If you’ve seen my unboxing video for the Kickstarter-funded board game “Gloomhaven”, you’ll know that I’ve been looking forward to this game for a long time. I’m not usually into Dungeoans & Dragons and other fantasy type games, but this one piqued my interest due to the “legacy” format of the game.

Legacy boardgames are a fairly new type of board game, because unlike the games we’ve been playing since we were kids, Legacy games have a finite lifespan. As you play through the game, you change the game – you unlock new things, characters are improved and then retired, cards are torn up, achievements are unlocked, and even the board itself will change. The game, or at least the main story, has an end. You can still play parts of the game once you’ve finished it – but it won’t be the same game as it was when you started.

Imagine playing Monopoly, and at the end of the game, perhaps you’ve saved enough money to remove Old Kent Road and replace it with a new shopping centre. Next time you play the game, there’s no Old Kent Road – it’s gone. Permanently. Instead of rent, the player who built it now receives a regular income from the retailers in the centre, instead of other players paying rent. Maybe in the next game, a previously unused space becomes home to a new Crossrail station – again, a permanent change.

With all that in mind, I’m going to use this section to chart my Gloomhaven progress.

Before I begin…

I’m playing solo, and according to the rules, this means I should increase the difficulty level of the game, because I’ll know what each player character is likely to do each turn. I’m not going to do that – although I could look at all the cards for both characters and work out the best way for them to co-ordinate, that’s a bit more effort than I fancy. I focus on one character at a time, ignoring possible moves the other character could make, and leave it at that. I always choose the lowest initiative for each character, and wait until the monster cards are revealed to see what the order for the round will be.

To begin with, I’m playing with the Inox Brute (I’ve called him Worf) and the Orchid Spellweaver (Twilight).