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As a guy whose job revolves around board games, I get to spend a lot of my time chatting about why RPGs like Frosthaven are fantastic. And honestly, that's a pleasure. But even I can admit that it's not easy to schedule sessions, commit to long-running campaigns, or find space for a box of cardboard and plastic that feels as if it needs a room to itself. That's why the upcoming adaptation from Snapshot Games is such a godsend.
Much like Twin Sail's Gloomhaven before it (which recreated one of the best board games in digital form), this version of Cephalofair's sprawling fantasy epic translates the tabletop experience into a PC adventure on Steam and the Epic Games Store. Although it's not a one-to-one translation, it's pretty damn close to the Frosthaven fans fell in love with a couple years back - right down to mechanics, characters, and locations. Combine that with a development team which involves X-Com creator Julian Gollop and I feel excitement is more than justified.
Having gone hands-on with an early Frosthaven build a few months ago, I'd argue that the project is also the best way to learn how the original board game works; it breaks down a complex, if incredibly clever, system with step-by-step tutorials. Intimidated by the tabletop version, or worried it'd be overwhelming? Seriously, try this first. As a case in point, our Games Editor Oscar Taylor-Kent – who says that he struggles to learn board game rules, something many of us can relate with – points out that it demonstrates "the power of digital versions to teach." I agree. It's the perfect entry-point and is a great way to get your fill of the game if you're short on time or can't face wrestling setup.
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Frosthaven is hitting early access on Steam and the Epic Games Store for PC this July 31, and it'll set you back $39.99 (though you can opt for a bundle with Gloomhaven digital as well if you'd prefer). That's certainly a lot cheaper than the tabletop version, which is currently $250 at Miniature Market.
I caught up with Gollop and Frosthaven digital's game director, Hristo Petkov, to pick their brains about transferring this beloved tabletop saga to screens. What needed to change, be dropped, or get added?
GamesRadar+: So, first up, what are the benefits and challenges of turning a board game – especially one as big as this – into a video game?
Julian: There are huge benefits for fans of Frosthaven who may struggle to bring the game to the table and play with friends, because it is such a big game requiring long term commitment. The main challenge also comes from the sheer ambition and scope of the board game, plus some specific challenges adapting some of the board game rules into a computer game system.
Hristo: The main benefit for us was that the game design was set in stone from the board game while at the same time giving us enough creative freedom to reimagine the game visuals as we see fit. The main challenge was the sheer amount of content in the game which is 50% bigger than Gloomhaven.
GR: We've already had an adaptation of Gloomhaven along with Jaws of the Lion. Although I appreciate that those were different projects from another developer, was there anything that could be learned from and applied to Frosthaven? Equally, was there anything you were keen to avoid?
Julian: We had a good foundation with Gloomhaven digital, so we weren’t completely starting from scratch, although we had to change and fix quite a few things for Frosthaven digital. We wanted to focus initially on implementing the board game as faithfully as possible.
Hristo: We started from the codebase of Gloomhaven so it was a big help at the beginning of the project. With that said Frosthaven is a fair bit more complex than Gloomhaven which led to us rewriting a fair bit of the game to accommodate the new mechanics.
GR: What are the main differences between this version of Frosthaven and its tabletop equivalent?
Julian: There are a couple of key differences. Firstly, we have added an intro adventure which is a tutorial and a prequel to the main story, which will help new players greatly. Secondly, we have added a “Story” mode, which is an easier level of difficulty which is not in the board game.
Hristo: The digital version is 99% faithful to the original game with very small changes made in collaboration with Isaac [Childres, the creator of tabletop Frosthaven]. We are planning to make other adjustments based on player feedback and also implement common house rules into the game. As for new content to the game, as Julian said we have Story difficulty and one even harder difficulty then the board game has alongside tutorial and intro adventure. Intro adventure is 4 missions with simplified outpost phase which was designed by our team in collaboration with Isaac.
The series of board games that began with Gloomhaven may be amongst tabletop's biggest names right now, but that wasn't always the case. As their creator Isaac Childres told me ahead of the Frosthaven board game launch, he didn't anticipate them taking off like they did. More specifically, he "expected the game to be liked by the people who had pledged for it, because they knew what they were getting into. But I felt like the game was a little too niche and very complicated in terms of dungeon-crawls." That doesn't seem to have put off gamers in the slightest, and the franchise is now branching out with a D&D-style tabletop RPG.
GR: Having been hands-on with this and the tabletop version, I have to say that it's much easier to learn the ins and outs of PC Frosthaven thanks to those step-by-step tutorials (not to mention the automation of everything). Are you hoping to capture players who were curious about massive-box RPGs like Frosthaven but get put off by the scale and level of commitment required?
Julian: Yes, that is our objective, and it will take a while to get right, given the huge scope and complexity of the game. We will have the time to do this during the early access period, where we can test different features and QoL improvements with our players.
Hristo: That is of course the goal, but we would like to go even further than that making the game appealing for people who are fans of the general tactical RPG subgenre. The current version of the game still misses a lot of the quality of life things that we are working on and we are looking forward to the feedback from Next Fest and early access which will be later this year.
GR: What will established players of tabletop Frosthaven get from playing the video game that they couldn't experience in the board game, and vice versa?
Julian: The accessibility of the video game makes it much easier to dive into, or continue an online session with your friends. Visually, the game looks great, and you can see the board game characters come to life. Board game players may miss the physicality and social proximity that the board game requires, but it requires a lot of effort and commitment to set up the game and play together for hours at a time.
Hristo: There are many things that a tabletop player can find interesting, but I would like to point out the main two for me. Firstly, it is much easier to set up and find people to play with. And the second one is that a lot of things and characters that have no visual representation in the board game were brought to life by our amazing artists. Actually, we had people from Cephalofair play with those characters for the first time and they were blown away.
GR: Because you're releasing after Frosthaven the board game, you have the advantage of applying feedback or criticism to the tabletop version here. Was this the case at any point during development?
Julian: We have the luxury of the collected feedback from the board game players, and will have many more people playing the digital version after we go into early access. I am sure there will be many opportunities to address issues that arise as we progress towards final release.
Hristo: It was always our goal to do so but the focus so far was to implement the board game as it is. We are currently building a community council of very dedicated players and Isaac will join it too with which we want to address exactly that.
GR: Talk to me about what it's like to work with Isaac. What does your collaboration look like?
Julian: The feedback I have from the team is that it has been a really positive experience so far, and we will continue our collaboration to the end of development.
Hristo: It’s been amazing with Isaac. He is a great guy and an amazing designer. We’ve had regular meetings on approval of art and design decisions which in my opinion went very smoothly.
We were already big fans of Gloomhaven here, so what could Frosthaven do to improve on that formula? A lot, it turns out - I felt that the tabletop sequel was a slicker and smarter adventure on the whole when I tried it at launch.
GR: How much scope is there to 'color outside the lines,' as it were? Are you following Frosthaven's tabletop experience beat for beat, or are you able to add your own ideas into the mix?
Julian: Some aspects of the board game are either very difficult to implement in digital, or need some special treatment. Our adaptations won’t alter the basic experience, and any changes are discussed with [tabletop game publisher] Cephalofair.
Hristo: It is as faithful as possible to the original experience. With that said some scenarios and mechanics needed to be adapted for digital but all was with the approval of Isaac.
GR: OK, a more personal one now. What are your favorite classes to use, and why?
Julian: I have only played with the starting characters, so I have a lot to explore. I have quite enjoyed the Deathwalker so far.
Hristo: I love the Blinkblade with its versatility and objective overpowerness. He has an extremely fun class mechanic which allows for very interesting decision making. Apart from him, “Prism” is an amazing character that I love but I cannot go into much detail because of spoilers.
GR: What's something you're excited for the audience to discover in Frosthaven?
Julian: I think players will be really impressed with our great visual representations of the scenarios and their varied environments, as well as the animations and effects of all the characters. The game looks great.
Hristo: There are many things, but I don't want to go into spoilers. On a more general note I really like how people react when they see their favorite heroes or enemies come to life alongside the amazing environments our artists have created (Frozen Fjord I am looking at you).
You'll be able to try Frosthaven digital for yourself this July 31. Until then, why not check out the best 2-player board games?
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