Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs

• Designers: Joe Klipfel, Nikki Valens  
• Publisher: Cephalofair
• Players: 1
• Age: 10+
• Time: 20 minutes
• Amazon affiliate link: https://link.amazon/B05SVtGDo
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs is a solo play game, with an original campaign story written by Isaac Childres, that features a playstyle similar to Gloomhaven in a fraction of the size.

Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs is set after the events of Gloomhaven and Forgotten Circles. The Aesther recluse Hail has earned a reputation for being highly instrumental in saving the city from recurring disasters, and she absolutely hates it. Wannabe heroes are constantly barging in on her studies at the Crooked Bone, looking for help in becoming famous themselves — not to mention all the demons that come by looking for vengeance. She briefly considered moving, but as that would require effort, she instead just placed an enchantment on her front door: Anyone who attempts to open it becomes miniaturized and therefore is no longer a problem.

Your character is one such wannabe hero. In an ill-advised attempt at fame, they try to visit Hail, and poof. Now they’re the size of a mouse and have entered an entirely different realm of lawlessness and self-preservation. They must find a new way into the Crooked Bone to convince Hail to return them to their previous size.

Each scenario is a single card, pitting one mercenary against a handful of enemies with simplified actions and AI. Each mercenary has a hand of just four double-sided cards, but they can be used twice — both the front and the back — before they are discarded. Attacks are resolved using a die in conjunction with a modifier table, and both the table and the mercenary ability cards can be improved as you level up throughout the campaign.

To start, choose one of the six available characters  (well, there are more in the expansions) and take the matching miniature figure for it.  The hit point dial is set at the max hit points for your level.  Pull out the four level ability cards for your level, and place them all A-side up.  Finally, get out the character attack modifier tray and place a cube in the topmost slot.  Once you’re reached the second scenario, you can also choose which of the available items you want to equip.

Now choose the scenario that you want to play, read the text introduction and goal. Retrieve whatever monster card(s) is specified by the scenario card. Place the card into the monster tray and get out the matching hit point dial. Find the monster modifier tray and place a cube in the top slot as well.  Then flip the card over to see the map side.  There will be plenty of blank hexes, green obstacle hexes and orange hazard hexes.  There will also be hexes which need you to put cubes on them to start as well as a designated start hex for your mini.

To start a round, you first choose two of your ability cards to play.   Once you’ve chosen your two cards, you choose the initiative value of one of them. You will roll a die and consult the monster tray to get their initiative.  The cube moves to whatever column is designated by the die roll.  The lower number goes first. 

On your turn, you’ll end up playing the top action of one of those cards and the bottom action of the other.  Note that you can always do a basic Attack action for any top action and a basic Move action for any bottom.  Some actions can consume elements (these are icons found on some of the cards).  After taking the action, if you used an A-card, flip the card to its B-side and return it to your hand unless it has an ongoing bonus – in this case it stays out on the table. If you used a B-card, it is now discarded. 

On the monster’s turn, it performs the abilities listed below the white cube on its monster tray.  There are simple rules to automate how the monsters execute their denoted actions.  If you take damage from a monster attack, you can reduce your HP on your counter or you can discard cards from your hand to lessen the damage.

When the round is over (both sides have taken their turn), you now return any cards with round bonuses to your hand on the B side (for A’s) or discard them (for B’s).   Cards with a lost icon on them are discarded from the scenario entirely.  You can also choose to that a short rest at the end of a round; you return all cards from your discard pile to your hand – on the A-side. Then you lose 1 card at random. 

Later in the game, you can take a Long Rest, which is an entire turn taken at Initiative 99.  You get all your cards back and then get to choose which card you lose.  You also get a Heal action as part of this turn and gain back your used items. 

The scenario continues until either you have achieved the Goal as stated on the scenario card (you win!) or you are exhausted (you lose!).  Exhaustion happens at 0 hit points or no cards left to play/rest with.  As you finish the scenario, you’ll be instructed which of the 20 Scenario cards to play next (sometimes, certain Heroes are directed to different cards).  Additionally, you may be able to bring along some items – these are found on the Scenario cards.

My thoughts on the game

Wow – there is a LOT of game packed into this little box.  I should start by saying that I’m a relative neophyte to Gloomhaven; I’ve played a few scenarios here and there at long gaming cons, but I’ve never gotten into a full campaign.  Not that you need to have any experience with Gloomhaven in order to play this – thankfully.

There is a little bit of a story going on here, but honestly it’s not too much – there is really only so much text you can fit onto a small playing card.  So, if you’re looking for a huge narrative – you’ll not find that here.  What you will find is a series of super quick, super small hex-based skirmishes, each with its own challenge to solve.  Each hero has its own set of cards, and as a result, you’ll have to play each of the scenarios a bit differently.  Further, as you level up, you have the option of replacing a Level 1 card in your 4 card deck with a Level 2 card.  

I really do like the different Items that you can equip each scenario – these are found on all played and skipped scenario cards, so by the time you get deep into a campaign, you’ll have a bunch to choose from.  Each card has two different items on it, so you can’t use both at the same time.

You do get a little feeling of progression in the game.  As you progress through the Scenarios, you’ll move from Level 1 to Level 5 (the scenario card simply tells you what Level you are at).  You’ll get to carry more items as you level up, and you’ll also get more starting HP.   Combined with the increasing number of advanced cards to bring into the scenario, your hero will definitely be able to do more as the Level rises.

As you play through the Scenarios, you’ll note that each has a fixed start and goal.  Yet, repeated plays of the same Scenario feel different due in part to your setup choices but also due to the luck of the dice.  Die rolls will determine both initiative as well as which actions the monsters will be able to take that turn.  I have certainly had Scenarios cut short due to some unlucky rolls – but for a game where scenarios play out in 15-25 minutes; I like the way that each plays out differently and gives me different challenges to overcome.

I will admit that I haven’t actually finished a single campaign yet.  Instead, I’ve been fooling around with the game by starting from the start with a hero, going until I died (best record is 6 scenarios won), and then putting the game away.  When I get back to it, I choose a different hero and start again from the start.  Yes, I know that I’d probably do better if I stuck to a single hero and got uber-familiar with the cards/actions, etc.  But, the game reviewer in me wants to see as many of the different cards as possible!  In the end, I’ve enjoyed my dabbling thus far, and I think I’ll eventually settle on either Bruiser or Silent Knife to play through the entire thing.

Be aware that the rules that come in the box are NOT comprehensive.  There is a QR code at the front of the “How to Play” book which leads to the full rules.  It’s easy enough to scan that with my phone camera and then use the search function on my phone browser to find any information I need; and I certainly understand the reason for not including the full text in the box given its diminutive size.  Thankfully, the player aid included in the box answers many/most of my questions, so it’s a fair tradeoff.

If you’re looking for some solo fun, this is a great little adventure.  I’m amazed at how much game there is in the box – I’m guesstimating that there is at least 30 hours of unique scenarios here (when you consider each hero/scenario combination as unique) which is unbelievable for a box that fits in your hand.  There are also a few booster pack expansions available which add in more scenarios, though at this point, I have not needed any more content yet!

Thoughts from other Opinionated Gamers

Matt C.: I played the game a bit when it first came out. I like the progression of the campaign and am very glad that it feels like my character progresses in power much more quickly than the big-boy Gloomhaven. I agree that it’s very cool to have multiple characters to explore.  I was a bit bummed that, even though the game is in a tiny box, the game does take up a good amount of table space. (ie. a small table is fine, but you’d be pushing it to play on an airplane tray…) The designer had put together the entirely hand-held “Gloomholdin” game so I had unrealistic hopes that it might be even more compact. I do LOVE the size of the box, though. If you want an entirely handheld game like this, check out Chip Theory’s Dragons of Etchinstone by the same designer. As much as I just complained, this is a great little game; a great solo-playable homage to Gloomhaven; and a fun little Gloomhaven-like romp without all the Gloomhaven overhead (but, yes, without the Gloomhaven story.) I’ve had a peek at the next box in the series and it’s just as fun (and playable with new or old classes.) Next year it sounds like there may even be a 2 player co-op version coming…

Ratings from the Opinionated Gamers

• I love it!
• I like it. Dale Y, Matt C, Mark Jackson
• Neutral.
• Not for me…

Amazon affiliate link: https://link.amazon/B05SVtGDo