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Gloomhaven: Strategic Card-Based Combat After Baldur's Gate 3

Last Updated: November 2, 2025

Gloomhaven digital RPG card-based combat.

The massive success of Larian Studios' *Baldur's Gate 3* ignited a renaissance for the CRPG genre, proving a colossal appetite exists for deep, tactical, Dungeons & Dragons-style experiences. As players search for their next great adventure, many are discovering that one of the most innovative takes on the TTRPG formula has been perfecting its mechanics for years, streamlining the genre's complexity into a single, elegant system: every action is a card.

That game is *Gloomhaven*. Originally a legendary tabletop board game and now a masterfully executed digital RPG, it captures the strategic depth of its roots while making gameplay uniquely dynamic. By converting every possible move—from swinging an axe and casting a spell to healing an ally or looting a treasure chest—into a card drawn from a character-specific deck, the game fundamentally changes the player's interaction with tactical combat and dungeon delving.

The Board Game Titan in the CRPG Arena

While *Baldur's Gate 3* set a new bar for cinematic role-playing, *Gloomhaven* stands as its peer in pure tactical depth. Developed by Flaming Fowl Studios and based on the acclaimed board game by Isaac Childres, *Gloomhaven Digital* translates the beloved tabletop experience into a premier CRPG. In a landscape now rich with titles embracing dice rolls and branching narratives, *Gloomhaven* carved its own path by asking a simple but profound question: what if we got rid of the action bar entirely?

The result is a game that feels both familiar to D&D fans and radically different. It’s a campaign-driven, party-based dungeon crawler where you fight monsters, gain experience, and find powerful gear. But the engine driving it all isn't dice rolls for attacks or a list of skills on a hotbar; it's a tense, brilliant system of card-based hand management.

How Card-Based Actions Redefine Strategy

The core premise of *Gloomhaven* is to distill a character's entire ability set into a unique deck of cards. Each turn, players choose two cards from their hand to play. Crucially, every card is split into two halves: a top action (often a powerful attack) and a bottom action (typically focused on movement or utility). When you play your two cards, you must use the top action of one and the bottom action of the other.

This design masterfully eliminates the often-confusing tabletop rules regarding actions, bonus actions, and reactions. The two-card play *is* your turn. This simple choice creates a rich tactical puzzle every round:

  • Initiative: Each card has an initiative value, and the one you choose as your "leading" card determines your turn order. Do you play a fast card to eliminate a threat before it acts, or a slow one to see what your enemies do first?
  • Resource Management: Your hand of cards is also your stamina. As you play cards, they go into a discard pile. When you run out, you must rest to get them back, but you must "lose" one card from your hand permanently for the rest of the scenario. Your deck is a dwindling resource, making every decision meaningful.
  • No "Spamming" Moves: You can't just use your best attack every turn. Once a card is in your discard pile, you can't use it again until you rest, forcing you to constantly adapt and use your full range of abilities.

This approach introduces a compelling layer of deck-building to character progression. Leveling up allows you to add powerful new cards to your deck, refining your strategy. A Brute will fill their deck with cards that offer heavy melee strikes and defensive stances, while a Spellweaver curates a hand of potent elemental magic, all while managing a fragile, smaller hand size.

Streamlining the TTRPG Experience

For many players, the biggest barrier to entry for CRPGs is complexity. Memorizing spell slots, cooldowns, and resource pools can be daunting. *Gloomhaven*'s card-based system offers a visually intuitive alternative. The resources are the cards in your hand and the ones left in your deck. The complexity is shifted from rule memorization to the tactical decision of which two cards best solve the current battlefield puzzle.

This system creates a cohesive mechanical language that applies to every challenge. In many RPGs, movement and attacks are separate decisions. In *Gloomhaven*, they are two sides of the same coin, elegantly linked on every card. A single card might offer a powerful "Stun" attack on its top half but a crucial "Heal Self" on its bottom half. Choosing one means forgoing the other, creating a constant and thrilling sense of opportunity cost.

The Perfect Next Step After Baldur's Gate 3

*Gloomhaven* is a direct beneficiary of the current industry climate, where a large, engaged audience is actively seeking new and deep RPG experiences. For the millions of players who fell in love with the turn-based tactical combat of *Baldur's Gate 3*, *Gloomhaven* and its even larger standalone sequel, *Frosthaven*, represent a perfect next step.

While it trades the cinematic dialogue and sprawling open-world exploration of BG3 for a laser focus on tactical combat and dungeon crawling, it delivers an unparalleled strategic challenge. The execution is flawless, balancing dozens of unique character classes, intricate card pools, and a satisfying progression curve. The concept is a breath of fresh air, delivering a unique blend of CRPG depth and deck-builder strategy that has carved out a significant and well-deserved niche in a newly competitive market.