Gloomhaven

Gloomhaven on PC is a tactical RPG and digital dungeon crawler based on Isaac Childres' strategy board game. The current Steam and Epic storefront name remains Gloomhaven; “Gloomhaven: Digital Edition” describes the adaptation and developer credit rather than a replacement title. It combines a branching dark-fantasy campaign with card-driven combat, party management, online co-op, and a separate Guildmaster adventure.

Card-driven tactical combat

Gloomhaven is played from an isometric perspective across hex-grid battlefields. You lead a party of two to four mercenaries through caves, forests, ruins, and other hostile locations, with each scenario built around objectives such as defeating enemies, reaching a destination, or surviving a dangerous encounter.

The defining system is two-card turn planning. Each mercenary selects two ability cards, then uses the top action of one card and the bottom action of the other. Initiative values determine turn order, so choosing when to act can matter as much as choosing what to do. A fast attack may interrupt an enemy plan, while a slow turn can allow a stronger ability to land after the battlefield changes.

Cards are also a limited resource. Powerful abilities often carry a loss icon, permanently removing the card from the current scenario after use. Repeatedly resting and recovering cards can eventually cause exhaustion, making resource timing as important as damage output. Movement, line of sight, traps, obstacles, elemental effects, and enemy positioning all feed into the same tactical puzzle.

Combat rewards players who coordinate roles instead of treating every mercenary as a basic damage dealer. A Brute can control space, a Spellweaver can shape an encounter with area attacks, and a Scoundrel can exploit isolated targets. The broader roster contains 17 unique characters, each with a distinct ability deck and progression path.

Campaign choices and mercenary progression

The main Campaign mode adapts the board game's branching structure into a persistent PC adventure. The official digital campaign contains 95 story missions, with scenario access shaped by decisions, events, objectives, and the direction your party takes through the region.

Between missions, you manage a group of hired adventurers rather than a conventional fixed party. Characters gain experience, purchase equipment, improve their decks with enhancements and perks, and pursue personal goals. Retirement is part of the campaign structure: completing a mercenary's personal quest can remove that character from active service while helping unlock new possibilities for the roster.

Town events and road events add decisions outside combat. They can influence rewards, reputation, scenario conditions, or the immediate risks of travel. These choices do not turn Gloomhaven into a dialogue-heavy role-playing game, but they give the campaign a sense of continuity and make party management more consequential than simply selecting the next mission.

Players who prefer a more flexible structure can choose Guildmaster mode. It is a digital-exclusive adventure with more than 160 missions, different progression rules, additional maps and NPCs, and a looser approach to character management. Mercenaries do not follow the same retirement loop as the story campaign, making Guildmaster a useful space for experimenting with combinations and learning how different classes interact.

Content model and digital additions

The paid base game includes the main Campaign mode, Guildmaster mode, the original mercenary roster, the core scenario content, and the systems needed for solo or cooperative play. It is not a free-to-play game and does not depend on a seasonal content model.

Optional paid content expands the digital edition rather than replacing the base campaign. Jaws of the Lion adds four mercenaries, new enemies, bosses, items, and a separate campaign that becomes available through the existing game map. Its characters and items can also be used in the main modes.

The Solo Scenarios: Mercenary Challenges add-on contains 17 character-specific scenarios, with each mission built around the strengths and weaknesses of a particular original mercenary. It also adds 17 associated items. A separate Jaws of the Lion Alternative Skins pack is listed as free content on Steam.

This structure gives PC players a clear choice: the base game is already a substantial tactical campaign, while the add-ons target players who want more classes, specialized challenges, and additional scenarios after learning the core rules.

Who should play Gloomhaven?

Gloomhaven is a strong fit for players who enjoy deliberate turn-based tactics, party composition, difficult encounters, and systems that punish wasteful decisions. It suits people who like studying ability cards, planning several actions ahead, and replaying a scenario to understand why a promising strategy failed.

It is less suitable for players looking for fast combat, casual dungeon crawling, or a traditional action RPG where characters can freely repeat their strongest abilities. Gloomhaven expects commitment. Even routine encounters can become dangerous when a party burns too many cards early, misjudges initiative, or enters a room without a reliable plan for movement and recovery.

The game also works well for solo players who are comfortable controlling multiple mercenaries. In co-op, the challenge becomes partly social: players must coordinate without revealing every card in their hands, then accept that an apparently sound plan can collapse when initiative order, enemy behavior, or exhaustion changes the situation.

For a darker party-management alternative built around stress, attrition, and expedition risk, turn-based dark-fantasy dungeon games such as Darkest Dungeon offer a harsher but less card-focused structure.

PC features and multiplayer

The PC version supports single-player and online co-op for up to four players. Epic lists controller support and cross-platform multiplayer features, while Steam lists the game with Steam Workshop, Steam Cloud, Steam Trading Cards, Family Sharing, and an included level editor.

The level editor and Workshop support are important distinctions from a straightforward board-game conversion. They give the PC edition a broader user-content ecosystem, allowing players to explore community-made scenarios and experiment with custom content beyond the official campaign structure.

On Steam, the game is distributed through the Steam client and includes cloud-save support. The Epic version is distributed through the Epic Games Store. Neither storefront currently presents a replacement name such as a “Classic” or “Definitive” edition for the base PC game.

English is the full-audio language. The interface and subtitles also support French, German, Spanish from Spain, and Polish. This makes the rules-heavy adaptation more accessible to international players, although the voiced narration remains English.

Similar PC games

Players who want a more direct tabletop-style dungeon experience can look at cooperative fantasy board-game adventures like Demeo PC Edition. Demeo shares the party-based dungeon setting and turn-based decision-making, but Gloomhaven is more focused on persistent campaign progression, card management, and class-specific optimization.

For a roguelike variation on tactical spellcasting and cooperative runs, turn-based fantasy roguelikes such as Inkbound provide a more run-based structure. Gloomhaven is the better match for players who want a long-form campaign where mercenary retirement, personal quests, equipment, and branching scenarios shape the wider adventure.

Gloomhaven FAQ

Is Gloomhaven still the current PC name?

Yes. Steam and Epic list the base game as Gloomhaven. “Gloomhaven: Digital Edition” is used to identify the computer adaptation and its development credits, but it has not replaced Gloomhaven as the current storefront title.

Is Gloomhaven single-player or multiplayer?

It supports both. You can play solo by controlling multiple mercenaries, or play online co-op with up to four players. The PC storefronts do not present the game as a local split-screen co-op title.

What is included in the base game?

The base game includes the 95-mission story Campaign, the Guildmaster adventure with more than 160 digital missions, the original roster of 17 mercenaries, card-based combat, character progression, equipment, events, and online cooperative play.

What does Jaws of the Lion add?

Jaws of the Lion adds four mercenaries, new enemies, bosses, items, and a dedicated campaign. Its characters and equipment can also be used in the existing Gloomhaven modes.

Does Gloomhaven support mods?

Yes. The Steam edition lists Steam Workshop support and an included level editor, allowing players to access community content in addition to the official campaigns.

What languages are supported on PC?

English includes full audio and text support. French, German, Spanish from Spain, and Polish are supported for interface and subtitles.