so they can go and claim the skulls of more enemies? Talking of enemies, this new game also features loads of new creatures for you to try and beat and some of them might even end up joining you in your quest.
If you're interested in learning about the mechanics of Gloom/Frosthaven before diving in then I wrote a review a few years ago which goes through all of that. You can check it out HERE. Needless to say, it's different from what you might imagine and it's incredibly tactical.
The Pledges
The Kickstarter campaign features a selection of different options for those diving in. You can pick up the base game for $100 but there are also options which add in loads of extras and accessories.
For me, one of the neatest options is the addition of the little narrator program which will talk you through the story of the game instead of you reading along. In saying that, I do enjoy putting on the voices and reading through the book myself. You've also got the excellent coin set, sorting trays for the main box, removable sticker sheets (for those who don't like legacy games) and plenty more for you to explore too.
You can see a lot of how that breaks down as part of their accessories and add-ons section.
I have actually managed to 'complete' Gloomhaven, by which I mean I've finished the main storyline with some chums, and so it's neat to know that I still have a lot of content to get stuck into with Forgotten Circles and such. So, as well as expansions there are also lots of nice bits and bobs including those rather lovely badges! Those are normally only available at conventions and such so it's neat to see them included as part of the Kickstarter.
Despite my love for Gloomhaven, I don't think I'll be backing Frosthaven just now. We are in rather uncertain times and whilst I know this would be a sure thing; I'm not sure a big blow out of $100 would be very responsible right now. However, plenty of people seem to have been saving for just this occasion and it looks like Childres is set to smash it to the top of BoardGameGeek once again with this one.
Are you going to take the plunge and pick up Frosthaven?
"Are you going to take the plunge and pick up Frosthaven?"
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$5 million in two days. That’s… pretty good. LOL! 35,000 backers after two days, I can only imagine the fulfillment nightmare this could become when it’s finally finished. I hope Isaac has his proverbial ducks in a row.
Yeah, pretty much was a given this would go insane. Going to be little to no reason for retailers to want to get in on this one.
However, it has got to be the biggest most boring KS of all time. No stretch goals… no real enjoyment from backing early. Just feels like a pre order.
Great deal… just a shame its not very engaging or interesting to back.
For a lot of people, they’re probably very happy to just be able to simply know what they are pledging for and what they’re getting. There are so many campaigns out there with about a dozen graphics showing a billion new things you can/could/might get with awkward numbers of pledge options too. At least this is simple heh
Very true.
However, that is the part of KS that makes it worth while for me to invest so much money in something so far out in production.
To each their own, and it is making millions. So perhaps that’s just me in the minority.
GH is popular on BGG, and some BGG’ers are pretty anti-SG, particularly against CMON.
GH has enough of a reputation that they don’t need SG’s. IIRC, Isaac, the creator, said he didn’t want them, either. Tiny Furniture’s “Harvest of War” KS first 20K only unlocks more options rather than free SG’s, and they seem to be doing well. (20K starts the free SG’s.)
OTOH, It *is* less exciting that they’re doing a poll, rather than the daily (?) CYOA that they had last KS. Lots of flurry in the comments about which choice to make with the decisions!
Polls might have been an interest, had they mattered. Unfortunately, they don’t really matter. Or to be more honest, my opinion doesn’t matter… which means for me there is no point to them. With a thousand people, your opinion matters. You have a say in whats going on. With nearly 40 thousand backers, well lets be honest any one persons opinion doesn’t mean shit. That’s just the reality of such a popular KS. So the bore fest continues. Perhaps its just heightened by forced isolation, which makes it seem more then it really is. But still, just really disappointed in… Read more »
The dungeoners look good.
Good Lord this looks like total overkill. I wonder how many people actually play this to the fullest.
True! I have met players who played through GH twice, so this KS is for them.
Less frequent players may be better with Jaws of a Lion, which will be $50 in Amazon (?) and big box stores. Less content, but may still be a better choice.
GH coins look like a good price, although I never needed more than the 1-loot tokens…
As I mentioned above, I’ve finished the main story to Gloomhaven but not all of the side bits and pieces – still a lot to play. But, it took three years haha. As @ced1106 says below, this isn’t going to be for everyone but the Jaws Of The Lion standalone game seems like a good entry point for a lot of people.
It will be a couple of years at least before I finish Gloomhaven so happy to have this as an option to buy then!
The only thing I would like as an add on/ stretch goal would be an option to have miniatures for the enemies, or a separate KS.
£4 million in a day…. the gloom people must be dancing in joy….
@brennon I am tempted to get this as it sounds like a fascinating game to play and I like what I’ve heard from you talking about the ‘euro-ness’ of it previously.
Given how many games I already have and just how gigantic this thing is… can you tell me what you think of it as a single player game? Do you really need a group to make the most of the cooperation and support aspects of the game? Will you miss a great deal if you play it solo?
Is there a preferred number of players?
Single-player is ok, but it loses some of the tactical elements between the players. I would say that if you can, at least play it with one other person. I have played it with three and four and I think that that works best – the game scales well to the player count however so it certainly “works”. You’ll still be able to play all of the main quest and everything from within the box if you play solo. So, you won’t miss out on anything. You could even consider playing the game two-handed where you take control of two… Read more »
Thanks very much. It sounds like the kind of thing that’s worth doing properly if you’re doing to devote the time to do it at all. And probably not the sort of game I’m ever going to have the time to play right the way through more than once. So for experiencing multiple characters as well as the interaction sounds like it’s worth trying to find at least one other person to play with.
How beginner friendly is it? I wonder if my girlfriend might be interested…
GH isn’t particularly beginner-friendly, so I can’t imagine FH will be much different. @brennon makes a good point re: Jaws of the Lion. I kinda wish — having played not a lot of GH, even now 2.5 years after the second Kickstarter delivered — that was the gateway game.