Grumpily Marching on
JW: Well, we can act as if there are a lot of interesting games next month, but everybody will be backing Frosthaven, right? Because that's just what we needed. 100 more scenarios. I always found Gloomhaven a bit lacking for content. Athena: Why so many? Don't we have other games to play? Frost has much better artwork than the original but very complicated characters, seems like a chore to play.
JW: And another Shem trilogy comes to an end with Viscounts of the West Kingdom. North Sea, West Kingdom, you know from here on it will just go South. Athena: Moving on: Chronicles of Crime Millennium series. App-based. I hate apps. JW: Chai: Tea for 2 doesn't have an app. Athena: But it's not Tea for 1. Then we have Pax Pamir: a game that thrives on negotiation and player interaction. Why ruin it by playing solo? And Dark Ages, I don't see why solo this either. JW: No friends. Anyway, I can't afford it, and I hate it that they split the game in two boxes. Too bad. I was kind of attracted to those mini buildings. But I see Starlight comes with some nice spaceship minis. Athena: And that is all they show. The KS preview has only two illustrations and many big promises. But the silly SF dungeon crawler Secret Unknown Stuff: Escape from Dulce must be right up your alley. JW: Yes! I almost backed it the first time and I am pretty sure I will almost back it this time. Athena: It's a bit too trashy for me. JW: Is that even possible? Want to play Ravage: Swamps of Delgor then? Athena: 'Finally an orc dungeon crawler'. I don't recall ever wanting to play as an orc.
JW: But the green skin really brings out your eyes.
Athena: Veilwraith. I am one of the three people in the whole board gaming community who don't like this artwork. JW: Well, I don't think anyone buys Tristan's games for the artwork. Oh wait.
Athena: Pandemain: Traditional Farmers' Bread seems like a good euro. But I don't like bots. JW: Did you ever try one? Or is it just robophobia? Athena: I see them as very annoying opponents. I would play with real people if I kneaded that. Anyway...
JW: Planet Unknown. Polyominoes! Oh look, it has a lazy Susan in the middle.
Athena: Useful for snacks!
Athena: You are an avid reader, JW, how about The Shivers?
JW: My daughter's too old for pop-up books now. And I'll be damned if I read them out to myself.
Athena: Graphic Novel Adventures then.
JW: That's not a game. Please stop bringing it up.
Athena: How about the very pretty Thundergryph match box series? There will be five games. Rebis, Space Lunch and Golems,
JW: Space Lunch and Golems? Sounds cool! Athena: It's two games, pay attention. 15 Days, JW: Yeah, I read about gameplay. I'll fall asleep on the first day. Athena, unperturbed: and Eiyo. JW: Ah! Is it by The Police? "Ee-oh, ee-oh, ee-i-yo!" Haven't shouted that in a while, makes me feel young again. "Ee-oh, ee-oh, ee-yay-yo! Yay-yo! Yay-yo! Yay yay yay! Yay yay yay! ..."
I suppose Isaac didn't want to create characters that would feel similar to the ones in Gloomhaven. It makes sense from a designer's point of view, and I'm sure there are people who enjoy very thinky games.
If I had Gloomhaven, I'd probably transfer the characters I'm already familiar with to Frosthaven, and ignore the new, complicated ones... Frosthaven will also have a book of riddles. I'd probably skip that one too! :D
I don't know if Frost will be less fiddly. I only read that you will be able to order an insert during the Kickstarter, to at least make setup easier.
I am really looking forward to Jaws of the Lion for that very reason. While I think Frosthaven is going to be a deeper experience, it looks like the complexity of the classes nudges it further away from being a solo-friendly game.
After putting it off for months, I finally made the jump to downloading the Gloomhaven Helper app to help with the bookkeeping. While I'm not against apps per se (Mansion of Madness is an absolute blast and the app is amazing,) it is a bit much if your game needs an app to help with the bookkeeping. In my mind, that would be a sign to maybe tone down the fiddly-ness a bit...
I'm cautious about Starlight, but let's see the final outcome. And yes, I wanted to back Frosthaven but because I haven't played Gloomhaven, I'm afraid the complexity will strip away all the fun. There's always Jaws of the Lion, of course...
Check out the BGG site for Starlight as it has dev diaries and a bit more information than the current KS page. The game looks really promising.
And while I love Gloomhaven and will probably back Frosthaven (I'm pretty sure if you don't your BGG login gets erased or something for not being a good gamer) but I'm right there with you on the classes. Some of them look....way overly complicated for the sake of being, well, complicated.