Gloomhaven Solo Review: Why a 50+ Scenario Campaign Becomes Your Obsession

Gloomhaven At A Glance

As a history teacher who had been running tabletop RPG campaigns for years, I entered Gloomhaven with a strong background in long-term storytelling, character development, and persistent game worlds that respond to player choice. I assumed that Gloomhaven would simply translate that experience to a tabletop environment in a straightforward manner.

To my great surprise, Gloomhaven didn’t translate that experience; instead it created something altogether unique and perhaps more elegant than a tabletop RPG experience. The world created by Gloomhaven is one where the mechanical progression of your character’s abilities and the narrative progression of the world are interdependent and inseparable. I am now in the 78th scenario of a single-player campaign and have developed a spreadsheet detailing character retirement arcs, prosperity levels, and significant narrative beats. I’ve played enough times now to envision the remainder of the 100+ scenario campaign and I am genuinely excited about continuing.

In short, Gloomhaven is the ultimate model for long-form campaign-style solo gaming experiences, and it is within this space that Gloomhaven shines most brightly.

What Gloomhaven Really Is

You are a group of adventurers living in the city of Gloomhaven. You receive contracts, complete scenarios (tactical battles against creatures), gain gold, spend gold on equipment, acquire new abilities. Once enough scenarios have been completed, your character retires and a new member joins the party. The world around you is altered by the choices you make. New locations open up to you. Previous locations become inaccessible. The world map continues to evolve.

That is the overall picture. What the game actually represents is managing a dynamic, evolving world through dozens of individual scenarios while advancing a party of adventurers with growing capabilities.

At the beginning of each campaign, you begin with a relatively primitive character with only a few combat options. Over the course of ten scenarios, that character has unlocked dozens of new possibilities. At the end of twenty scenarios, you have mastered the character’s options and can execute them at maximum efficiency. That character then retires and you begin developing a brand-new character.

It is this progressive system — both mechanical and narrative — that divides Gloomhaven from other tactical games. You’re not merely completing isolated battles. You’re creating the story of your character’s journey through a decades-long campaign (if you were to complete all of the scenarios).

Why Does the AI Deck System Matter: The Basis of Enemy Behavior

Gloomhaven was designed with solo players in mind. Multiplayer was an afterthought. This is important because it affects how the AI system for controlling the enemy is implemented.

Each creature in Gloomhaven is governed by a simple yet elegant deck-based AI system. Each monster has a deck of potential action cards. When it’s a monster’s turn, you draw the top card from the deck and you know exactly what the monster will do. There is no uncertainty. There is no unknown behavior. There is no unexpected attack.

This represents a critical distinction between playing against human opponents and playing against AI opponents. You cannot bluff an AI opponent. You cannot deceive them. They will always act according to the mathematical probability of their current situation (i.e., based on the contents of their deck).

However, the brilliance lies in the fact that since you know what they’ll do, you can analyse the optimal tactical solution to the problem with absolute knowledge. Every scenario becomes a puzzle to be solved with the right answer existing somewhere within the scope of possibility.

Every time you lose a scenario, you can’t say you got unlucky. You can’t say the dice were against you (there is very little random chance in the combat of Gloomhaven). You lost because you made a tactical error. Understanding that truth is what leads to true growth. You go back and replay the scenario and you don’t make that mistake again. You learn.

Campaign Progression: How it Creates the Feeling of True Accomplishment

Gloomhaven uses a prosperity system. As you complete scenarios and collect gold, you unlock improved gear, more powerful abilities, and enhanced party capabilities. However, progress is very deliberate. Even after ten attempts at a particular scenario, you likely won’t dominate that scenario.

This creates a constant level of difficulty throughout the entirety of the campaign. Early scenarios are appropriately difficult. Mid-scenario campaigns are genuinely difficult. Late-campaign scenarios are demonstrably more difficult, however, the difficulty has escalated accordingly. You never feel as though you have “broken” the game.

Furthermore, you feel as though the progression of your character has value. Every new ability you unlock and every item of equipment you purchase changes how you play the game. A character with six possible actions becomes a character with twelve possible actions becomes a character with dozens of viable move options. The depth builds upon itself.

I’m now at the 78th scenario. I have five retired characters and two active characters. I retired a character after 20 scenarios — that was a meaningful event. I had invested countless hours in that character. I knew exactly how to optimize his turns. And once he met the requirements to retire, he left and I began training someone completely new. The world moved on.

Solo Campaign Structure: How the World Evolves Through Player Choices

There is one aspect of Gloomhaven that sets it apart from the more mechanical campaign systems that exist out there — the world changes as you progress through the campaign. The choices you make influence which new scenarios unlock. If you complete the primary storyline quickly, many secondary storylines will be locked off. If you focus your attention on a specific region, other regions will not develop. Every single solo campaign creates a unique world.

While this may not create the same amount of flexibility as a traditional RPG campaign where you are creating your own story, it provides enough variability that you feel like your choices are making a difference in the world. The world is not static. It reacts to the decisions you make.

Combined with the concept of character retirement arcs, this creates an authentic sense of narrative progression. Each character has a narrative justification for their retirement. Each scenario offers you opportunities to explore the world and impact it in different ways. The 50+ scenario campaign is not just a mechanical grind. It is a structured campaign with setup, escalation, and conclusion.

Tactical Depth: Why Every Scenario is a Puzzles

Gloomhaven’s tactical combat system is elegantly simple. You have a hand of cards that represent your character’s possible actions. On each turn, you select two cards to play — one card for the main action and one card for the movement. Straightforward. However, when you have 10-15 cards to consider and you must decide which two to play on your turn, while considering the cards that you will have available to you in subsequent turns — the decision tree becomes exponentially complex.

Adding in party synergy (the synergistic effects of your teammates’ abilities that can enable your abilities), monster placement, treasure location, and scenario-specific objectives, every single scenario presents a genuine puzzle to be solved.

The monsters in Gloomhaven have simple behaviors. They act based on their deck of cards. However, the consistency and predictability of those behaviors allow you to thoroughly analyse the optimal play sequence. Is it worth taking a risk and attempting to get loot that could put you in harm’s way? Are there opportunities to set up a combination play with your teammate next turn? Should you prioritise protecting the objective or eliminating threats?

None of these are easily answered. Every scenario demands genuine tactical thought. And because there is so little random chance involved in determining the outcome of each scenario, your success is directly related to your mastery of the problem. You solved the puzzle.

Character Retirement & New Beginnings

Character retirement is the mechanism that drives the long-form engagement that Gloomhaven enjoys. I touched upon character retirement earlier. I think it warrants further discussion because it is what gives Gloomhaven its longevity.

A character has a personal quest — a specific goal that, when achieved, results in the character’s retirement. For example, your brute has a personal quest that reads “reach 200 total damage across all scenarios.” Your scoundrel has a personal quest to read “collect 15 treasure chests.” Once you meet that threshold, the character retires and a new character enters the party.

This creates a natural campaign structure. You’re not playing to win. You’re playing to reach the conclusion of your character’s arc. Furthermore, the varying retirement conditions of each character provide multiple avenues for viewing the campaign and experiencing it.

I have already retired four characters — a brute, a cragheart, a scoundrel, and a spellweaver. Each provided a unique perspective on how to play the game. Each provided a unique role in the party. Each felt like a unique character with a unique arc.

When you retire a character after 20 scenarios — you feel it. You have spent dozens of hours with that character. You know how they work. And then they are gone and you are training someone else entirely. This creates a natural rhythm for the long-form campaigns that Gloomhaven supports.

Setup & Play: Why Solo Gloomhaven Works in Practice

Setup for a typical scenario takes approximately 15-20 minutes. You are placing miniatures for the monsters, shuffling decks, arranging the board. While this is certainly not negligible, it is reasonable given the nature of the game.

Game length varies widely from 60-120 minutes, depending on the difficulty of the scenario and how much time you spend optimizing your play. While this is long, it is a feasible length for a solo play session and you control the pace.

Rules overhead is moderate. You will refer to the rulebook frequently during the first half of the campaign, but as you gain familiarity with the system, the number of references you need to make to the rulebook diminishes rapidly. By the tenth scenario, you typically do not need to consult the rules often. You understand how combat works.

Most importantly, Gloomhaven was designed specifically for solo players. The developers anticipated that players would be playing the game alone and therefore built the game to support solo play. The setup, rules, and AI systems were all created assuming that you are the only player. This creates a vastly different experience compared to playing with humans.

Replayability & Long-Term Engagement

I am currently 78 scenarios into a campaign that has a minimum of 100 scenarios. I have roughly 30+ scenarios remaining and I am genuinely looking forward to playing them. I am not trying to rush through the campaign. I am savoring it.

The replayability in Gloomhaven arises from several factors:

Multiple Character Combinations: Play the scoundrel and brute together. Next play the scoundrel and cragheart together. Next play the spellweaver and cragheart together. Each unique combination of characters creates different challenges and different solutions.

Scenario Diversity: With 100+ scenarios and multiple types of monsters, terrain, objectives, etc. — you will rarely encounter the same scenario twice.

Optimization Challenges: You completed a scenario on the first attempt? Try beating it with fewer turns, fewer character actions, etc. Set arbitrary constraints for yourself and attempt to overcome them.

Narrative Investment: The campaign unfolds in different ways depending on which scenarios you complete first and which characters you use. Each new play-through creates a new narrative arc.

This is what distinguishes Gloomhaven from other campaign games. It is not just mechanically deep, but it is also narratively engaging enough that you will want to engage in it multiple times.

Does Gloomhaven Still Have Value in 2025?

Gloomhaven was initially released in 2017. Since then, multiple successor titles have been released. Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion is more accessible to new players. Frosthaven is the official sequel with additional mechanics.

Despite being a nearly eight-year-old title, the original Gloomhaven remains an exceptional product. The tactical combat system is still elegant. The campaign structure still functions. The character progression system still produces a feeling of accomplishment. The solo experience still offers a rich and rewarding experience.

The components are solid — not flashy, but serviceable. The artwork is passable. The rulebook is clearly written. Gloomhaven remains a superior product both mechanically and narratively.

My only criticism — Gloomhaven is a time-consuming game. It requires you to commit to 50-100 scenarios. It requires you to optimize your tactics every scenario. It requires patience. If you seek a quick and casual solo experience, you should look elsewhere. However, if you wish to experience a true campaign, this is the place to be.

Why You Should Experience This Solo

If you have ever led a tabletop campaign, Gloomhaven will give you the same satisfaction of long-term narrative progression in a board-game format. While not the exact same experience — Gloomhaven is just as enjoyable.

If you enjoy tactical combat and solving problems through creative play — Gloomhaven is perfect. Each scenario is a separate puzzle with a correct solution.

If you desire a character progression that feels earned — experience this. You watch your characters grow from fledgling adventurers to battle-hardened veterans. When they retire, you feel it.

If you are prepared to invest in a 50-100 scenario campaign that will require dozens of hours to complete — Gloomhaven will consume your solo gaming time for weeks, if not months. And you will enjoy every second of it.

Conclusion

Gloomhaven is a 10/10 campaign experience. The tactical combat is superb. The character progression is earned. The campaign structure is engaging. The design of the game for solo players is thoughtful and elegant. I’m currently at the 78th scenario and I still have at least 30+ more scenarios before I complete the campaign. I’m not anxious to finish the campaign quickly. I’m enjoying the ride.

Gloomhaven is the gold-standard for solo campaign gaming. If you seek a game that will provide dozens of hours of engaging gameplay and genuine narrative progression, Gloomhaven is an essential experience. View our full list of the 10 best games for solo players

Nicholas

Nicholas teaches secondary school history by day and campaigns through fantasy worlds by night. He writes about legacy and campaign games—the epic, months-long sagas that build friendships, stories, and the occasional scheduling nightmare.