Should I buy if I haven't tried out the original tabletop version?

[KOMO]

Gloomhaven is a tabletop game that my group and I have been waiting to try for a while. We play a lot of games; however, when we're buying an expensive board game we usually try the digital versions in order to avoid bad purchases. My question is simple, can we learn from this version? For instance, some games are really hard to grasp if you never played the original tabletop game, usually it's because of the interface or lack of tutorials.

I know the tabletop version is pretty good, so do you recommend the digital version in order to learn and have fun? Or am I going to look at the screen for hours, feeling dumb as hell and not understanding anything?

[Loswaith]

You can learn the game but it may require some additional research (I had never played the board game) into rules, guides or maybe some videos (pending your preference). Digital does teach you the very basics in its tutorial, but not much help on the tactics side I found.

The biggest aspect was learning how enemies behave and I suspect for the board game that is much easier to learn given you have to control them, as knowing what enemies can and will throw at you is half the battle to avoiding/countering them.

From what I do understand that Jaws of the Lion is a better way to start out with the physical game as it has a tutorial with it (also a cheaper entry point).

I had fun with it but initially it was a tad frustrating, but after putting in the extra research, learning how the game works and playing some of it I enjoyed it later on. I do feel it is more a tactical game than what I would call a dungeon crawler.

If you like games you need to think about tactically it is good, if you are after more a light romp of defeating enemies, you likely wont enjoy the early game-play of gloomhaven.

[KOMO]

In case anyone else is wondering the same thing and ended up here, yes you should buy it. The tutorials are well made, you grasp the game's mechanics.

Originally posted by Loswaith:

You can learn the game but it may require some additional research (I had never played the board game) into rules, guides or maybe some videos (pending your preference). Digital does teach you the very basics in its tutorial, but not much help on the tactics side I found.

The biggest aspect was learning how enemies behave and I suspect for the board game that is much easier to learn given you have to control them, as knowing what enemies can and will throw at you is half the battle to avoiding/countering them.

From what I do understand that Jaws of the Lion is a better way to start out with the physical game as it has a tutorial with it (also a cheaper entry point).

I had fun with it but initially it was a tad frustrating, but after putting in the extra research, learning how the game works and playing some of it I enjoyed it later on. I do feel it is more a tactical game than what I would call a dungeon crawler.

If you like games you need to think about tactically it is good, if you are after more a light romp of defeating enemies, you likely wont enjoy the early game-play of gloomhaven.

This post is also quite correct, I ended up looking into rules etc. in depth, but it has been a game that is rather fun and relatively easy to get into. So, yes: you can go for the digital even it's your first time.

[Darzai]

I suggest watching a video. Gloomhaven is not really a tabletop game, but more a board game. Deckbuilding, euro style resource management, and quite light on the dungeon crawler theme. (Mechanics are great in an abstract way, but might rub you the wrong way when looking at them from the theme pov).