Gloomhaven

Cephalofair Games

Tactical dungeon crawler on a hex map, wrapped in a campaign. The round structure, initiative, monster turns and the campaign loop are modelled; most card abilities are still code.

1–4 co-op vs monster AI · cooperative

The campaign is the outer loop around each scenario. Town, travel and settlement write to lasting state (gold, xp, items, prosperity, unlocked scenarios); the scenario itself is a subflow with its own temporary state. Expand "Play scenario" to see the rounds.

Battle goals, card-specific abilities and scenario-specific rules live in code.

Goal and end of the game

Win scenario goal reached · within a scenario
Loss all characters exhausted · within a scenario

How the game goes

Follow the track from top to bottom. ↻ repeats, a side track is a branch; under every step: what you decide there. Tap a step for what you decide there.

All steps in words

Campaign until players stop; the campaign has no fixed end
1. 1. Gloomhaven in_town
  - If party is in town
    1. City event (1 per visit) by party
    2. Per character per characters
      1. Buy, sell, level up, perk, enhance, donate, retire by player
        One of:
        buy item
        Allowed if gold ≥ price (adjusted by reputation), item in shop, not already owned.
        Choose items in shop
        sell item
        Allowed if item owned.
        Choose own items
        level up
        Allowed if xp ≥ threshold for the next level (45, 95, 150, …).
        Choose class cards ≤ new level
        gain perk
        Allowed if 3 unused checkmarks (at most 6 perks this way).
        enhance card
        Allowed if 'The Power of Enhancement' completed, gold ≥ cost, enhanced cards < prosperity.
        Choose ability × enhancement
        donate
        Allowed if gold ≥ 10, not yet donated this visit.
        retire
        Allowed if personal quest fulfilled.
        Choose available classes
        Choose 2 personal quests, keep 1
        done in town
  - If party is on the road
    1. No town actions
2. 2. Choose scenario by party
  - Choose unlocked scenarios whose requirements are met
3. 3. Travel route
  - If linked scenario, replay or casual mode
    1. No road event
  - If otherwise
    1. Draw and resolve a road event by party
4. 4. Play scenario
  1. Scenario until goal reached (end of round) or all characters exhausted
    1. 1. Card selection per characters not exhausted
      1. Exhausted when fewer than 2 cards in hand and fewer than 2 in discard
      2. Choose 2 cards (1 leading) or a long rest by character
        Allowed if not exhausted.
    2. 2. Monster ability card per type + reveal
    3. 3. Sort by initiative
      Lowest first. Ties between players: compare the non-leading card. Player vs monster: player first. Monster vs monster: players decide.
    4. 4. Turns per characters and monster types
      1. Whose turn is it? actor.kind
        If character
        Start of turn (wound: 1 damage)
        Rest or act? long_rest
        If long rest (initiative 99)
        Lose 1 card of choice from discard, return the rest to hand, Heal 2, refresh items by character
        Choose cards in discard
        If otherwise
        Top half of card A or bottom half of card B by character
        One of:
        perform ability
        Choose abilities of the chosen half, in order
        default attack or move
        The other half of the other card by character
        One of:
        perform ability
        Choose abilities of the chosen half, in order
        default attack or move
        Cards → discard / lost / active
        End of turn: infuse elements, loot
        If monster type
        Per monster per monsters of this type · elites first, then normals, by ascending standee number
        Focus: fewest movement needed, then proximity, then initiative
        Abilities on the card (move, attack, …)
    5. 5. Cleanup
      1. Shuffle decks that showed ×2/null or a shuffle icon
      2. Elements wane
      3. Short rest (optional) by character
        One of:
        short rest
        Allowed if count(discard) ≥ 2.
        skip
      4. Goal reached?
5. 5. Settle: xp, gold, rewards
6. 6. Back to town or onward? by party
  One of:
  - return to town
  - continue on

On the table

26 zones and piles

map open — rooms appear when a door is opened
hand per player · only its owner sees it
played per player · face down — face down until revealed
table per player · open
discard per player · open
lost per player · open
active per player · open
monster deck face down · shuffled — one per monster type
monster revealed open
modifier deck per player · face down · shuffled
monster modifier deck face down · shuffled
modifier discard open
elements open — per element: inert → waning → strong
unlocked scenarios open
locked scenarios face down — sealed until unlocked
completed scenarios open
shop open — stock grows with prosperity
items owned per player · open
class cards per player · only its owner sees it
class cards locked per player · open
city event deck face down · shuffled
road event deck face down · shuffled
removed events open
event revealed open
personal quest deck face down · shuffled
personal quest per player · only its owner sees it

Under the hood

These rules are read straight from the game's model: the same data the engine plays with. For the exact expressions, the rules diagram and the model source:

Rules diagram

Fan model of a game by Cephalofair Games: only the rules structure is shown, in our own words. Cards, scenarios and play are not published without the publisher's permission. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the publisher.