Thursday, May 30, 2024

Gloomhaven: JotL, First Boss

Gloomhaven first boss fight setup on table

We have made it to the first boss fight! This is pretty exciting. 

But as with many of these things, it was about the journey and not the destination. Because while we had some nailbiters on our way to the boss, once we got there fortune was definitely on our side! I used my biggest damage option to try and take a massive chunk out of the boss....

And flipped over the doubling modifier, which outright killed the boss!

On the one hand; whew, we did it! On the other: Uh oh, what happens when we face this boss again? What are we in for?? 

This seemed like a good time to check in with Kim and find out what she was feeling about Jaws of the Lion, and if she wanted to continue with it.

"I'm having a great time!" she enthused, which definitely felt good. We spent a long time trying to find a game that we could both enjoy, so I was glad the work was paying off.

I asked her what has been the most challenging about the game and she told me that learning all of the symbology has been the biggest hill to climb. Looking at two cards and being able to suss out quickly what they do is hard for a new player, because there's just A LOT of information that is put into very small spaces. To then take that data and see interactions between the cards to do something even more powerful is something that she's just starting to pick up. 

However, she said that the game has been good about ramping the difficulty up slowly and giving her a chance to grok what was happening. 

She also appreciated the cooperative aspect of the game. "Working together has meant that I felt less pressure to be perfect," which is important in a game. Getting a chance to try things and see if they work without being severely punished is a critical component for fun! If new players are shoved into the grinder for experimentation that is a great way to turn people away.

In addition, Kim has appreciated how elegant the setup can be: folding out the map and setting up pieces cuts down on a lot of time and lets us get into the gaming part. Again, kudos to the designers for implementing a solution like this that offers such a great shortcut for new players. 

So, we're on to the next part of this adventure and going to see what happens next! 

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