GAMING INDUSTRY / 2026.08.06
Frosthaven Digital has improved
Last year I tried out Frosthaven Digital in early access. I played it for only 3 hours, which were spent doing the starting scenario three times before I actually managed to beat it. I then decided that this wasn't much…
Last year I tried out Frosthaven Digital in early access. I played it for only 3 hours, which were spent doing the starting scenario three times before I actually managed to beat it. I then decided that this wasn't much fun, and stopped playing. Frosthaven is more difficult than Gloomhaven, and if I, as somebody who has played different versions of Gloomhaven already, can't make it through the starting scenario on normal difficulty, there is something wrong with the difficulty curve. Note that this is by design and faithful to the tabletop version, the first scenario is not one of the easier ones. It seems that Steam users agree with me there, Frosthaven Digital having only 54% positive reviews, with the negative reviews being divided between people who find the game too hard, and people who have technical issues with multiplayer.
This month, Frosthaven Digital left early access and released version 1.0. So I thought I'd try it again. And lo and behold, they massively improved new player onboarding. They added a prequel campaign to the game, which lets you play through 4 easier scenarios before reaching the starting scenario of the main campaign. That does two good things: It already teaches you how to play before throwing you in at the deep end, and it gives you characters a level up, a few perks, and a few items, making the starting scenario objectively easier. You also gain a bunch of resources for your first outpost phase, getting you an easier start of that part of the game as well.
Due to my previous experience, I am playing Frosthaven Digital in story mode. That isn't ideal, as it removes a rather central part of the rules, the loss of a card on resting. Unfortunately that is the only difficulty setting that exists which is easier than Standard, while there are 4 difficulties harder than that. I would have liked a difficulty somewhere between Story and Standard. But right now this is the only available setting at which I can play the game somewhat casually, without being forced to "solve the puzzle" of the exact sequence of optimal moves for each scenario.Tobold's Blog
This month, Frosthaven Digital left early access and released version 1.0. So I thought I'd try it again. And lo and behold, they massively improved new player onboarding. They added a prequel campaign to the game, which lets you play through 4 easier scenarios before reaching the starting scenario of the main campaign. That does two good things: It already teaches you how to play before throwing you in at the deep end, and it gives you characters a level up, a few perks, and a few items, making the starting scenario objectively easier. You also gain a bunch of resources for your first outpost phase, getting you an easier start of that part of the game as well.
Due to my previous experience, I am playing Frosthaven Digital in story mode. That isn't ideal, as it removes a rather central part of the rules, the loss of a card on resting. Unfortunately that is the only difficulty setting that exists which is easier than Standard, while there are 4 difficulties harder than that. I would have liked a difficulty somewhere between Story and Standard. But right now this is the only available setting at which I can play the game somewhat casually, without being forced to "solve the puzzle" of the exact sequence of optimal moves for each scenario.Tobold's Blog