Home / Game Library / Gloomhaven

Free game guide · TABLE Method™

Gloomhaven

Long-form cooperation and characters that change over time · Stage 3 (BGT suggestion)

Buy the guide, $7 See the TABLE plan

Gloomhaven TABLE Method™ Game Guide cover

What the game is

A cooperative campaign game of tactical combat. A small group of mercenaries plays linked scenarios. Each character has a hand of ability cards, and over a campaign characters grow, pursue personal quests, and eventually retire.

Why it works at a table

Gloomhaven offers something short games cannot: watching a character change over many sessions, making choices with lasting consequences, and finally retiring that character and passing the story on. The book notes the parallel to life transitions for long-form groups. Its limited-communication rule also makes coordination a real skill.

Try one variation

Open information (official variant, in the official rules). Official First Edition variant. Players may reveal their hands, card details, initiative values, and intended actions. For the First Edition balance adjustment, increase monster level and trap damage by 1 without increasing gold conversion or bonus experience. Check your edition's rulebook before applying it.

  • Targets: Communication and inclusion
  • Suits: New players and groups who find hidden plans frustrating
  • Watch for: One player directing everyone. Ask first, then advise.
  • Debrief prompt: “Did open information change how we worked together?”

The TABLE Method™, applied

A short excerpt from the full guide's TABLE plan. Anyone can pass, pause, or stop at any time.

  1. Target

    Notice how the group plans with limited information, supports each other in combat, and relates to characters over time.

  2. Assess

    Check the player count, the time, and whether the game serves today's goal.

    • Is this a long-form group with time for a campaign, or a one-off? Plan a single scenario for one-offs.

  3. Build

    • Preparation checklist: confirm the edition and that the scenario is eligible; prepare characters, equipment, and scenario components before people arrive; assign monster administration and rules reference; decide communication and difficulty options; decide how exhaustion, breaks, and early departure will be handled.
    • Use the 128-minute schedule only when the group already knows the game. For new players, plan a separate teaching session or allow 3 hours or more; a fixed stop time does not guarantee a scenario can be finished or saved partway.

  4. Lead

    • Run the monsters if you are not playing a character, to keep the table moving.
    • Keep strategy talk general during card selection, per the rules.

  5. Extract and Extend

    Debrief in order: Board, Self, Us, Life or Work, Extension. Ask what participants make of the game. Do not tell them.

Game not included; play by the rulebook in your box. In the BGT book: Chapter 8 (Who Are You When No One Is Watching?), named for long-form character development and the retirement mechanic. Independent companion. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Cephalofair Games. Gloomhaven is a trademark of its owner and is named only to identify the game. Board Game Therapy is not inherently psychotherapy. Copyright 2026 Solid State Strategies, LLC.

← Back to the Game Library