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I Need To Admit I’m Never Going To Play My Giant Board Games
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this post was submitted on 02 Oct 2023
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I completed Gloomhaven. It was a MONUMENTAL undertaking, required diligent organization and a dedicated table that was never used for anything else. You also need a bachelor's degree in the rulebook (or just get comfortable with house rules that fill in)
I'm 15% of the way through the expansion (Frosthaven) and am utterly exhausted. There's so much to do and so many opportunities to put something back wrong and now my draw pile somehow has the discards in it. Fuck.
But it was a glorious journey. Gloomhaven added a welcome interface layer that classic DnD was missing for me. And the combat system is so colorful! That said, the game basically demands a companion app for tracking health. Definitely not for the faint of heart, but immensely rewarding.
Yeah Gloomhaven left me exhausted, too.
Plus, I'll be honest: the main card selection system is brilliant. Unlocking characters was fun. The rest was... there was something else?! It was that forgettable and flat. The story barely exists and is at its best very thin window dressing. The interactions are nonsensical due to the random nature. The game is grindy as fuck.
I dunno. Fun once. I have zero intention of playing any more of it or any successor, ever. Done way more than enough Gloomhaven for my life.
Amen.
Playing solo, I’ve been close to completing Gloomhaven for weeks/months now after a year/2 year-long hiatus. I had gotten about half-way through, but then put it down bc of everything else I had still waiting. I picked it back up a bit ago and have been methodically going through each branch of the “storyline” and unlocking what I can of it. I’ve just about unlocked every class I can, but everytime I turn around there’s something else to do, some new scenario that needs completing, I just don’t want to put it back down again bc I know it will be another year or two before I pick it back up again and by that point I’ll have forgotten how to play and I’ll be too far along to try to relearn it again. I want to at least finish out the last of the classes and the actual storyline before taking a break from it.
My biggest dislike of the system is how ridiculous some of the puzzles have been. I like the tactical puzzle and hand management aspects, but some of the secret envelopes with puzzles are just batshit insane. I took one look at one in particular, spent 10 minutes trying to figure it out, then gave up and looked online. I realized there was no way in hell I would’ve ever figured that one out on my own.
I am not into board games. What you describe sounds like Gamification, but in reverse. Do you people not have exhausting, tedious day jobs to fill that space? Why even attempt something like this? Honestly curious.
Do your hobbies not have some less exciting but necessary aspects? I liken it to maintaining the gears or motor on a bike, motorcycle, or boat. Or perhaps running drills or stretches to improve your sport performance. Or fiddling with settings to get a PC game running just right. People can find enjoyment in even the mundane tasks of their hobbies.
That said, Gloomhaven leans into that aspect hard. But once it’s setup, there’s a rich and complex game to play. It was just hard for my group because of busy schedules.
I don't have that many hobbies. Most games run on my PC just fine on their own, and I don't do the stretching that is usually recommended in my sport because at my level, that#s not what's holding me back/I have no health issues. I do fun things for fun. If something isn't fun, that's work, not a hobby. That might just be me, though.
Man, feels like you’re being a little pedantic. Stretches are to prevent injuries, not just for the injured. Maybe you’re not doing them, but you should be. You also concede not all of your PC games run fine out of the box. Do you ever travel? Do you enjoy the packing/unpacking just as much as the trip itself? Do you enjoy the shuffle into/out of the venue when you’re seeing a game/show/concert? It’s not bizarre for enjoyable things to have some mundane but necessary aspects.
As I said, I was curious about how other people feel, I was not judging. For me, the ratio of tedium to enjoyment has got to be right. I don't enjoy alpine climbing because you gotta do 4 hour approaches to get 2 hours of climbing, then walk down 6 hours. That ain't my thing. If packing took a week for 3 days vacation, you would feel the same, I am pretty certain. Same thing with some boardgames: If learning the rules and setting everything up takes longer than the game itself, why bother?
I have a theory that people seek what they’re missing in their lives through their hobbies.
Specifically, in my own life I’ve noticed that the times I’ve gone deep into rich, complicated, and demanding hobbies, are the times when I’ve felt understimulated at school or work.
Conversely, at times when I’ve felt overstimulated at school or work I only want to watch TV or play simple party games to unwind or destress.
I am curious if other people feel this way.
That's a really interesting thought. Makes sense to me. I don't feel understimulated at work, so maybe that's just not something for me then.
Because it's fun! The actual gameplay of managing your incredibly flavorful class hand that evolves as you choose when leveling up is immensely satisfying. Bring along some friends, and you can drop entire weekends into this game over many months.
Easily my favorite board game.
But I'm also tired of the depth of complexity lol. Very similar to raiding in WoW - Fun. Exhausting.
If we had had the space for a dedicated Gloomhaven table, I reckon we would’ve made it farther in the campaign than we did. It was a blast when we played, but it asked a lot of our time.