Gloomhaven: Lion's Prey

Gloomhaven: Lion's Fang is an independent expansion set in an acclaimed adventure universe. This game presents new challenges and opportunities for players, with the introduction of four new characters: the agile Places (specialized in stealth and fast attack), the powerful Shadow Summoner (focused on conjurations and field controls), the resolute Guerrero (area damage and protection) and the cunning Hunter Explorer (tracking skills and killing opponents). Players will also face 18 new monsters, including unique creatures and bosses that bring new strategic challenges. The campaign features 30 immersive scenarios, where the heroes must investigate strange events that threaten the peace of the surrounding regions. What secrets are hidden in the shadows of the forests and mountains? Gloomhaven: Lion's Prey has been developed with an accessible approach, allowing beginners to quickly familiarize themselves with the game's mechanics. The complexities of organization have been reduced and, in this version, players make use of a modular board that simplifies setting up matches. The rules have been revised to make the experience more fluid and an introductory tutorial helps guide new players through their first adventures. Complexity: 3.5 / 5 (BGG 04/05/2023)

Table of Contents
- How to Play
- Tips for playing
- Game mechanics
- Game components
- Additional Information

How to play Gloomhaven: Lion's Prey

To start a Gloomhaven: Lion's Prey campaign, start by opening the Scenario Book in the first scenario and follow the setup instructions there.

The choice of character is crucial. Each character has unique abilities represented by action cards. Familiarize yourself with your deck and understand how to combine them effectively.

Take a good look at the initiative of each card. Choose your cards at the start of each turn thinking about your sequential turn within the group and according to the team's strategy.

The monsters act in a way determined by the AI cards in the deck. Pay attention to their movements and attack patterns to predict their actions.

Resource management, especially skill cards and life points, is essential. Be careful not to deplete your deck, which results in exhaustion and, potentially, mission failure.

Work as a team. Communication about strategy and movement is vital for success in missions. Coordinate attacks and defenses with your teammates.

Collecting treasures and fulfilling secondary objectives can be just as important as completing the main objective to maximize rewards.

After completing a scenario, follow the post-mission instructions to expand your skills, improve your equipment and evolve your adventure in the game.

Main objective

The main objective of Gloomhaven: Lion's Prey is to collaborate with other players to complete quests and defeat enemies in a dark fantasy world, promoting character development and evolution through unique skills and tactical strategies in a card-based combat system, while progressing through an engaging and interconnected narrative.

Tips for playing Gloomhaven: Lion's Prey

Here are some tips for doing better in the game Gloomhaven: Lion's Prey:

  • Use effective communication between players to coordinate movements and attacks.
  • Carefully manage your stock deck to avoid running out of cards before the end of the scenario.
  • Take advantage of your positioning on the board to maximize the range and impact of your skills.
  • Prioritize the elimination of enemies that inflict negative conditions, such as poisoning or disarming.
  • Use items wisely to complement your skills and mitigate incoming damage.
  • Constantly evaluate your battle objectives to ensure that you manage to complete your personal goals.
  • Consider sacrificing a card to prevent significant damage at critical moments.

Video about the game

Mechanics of Gloomhaven: Lion's Prey

  • Cooperative: All players work together to complete common scenarios and objectives. There's no competition between players, just collaboration to defeat monsters and progress through the story.
  • Hand Management: Each player has a deck of skill cards customized to their character. Effective management of these cards is crucial, as they represent the actions the player can take. Discarding or losing cards means that stamina and action options decrease over the course of the scenario.
  • Campaign / Card-driven battles: Battles and progress in the story are driven by cards. Players choose two cards per turn, using one for the main action and one for the secondary action, and use them to attack, move or perform other skills.
  • Movement in Grids: The board consists of a grid on which the characters and monsters move. Movement is strategic and requires planning to reach advantageous positions or avoid enemy attacks.
  • Simultaneous Action Selection: Players secretly choose two cards from their hand to play each turn. This requires strategy and predicting the actions of the other players and the monsters.
  • Players with Different Skills: Each character has unique attributes, abilities and distinct roles in the game, promoting synergies between the characters and forcing players to cooperate in order to use these abilities to their full potential.
  • Action queue: The actions of the players and monsters are resolved in an order defined by the initiative of the cards played, which can alter the strategy of the turn depending on the order of resolution.
  • Action Recovery: Skills and cards lost during the game can be recovered through specific actions or rests, but this should be done sparingly due to the cost in terms of time or resources.
  • Limited Communication: Although the game is cooperative, there are limitations on how much players can share about their specific cards, encouraging strategic communication without full disclosure of intentions.
  • Critical Hits and Misses: Attacks and defenses are determined by a deck of attack modifiers, which can result in critical hits (doubling the damage) or critical misses (nullifying the attack), adding an element of unpredictability.
  • Hexagonal grid: The board is made up of hexagons, allowing movement in six directions. This adds complexity to the strategy of movement and positioning during battles.

Game components Gloomhaven: Lion's Prey

See all the items in the game below Gloomhaven: Lion's Prey:

  • 144 Hero skill cards
  • 22 Event cards
  • 8 Warning letters
  • 52 Equipment cards
  • 4 Player reference cards
  • 16 creature dice cards (13 monster types, 3 leaders)
  • 108 creature skill cards
  • 32 Combat target cards
  • 179 Attack modifier cards

Additional Information

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