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Frosthaven
A giant frozen campaign that asks for a year of your life and mostly earns it.
Designed by Isaac Childres · 2022
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If you've got a committed group and a shelf you don't mind sacrificing, Frosthaven is one of the best tactical co-ops ever boxed. Everyone else should walk away slowly.
Best for: Dedicated groups who loved Gloomhaven and want more crunch
What it is
Frosthaven is Isaac Childres' follow-up to Gloomhaven, and it's a 1-4 player co-op campaign you build over months. Combat runs on cards, not dice. Each round you pick two from your hand, juggle initiative, and try to chain abilities into something nasty. You can't tell teammates your exact numbers, so you actually have to talk like people. Players consistently call this combat one of the best tactical puzzles in the hobby, and they're right.
The catch
Here's the honest part. This thing is enormous. The box weighs around 30 pounds, the rulebook is roughly 80 pages, and a single scenario can eat three hours before you even touch the setup and teardown. Reviewers keep flagging the same stuff: fiddly admin, snow tiles you can barely tell apart, and an outpost phase that some love and others call paperwork in a parka. It's also a legacy game, so one campaign and you're largely done. Casual nights cannot carry it.
Who it's for
So who's this for? Groups who already adored Gloomhaven and want more teeth, with a steady table and a year to spend. The new outpost layer (crafting, building, brewing) gives you rewards just for showing up, which softens the rough scenarios. It's expensive, it's demanding, and it is absolutely not a starter game. But if that pitch makes you grin instead of wince, very few games will satisfy you this deeply. Buy it with your eyes open.
What other players say
This write-up is grounded in real reviews and player discussion, not just one opinion. A few worth reading:
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