Frosthaven, the successor to Gloomhaven, is set for a digital release in 2025. The board game version is already out, with fans applauding the cinematic storytelling and new features. To make things easier for fans, there’s also a companion app that you can download. This makes it easier to track monsters, quest objectives, and player progress.
Features that Make The Game Easier to Play
Some features of the Frosthaven app make the game way easier to play. For example, you can sync multiple devices at any one time. If a player owns the full version of the app, then other people have the opportunity to join by using the Lite version. Everyone can see things like conditions, monster health, party status, and where they are in the campaign, without having to commit to the full download. As Frosthaven puts a huge focus on cooperative play, this is an amazing feature. You also have a host and client setup option. One player is the host and runs the full app, which is currently available for iOS, Android, and Steam, with others joining as clients. As the host can manage the scenario setup, this is all streamlined, with players being given the chance to input data, such as their initiative or health. This is all then contributed to the main screen, allowing the whole group to see where everyone stands.
With remote play available too, people can set up their boards in sync, even if they’re not at the same location. This makes the idea of playing with friends much easier. As games like Frosthaven often take hours to play, it’s understandable that it can be hard to get everyone around the table, but features like this do help to make it more accessible and more inclusive overall.
What Features is the App Still Missing?
Gloomhaven was a very complex game with extensive learning curves, and Frosthaven certainly kicks things up a notch. With that said, the integrated rules assistant makes things much more straightforward. Having a way to calculate updated monster stats makes the whole process easier to keep track of, and reduces the amount of time that players have to spend working things out.
With that said, the app doesn’t contain the rulebook or even a general quick reference document. Adding this to the app would greatly improve it, and make it quicker work for people who are new to the game to pick up the rules. If you download a chess app, for example, most of the time, there’ll be a breakdown of the moves you can make and why. What’s more, the best app to play poker, generally, won’t just tell you how to play poker. It’ll tell you how to play different variants, how the rules change, and what options you have when taking on opponents. Tournaments can also have different rules, and by providing them digitally, they can be made more accessible to people who want to join in.
Frosthaven doesn’t have this feature yet, but in time, hopefully, we’ll see it updated. As Frosthaven grows its fan base, and when the digital game is launched, it could be that the app is overhauled completely, as developers rush to meet fan demands.