Talking with my buddy Dave changed how I feel about heavy board games

I was at Mox Boarding House in Bellevue last weekend and my friend Dave told me he thinks Gloomhaven is actually a bad game design because it relies too much on setup time as a barrier. At first I wanted to argue but he pointed out how most campaigns fizzle out by scenario 10 or 12. Now I'm wondering if the popularity of big box games is just about looking impressive on a shelf. Has anyone else stepped back and felt like the 3 hour rulebooks are more about gatekeeping than fun?

2 comments

2 Comments

jade_lane1920d ago

Has anyone else found that playing with a smaller group helps keep those big games going? Our Gloomhaven crew of just three people made it all the way through because we scheduled one night a week and that was it, no pressure to do more. It changed my whole view on heavy games when we made them a regular thing instead of a big event.

emmafisher20d ago

This idea that Gloomhaven is somehow "bad design" because people don't finish it feels a little dramatic. A lot of folks never finish a campaign of Risk either, but that doesn't make it a bad game. I think some games are just meant for a certain kind of player, and that's okay. It's not gatekeeping, it's just a preference for heavier stuff.