Frosthaven and Whether the Biggest Campaign Game Ever Made Justifies Its Weight

Frosthaven At A Glance

I’ve completed two full campaigns of Frosthaven. The first took my group fourteen months to complete as we met twice a month for three to four hour play sessions. My second campaign was a solo adventure where I tracked resource management at the outpost between scenarios and took notes on how different building priorities can affect scenarios. I keep spreadsheets detailing character retirement paths, outpost building strategies, and scenario unlock requirements. I’ve unlocked 73 of 96 scenarios and completed campaigns with six unique starting character combinations. I know how these systems work together inside and out.

Frosthaven came out in 2022 (BoardGameGeek) as a standalone sequel to Gloomhaven (Wikipedia) designed by Isaac Childres (Wikipedia). Publisher Cephalofair describes it as a sprawling cooperative campaign with city building mechanics (Cephalofair Games) but that description sells short the scope. Frosthaven is a lifestyle game that turns your dining room table into a persistent universe that grows and changes based on decisions your group makes across months of gaming.

I’m fascinated by how Frosthaven creates actual narrative consequence using mechanical systems. Your decisions during the outpost phase determine which buildings go up. Which buildings you have access to determines resources and services available to your team. Which services are unlocked changes how you approach scenarios. Scenarios have decisions that can trigger story based events. These events change the world your characters live in. Every layer creates persistent narrative changes that feel earned through both story and tactical play. Your story decisions create tactical challenges, and your tactical victories open new story possibilities.

What Is Frosthaven?

Frosthaven features two mechanical systems that link together to create persistent progression across upwards of one hundred scenarios (Cephalofair Games). The base game loop consist of tactical combat scenarios bookended by an outpost management phase. Scenario decisions carry over into the outpost which in turn can unlock new scenarios creating permanency from play session to play session.

Combat scenarios play on the tactical legacy framework popularised by Gloomhaven. Each character pulls two cards per round and play one action on top of their deck and one on the bottom (UltraBoardGames). This creates a resource management puzzle of when to play your cards. Combat uses modifier decks rather than dice rolling to determine attack damage dealt and damage received (UltraBoardGames). Player decisions have a real impact on future turns combat potential. Everything you do during a scenario has the potential to make you stronger or weaker going forward.

During the outpost phase players control an outpost with limited resources (Frosthaven Rulebook PDF). Characters collect resources during scenarios which are then spent during this phase to improve the outpost. Seasonal events happen at the outpost between scenarios, and players must manage resources to survive them. This isn’t fluff, player decisions during this phase create tactical advantages during scenarios. Buildings grant discounts on purchases, improve facilities available to the team, and open new personal quest options for characters.

Scenario victories expand the main path of scenario modules unlocking new scenarios. Story decisions made during scenarios can unlock side branches of scenarios. Players choose which branch to tackle next. Scenario failure is a punish but doesn’t lock players out of advancing the campaign. Everything you learn during a scenario whether you win or lose opens new avenues for the team to explore. The game even tracks reputation, prosperity, and dozens of other stats that unlock additional consequences throughout the campaign.

Combat

These combat scenarios drive a campaign comprised of potentially dozens of play sessions (Frosthaven Rulebook PDF). The rulebook tells players scenario based tactical combat decided by card play, but that description doesn’t do the combat justice. Once you grasp how positioning, combat initiative, and resource management interact the tactical puzzle layers together to create a sprawling challenge.

Each of the ten starting character classes plays completely different. Not only do their abilities perform unique functions but they change how you approach resource management during a scenario. Playing a Bannerspear has you managing your position within the overall battle formation. Moving as a Bannerspear changes the tactical options available to your allies. Playing a Drifter requires you to balance risk since they get stronger when they use their most powerful abilities. Playing a Blinkblade has you thinking several moves ahead by setting up your teleportation sequence.

Modifier decks replace dice so attacks are not determined by randomness but by probability managed through gameplay (UltraBoardGames). Every attack pushes these decks in either direction making future attacks stronger or weaker. You know the baseline you are working with but those modifiers stack. Certain characters can interact with their modifier decks directly allowing for probability manipulation to become part of the tactical toolbox.

I’ve played scenarios where poor tactical decisions early left us so resource starved we struggled to survive the last room. I’ve also played scenarios where excellent positioning and ability usage left us with resources to spare after defeating the final boss. The tactical combat incentivizes learning and mastering the systems in place but never punishes players so harshly that you can’t recover from mistakes.

Outpost Phases

The outpost phase is what gives Frosthaven persistence outside of character levels and retirement (Shut Up and Sit Down). This city building element is what truly sets it apart from other games in the genre. Not only do you have to manage your characters but you are managing an entire outpost that has thousands of permutations on how it can progress across seasons.

When constructing your outpost you have limited resources that do not allow you to build everything right away. Players must choose what to prioritise during each season. Do you build that blacksmith to ensure you always have the best equipment possible? Buildings also grant discounts to certain resources when purchased so there are tangible benefits to building over naturally finding equipment. Maybe you should instead focus on fortifying your defenses so raiders have a harder time destroying all your supplies.

Seasons are another factor players must consider when managing the outpost. Winter gives you fewer resources but you still need to pay for repairs on equipment. Summer costs more to build but means you get your buildings finished sooner. Spring has special events that can reward you if you have the resources to account for them. Fall is when you stockpile on resources to help you get through winter.

I’ve played campaigns where we focused on economic buildings early which granted us better equipment but killed many of our characters during raids on the outpost. I’ve played campaigns where we focused on building up our defenses so when raids happened we survived with most of our stuff. Both of these strategies are completely viable but they force you to play the scenarios differently based on your outpost priorities.

Character Progression

Character advancement happens on various levels that create short term scenario power spikes as well as long campaign viability (Shut Up and Sit Down). Your team gains experience during scenarios which level up their characters. Leveling up unlocks new ability cards which improves combat performance. Characters improve their modifier decks by equipping new items found during scenarios and completing achievements.

Characters also have personal quests that track throughout scenarios. Once these are maxed out players can retire their character and unlock a new character class to play as. Personal quests create an odd dichotomy between playing to your class strengths and rushing through scenarios in order to retire. Certain classes have personal quests that encourage almost suicidal playstyles. Do you take huge risks to complete your personal quest faster or play it safe and let another character retire?

Retiring characters also grants persistent improvements to the game. Once a character retires they can enhance old ability cards which grant improved effects. These enhanced cards carry forward into future campaigns when your group selects that character class. This means your campaigns will only get stronger as you gain access to these enhanced cards through retiring characters.

I’ve retired characters I loved playing because I needed one of their class to be unlocked for an upcoming branch of scenarios. I’ve held off on retiring certain characters just because they were too fun to play and we could still use their specific abilities. The decision to retire feels impactful because your group has to answer the question of when is the right time to move on.

Scenarios

Scenarios are probably my favorite element of how Frosthaven creates actual narrative stakes (Shut Up and Sit Down). Rather than feel like story sprinkles on top of a meaty base game each scenario designs around the theme being explored during it. Frozen wilderness scenarios have dynamic freeze tiles that change the level layouts based on player actions. Political intrigue scenarios have resource management as part of the victory conditions.

Scenarios that take place in ancient ruins have puzzles to solve using abilities as well as exploring every nook and cranny. Your group will not have the same campaign as anyone else because your scenario choices and performance create unique branch options. While certain story events are mandatory based on the main scenario path players choose how and when they want to experience the content.

Some scenarios feel like playing through a puzzle box with an obvious best way to complete them. Other scenarios are all about resource management making ability selection and positioning key to success. There are even scenarios that pose moral dilemmas where what feels like the right story choice might hurt your chances of scenario victory. Designed scenario variety means you never feel like you are on a treadmill even after dozens of sessions.

I’ve unlocked scenarios that my friends will literally never experience because the choices our group made and how well we did during certain scenarios sent us down a specific story branch. I’ve also experienced scenarios I felt were useless wastes of time that ended up being some of the most brilliant scenarios because they taught me how everything was built around each other.

Resource Management

Resource management takes place on so many levels it creates incredible strategic decisions beyond just winning the scenario. Managing your gold impacts equipment purchases during scenarios as well as what buildings you can unlock. Materials allow you to build things at the outpost. Herbs are resources spent on consumables but are limited so you have to be careful how you use them. Inspiration tokens are great but are a limited resource you should learn to manage.

Winter gives you less resources but you still need to repair equipment. Summer is more expensive to build things but you get done sooner. Spring has events that can reward you if you prepare for them. Fall is when you prepare to get through winter. Prosperity is another layer of resources that improves shop inventory and scenario rewards. Raising prosperity also improves the difficulty of scenarios and how powerful enemies are. Increase it too fast and your group might not be ready for what’s coming.

I’ve played entire campaigns where we greedily pushed our prosperity and were punished by scenarios full of enemies we could barely scratch damage on with our best equipped characters. I’ve also played campaigns where we stagnated on prosperity because everything felt too expensive to purchase. Balancing resource management is real and has consequences to your campaigns.

Does Frosthaven Hold Up?

To its credit Frosthaven does receive some fair criticisms. Setup time is an issue because it takes a long time to get everything ready to play a scenario. Gameplay space is another consideration as the game takes over the majority of your table. Mental space is also required to keep track of all the different systems at play. As another review puts it, the game is massive and functions as a lifestyle campaign game (Shut Up and Sit Down). This isn’t a game you pop out to play when you have two hours.

Even the way the components are organised forces you to take serious measures when storing the game. Without the storage solutions included or making your own creating spreadsheets for keeping everything catalogued properly, looking up specific cards, tokens, or scenario booklets can become a nightmare. Reading the rulebook is no simple task either because its so comprehensive. Player separation requires teaching newbies multiple sessions to get everyone on the same level.

Just learning how to setup a scenario takes between fifteen and thirty minutes with an organised storage solution. Campaign book upkeep and scenario breakdown add an additional fifteen minutes after each session. Casual groups will have a hard time justifying the time investment required to actually finish a campaign.

That being said there is no other game currently on the market that even comes close to what Frosthaven accomplishes. Newer games have taken swings at niche elements but end up sacrificing tactical depth or overall campaign playability. Frosthaven offers both without compromising which is why I can excuse its wall of text rulebook.

Why Should You Play Frosthaven?

Play Frosthaven if you want tactical combat that feels impactful without strictly becoming about optimization. The scenarios will challenge you and your team to adapt as your group, characters, and individual equipment grows over dozens of gaming sessions.

Play Frosthaven if you want actual story decisions to have mechanical consequences that persist across play sessions. The decisions you make during both the scenario and outpost phases determine how your groups unique campaign plays out.

Play Frosthaven if you like to think about both the big picture and small details. Micro managing your characters during scenarios while thinking about how your outpost is built creates strategic decisions on multiple layers that will keep you thinking about how to approach the game.

Play Frosthaven if you have a solid group that meets regularly. A casual group that plays once a month won’t get very far. You need to commit to spending several hours a month in order to see a campaign to conclusion. Your group will be rewarded for the time spent as the campaign becomes richer the more you play.

Play Frosthaven if you want a game that lives up to its outrageous promise of huge scope. Sure it’s a doozy of a tactical game but every system serves a purpose to make the campaign more enjoyable.

Frosthaven takes commitment. A lot of it. But if your gaming group is up for the challenge you will not find a more rewarding campaign that oozes tactical depth and mechanical storytelling than Frosthaven.

Verdict

Frosthaven earns an overall score of 9/10 because it truly delivers on its promise of creating narrative weight through mechanical design. I’ve now played through two campaigns and continue to dive deeper into soloing all possible character combinations and resource management strategies at the outpost. Frosthaven creates actual story consequence by using mechanical game play rather than depending on flavor text and arbitrary checkpoints.

Cheque out our breakdown of the top 10 Campaign Games that are worth the commitment

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.