Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs has been revealed by surprise as the next RPG adventure in the series, but unlike its typically massive siblings, this one is much smaller - both literally and figuratively.
In real-world terms, that's because its missions can be completed in less than 20 minutes or during "a half-hour lunch break," according to the press release. Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs also offers a "sleek setup" to go with a total weight of 1lb. That makes quite a difference to the back-breaking 20lbs or so of Gloomhaven and Frosthaven; despite being some of the best board games if you love fantasy dungeon-crawlers, they're murder to carry around. (If you get either of the latter in the upcoming Prime Day board game deals, bear that in mind when picking them up off your doorstep once they're delivered - trust us, your back will thank you.)
However, there's also a more literal reason for it being 'smaller.' As the game's name would suggest, your character has been shrunken down to the size of a mouse. Set between the original Gloomhaven and its expansion, Forgotten Circles, it sees adventurer Hail getting fed up with admirers that bother her constantly over her part in saving the city… so she sets a shrinking spell on the door to make those problems literally go away. You'll play as a wannabe hero who was seeking her advice on how to become famous but ended up teeny-tiny instead. Your mission is to survive this miniature world and get to Hail so that she can put you back to normal as a result.
Although it emphasizes speed and accessibility, that doesn't mean the iconic card-based combat is gone in Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs. Each attack card still has two abilities on it for players to choose from, but this time you only have a hand of four cards overall. The battle will then be resolved "using a die in conjunction with a modifier table." Naturally, all of the above can be leveled up as you go (anyone worried that it wouldn't be a 'proper' RPG can rest easy).
Buttons & Bugs has been designed by Joe Klipfel (who made a free, no-table-needed version of Gloomhaven called Gloomholdin’) and Nikki Valens, a designer who worked on Mansions of Madness 2nd Edition. It features an original campaign by Gloomhaven creator Isaac Childres as well, so dives further into the world he created.
There's no release date yet for Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs, but it's hitting the Backerkit crowdfunding platform now and will apparently launch at retail for $19.99 afterward.
There's been plenty of Gloomhaven-adjacent happenings recently; for starters, a Gloomhaven second edition was revealed with "fully rewritten campaign" and new reputation system. Frosthaven also arrived with backers a few months ago, and you can check out our Frosthaven first impressions here.
