Anyone familiar with the board game Gloomhaven?

[8filltheheart]

This is one expensive board game. Our family tradition is to open a new board game the week before Christmas and boardgamegeek over Christmas vacation. Our olmost 9 yr old is ready to play more challenging games, but with long ones like Catan, her interest does start to fizzle near the end. Trying to find a game that Both she and our 26 yr old Aspie will play is difficult. He likes Magic, Dominion, Civilization, and Risk. Those are about the only games he enjoys playing. Civilization is too much for Dd. (We have 3 different expansions and she loses track of who is doing what along with keeping up with her own.)

Im trying to decide if this game would be one we can p,at as a family a lot and it will be worth it or if it will be an expensive box on a shelf.

A couple of other options I am considering are Terraforming Mars and Castle of Mad King Ludwig.

Edited December 15, 2018 by 8FillTheHeart

[Tanaqui]

I wouldn't risk it at that price tag.

[Lecka]

My husband likes Magic and we can play Commander (a multi-player format) with a 9-year-old who has some help.  But it’s different when a parent doesn’t mind a player who needs help, I can see it frustrating non-parents.  

My husband has a lot of Commander decks, though, so it’s something we just have on hand.  

He loves to play Magic.  

Edit:  my oldest son and I have learned to play so we do already know how to play, it would be a lot harder if more than one or two other people didn’t already know how to play.  

 

Edited December 15, 2018 by Lecka

[wathe]

7 Wonders might work.   Complex enough.  Everyone takes their turn at the same time, so minimal time spent waiting.  Plays fairly quickly.  For sure less than an hour.

[8filltheheart]

Thanks for the suggestions. I guess I should have explained that we own a ton of games.  7 Wonders, Catan, 6 versions of Ticket to Ride, Dominion, Alhambra, and a quite a few more get played regularly. We play games as a family several times a week. 

Gloomhaven has high reviews on boardgamegeek. I just wondered if anyone has played with younger kids.

[prairiewindmomma]

The reviews that I've read says that it takes a serious amount of commitment to play because the rules and content are so rich.  In reading the vibe, I've gotten the sense that it's more for the D&D college dorm crew crowd to play on consecutive weekends over a semester, iykwim. 

I assume you guys already have Pandemic, Forbidden Island, Betrayal at House on the Hill, and the other usual suspects if you already have Dominion, 7 Wonders, etc.....

[prairiewindmomma]

Coming back to add...I suspect that we'll come to own it at some point. I don't think it's a horrible thing if a younger player drops out. I usually pair with my 10 yo so that if she needs to wander away to restock on hot cocoa or zone out eating popcorn, we can keep going.

[nixpix5]

It is a looonnnggggg game. I liken it to World of Warcraft or other online RPGs where you keep advancing, leveling up, gaining new items and so forth. If you have a dedicated table you could leave it up on as you come back to it that is ideal. Anyone can play, you don't have to keep coming back as the same group, but as your world expands and board is added, you don't want to keep having to set it back up and remember how it was. This is not a game you can sit down and play in an hour. It is similar to D&D in that respect. It is tedious a bit to keep track of rules and things. The other piece I will say is quality control is a real problem. We were missing items and it took forever to get replacements. However, that was the first run last year so hopefully it has gotten better. 

If your DD doesn't enjoy getting through to the end of Catan she may dislike this game. 

[8filltheheart]

Thanks. That is the best sum.ation of the game I have read. That does not sound like the type of game I am looking for, so I am thankful for your posting.

[importswim]

I don't have anything to add about Gloomhaven as I haven't played it, other than to say I bet that you could watch a shut up and sit down review https://www.shutupandsitdown.com/  I don't usually like watching videos but I'll watch these to see how games are played.

If you have Civilization then do you also have Through the Ages? We got it last year after wanting it for a while and I like it a lot more than Civ (which we also have). It's always rated near the top on boardgamegeek and I really like it. I bet your aspie would too! May have some similar issues with your 9 year old but I think this game is easier to play than Civilization.

ETA: my 9 year old likes to play Powergrid with us. Do you guys have that one?

Edited December 18, 2018 by importswim

[SoCal_Bear]

Would you consider a German style card game? I think Bohnanza is great fun with the age spread you are talking about. Also possibly, Bang! if you are open to that theme.

https://www.amazon.com/Rio-Grande-Games-RGG155-Bohnanza/dp/B00008URUS

https://www.amazon.com/Da-Vinci-Bang-4th-Edition-x/dp/B001RU7UNW/ref=sr_1_1?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1545097398&sr=1-1&keywords=bang

 

 

Edited December 18, 2018 by calbear

[Targhee]

You might consider Descent: Journeys in the Dark (2nd Edition) as an alternative.  It is similar to gloomhaven but scaled down. 

 

Edited December 18, 2018 by Targhee

[8filltheheart]

@importswim Thanks for that link. That is a new resource for me! 

I appreciate all of the responses. I decided on Terraforming Mars. I just ordered Bohnanza @calbear It was cheap enough that I could add it on. Thanks for that suggestion.

Aspie ds's birthday is the beginning of Feb so I am going to look into some of the other suggests as possibilities for then. 

Thanks again for the responses. I am glad I didn't opt for Gloomhaven. It would not have been a good choice for us. Some of the other games mentioned in this thread are new to me, so I look forward to digging into researching them later.

[Tanaqui]

Bohnanza is great fun! The first time a new player sits at the table to play, though, you have to intone every move DO NOT REARRANGE YOUR CARDS or lots of them will absent-mindedly do just that!

[8filltheheart]

4 hours ago, Tanaqui said:

Bohnanza is great fun! The first time a new player sits at the table to play, though, you have to intone every move DO NOT REARRANGE YOUR CARDS or lots of them will absent-mindedly do just that!

Thanks for the tip. We play lots of card games, too, so rearranging cards is a natural habit.

[8filltheheart]

Just thought I'd share that we all vote that Terraorming Mars is one of our best game additions in yrs. Great game!

Edited December 28, 2018 by 8FillTheHeart

[deerforest]

Late to the suggestions, but DH has Gloomhaven and Terraforming Mars, but DD and I won't play them with him. Just not our style! We are a huge board game family with probably over 350 games. If you don't know about this site yet, it's great: http://boardgamegeek.com

There are a lot of groups on FB too for advice. We buy a lot of them on Kickstarter, and a couple recent new additions include: Prehistory and Robin Hood and His Merry Men! But, our favorite seasonal one is Santa's Workshop!

[LMD]

Dh and the kids play Blackstone Fortress together, it is apparently somewhat similar to gloomhaven. My 8 year old plays too, but dh definitely leads the game.

Glad you found something good! *off to Google terraforming mars!*

[prairiewindmomma]

So.....two years later....I bought Gloomhaven. It has come down in price considerably (I got it at just over $100) and 2020 seems like the perfect winter for long drawn out quests.

What are people playing these days?

Any suggestions on what to pair with Gloomhaven as stocking stuffers? 

[prairiewindmomma]

I also saw this... https://store.steampowered.com/app/780290/Gloomhaven/

[SeaConquest]

Gloomhaven actually has a new stand-alone game out that is on my Hanukkah list. It gets great reviews:

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/291457/gloomhaven-jaws-lion

[Meriwether]

I know this is an old thread, but a game that would play well at multiple ages yet have some weight is Journeys in Middle Earth. My 10 year old could play it. The downside would be turn length if you have one of those players who takes for.ev.er.