Games Like Gloomhaven: Campaign and Tactical Combat Picks

If you are hunting for games like Gloomhaven, Frosthaven, Jaws of the Lion, and Spirit Island top the list for heavy strategy and brutal tactical combat. Gloomhaven changed the tabletop world. It brought massive campaigns and unforgiving card-driven combat to the kitchen table.

Key Takeaways

• Frosthaven and Jaws of the Lion are the direct tabletop successors, one heavier and one streamlined.
• Spirit Island and Scythe deliver the same brain-burning tension without the dungeon-crawl theme.
• Slay the Spire and Baldur's Gate 3 bring that tactical mindset to a digital, solo-friendly format.
• Charterstone offers the legacy-campaign feel of a board that permanently changes as you play.
• Sin of Angels applies that same shrinking-resource pressure to a browser-based turf war, in closed beta now.

But a box that heavy takes real work to set up, and the grind is real. That is usually why people go looking for something else:

• The rulebook is thick and the setup takes time.
• Getting the crew together every week is a grind.
• Sometimes you want a different theme.
• Sometimes you want a faster setup.
• Sometimes you just want a digital option you can fire up on Steam or run right in your browser.

We have the breakdown of the best games to play next. Whether you want the best board games like Gloomhaven to dominate your dining table, or you are searching for pc games like Gloomhaven to play solo, you have options.

We cover the heavy tabletop legacy games, the deep digital RPGs, and the unforgiving strategy board games that demand your absolute focus.

Quick Picks at a Glance

The Core of the Fight

Explains what Gloomhaven fans actually want and a 3-question filter to pick your game.

You have to know what you are trying to replace before you pick your next campaign. People do not just want Gloomhaven like games for the fantasy theme. They want the mechanics.

That means they want the specific tension the game builds, turn after turn:

• A shrinking hand of cards.
• A choice every turn between moving into position or striking a fatal blow.
• Stamina you have to manage and characters who exhaust.
• A crew you level up, then retire, then replace with fresh blood.

Use this filter before you read another word. Ask yourself three questions and match the answers to the Quick Picks table above:

• Format - are you set up for tabletop, or do you need something digital with no install?
• Type - do you want cooperative dungeon-crawling, or competitive area control and engine building?
• Commitment - do you want a full legacy campaign, or a lighter one-off session?

Run your answers against the table's Format, Type, and Best For columns, and you can skip straight to the right section below instead of reading the whole list.

That bottom-right corner on the chart is Sin of Angels, a browser-based pick currently in closed beta. Get on the list, and you get early access plus a real say in what ships. Get on the Beta List

The best games in this space replicate that original tension. They force hard choices under fire and hand you a persistent world where your wins and losses actually matter. Some of these games keep the cooperative dungeon-crawling spirit alive. Others take that same tactical focus and apply it to competitive area control, engine building, or digital grid combat.

The Direct Successors and Massive Tabletop Campaigns

If you have the table space and a dedicated crew, the best board games are the ones built directly in that massive legacy shadow. These are the big boxes. They demand commitment. They reward you with a persistent world.

Frosthaven

Frosthaven is the direct sequel, and it takes everything the original game did and makes it colder, harder, and deeper. You still have the brutal card-driven combat. But now you also have a settlement to rebuild.

You gather resources in the frozen wastes. You construct buildings. You defend your walls against attacks. The character classes are more complex. The enemies hit harder. If you finished the original campaign and just want more of that exact punishment, this is your next stop.

Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion

Maybe you want the tactical combat without the massive box. Jaws of the Lion is the streamlined version, and it cuts the setup time down to minutes.

You play directly in a spiral-bound scenario book instead of building a map out of cardboard tiles. It teaches you the rules as you play. It is the perfect entry point if the original game felt too intimidating to get to the table.

Oathsworn

If you want giant boss battles, look at Oathsworn. This game splits your time between a dark narrative story and massive tactical fights. You track monsters through a grim world. Then you Brawl on a giant grid.

The combat uses a unique push-your-luck system. You can roll dice or draw cards to determine your hits. You manage cooldowns. You coordinate with your team to break armor and sever limbs. It delivers the same heavy cooperative strategy but focuses entirely on epic boss encounters.

Rove

For players who want a tight solo puzzle, the Rove board game offers a completely different scale. It is a small-box spatial puzzle. You manage movement and positioning to complete patterns.

It does not have the sprawling campaign of a massive dungeon crawler. But it captures that exact feeling of staring at a grid and calculating the perfect sequence of moves to survive. It is a brilliant choice when you need a solo strategy fix but do not have hours to spare.

Heavy Strategy and Area Control

Sometimes you want to step away from cooperative campaigns and fight your friends instead. These games deliver the heavy strategy, the engine building, and the brutal area control that hardcore tabletop players demand.

Spirit Island

This is the ultimate heavy cooperative game. Instead of exploring dungeons, you play as ancient spirits defending your island from colonizing invaders. It is incredibly complex.

Every spirit plays completely differently. You have to anticipate where the invaders will build and strike. You do not just attack. You generate fear. You push invaders into the ocean. You draft power cards and build an engine of destruction. It requires the same level of brain-burning coordination as a high-level dungeon crawl.

Scythe

Scythe is a masterpiece of engine building and cold war tension. You control a faction in an alternate-history Europe. You harvest resources, build mechs, and expand your territory.

Combat is rare but devastating, and the threat of violence hangs over every turn. Every player has a unique starting position and hidden objectives. You have to plan your actions rounds in advance. It scratches the itch for deep, long-term strategic planning.

That cold-war tension, the sense that combat could erupt any turn, is exactly the pressure Sin of Angels runs on when two gangs eye the same site. It's in closed beta now, and beta players report the bugs that shape the finished game. Join the Beta

Clank!: A Deck-Building Adventure

Clank! delivers that same dungeon-diving, deck-managing feeling, just faster. You push your luck to steal artifacts from a sleeping dragon, and every card you draft changes your strategy.

You have to decide when to dive deeper and when to run for the surface. It is competitive, fast, and ruthless.

Charterstone

Charterstone is the pick if the legacy aspect is what you crave. It lets you build a village from scratch, unlocking new rules and new buildings as you play.

You permanently alter the board with stickers. It starts simple and grows into a complex worker-placement game. Your decisions in early games will still affect your strategy at the end of the campaign.

Roll for the Galaxy and Roll Player

These games focus on building the perfect engine. Roll for the Galaxy has you rolling custom dice to build a space empire. You manage workers, develop technologies, and settle worlds.

Roll Player turns the classic RPG character creation process into a competitive puzzle. You draft dice to build the perfect stats, buy weapons, and train skills. Both games require intense forward planning.

Viticulture Essential Edition

It sounds peaceful. You run a vineyard in Italy. But Viticulture is a cutthroat worker-placement game where you compete for limited spots on the board.

You draft visitors to give you special abilities. You have to optimize every single season to fill wine orders before your opponents. It is a heavy, satisfying strategy game that rewards careful execution.

Digital Tactical Combat

Getting a physical group together is difficult, and that is exactly why the games like Gloomhaven Reddit communities often recommend are digital. If you want video games like Gloomhaven, the PC and Steam ecosystems are packed with deep, unforgiving tactical RPGs.

Slay the Spire

This is the king of digital deckbuilders. You climb a tower, draft cards, and fight brutal enemies. Every run is different.

You have to build synergies between your cards and your relics. It requires the exact same tactical mindset as managing a hand of ability cards in a tabletop dungeon crawl. It is fast, addictive, and punishing.

Divinity Original Sin 2 and Baldur's Gate 3

These are the gold standards for digital RPG combat. They give you a massive world and incredibly deep turn-based battles. You use the environment to your advantage:

• You set oil on fire.
• You freeze water.
• You shove enemies off cliffs.
• You combine elemental effects to destroy your targets.

Every fight is a tactical puzzle. If you want games like Gloomhaven on Steam that offer a massive story and grid-based combat, start here.

Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous

Pathfinder delivers if you want absolute control over your character builds. The character progression is staggeringly deep, and you lead a crusade against demonic armies. The combat is complex and unforgiving. You have to buff your party, manage spell slots, and exploit enemy weaknesses.

Wildermyth

Wildermyth offers procedural storytelling and tight tactical combat. Your characters age, fall in love, take injuries, and retire. The combat takes place on a grid, and you use magic that interacts with the scenery. It captures the feeling of a tabletop RPG campaign perfectly. Your heroes leave a legacy behind.

Sunderfolk and Tabletop Simulator

If you want to play with friends digitally, you have options. Sunderfolk offers a couch co-op tactical experience where everyone uses their phone as a controller. It brings the party-game format to the tactical RPG genre.

Tabletop Simulator is the ultimate sandbox. It lets you play massive physical board games in a digital space. You can load up community mods and play heavy strategy games with friends across the globe.

How Sin of Angels Fits

Describes Sin of Angels' outlaw-biker gameplay, locations, combat system, and beta signup.

A shrinking resource forces a hard choice every round in most of the picks above, cards in a dungeon crawler, hand size in a deckbuilder. Look at Sin of Angels if you want that same pressure applied to deep strategy and brutal combat, in a game you can actually get your crew to play without the setup grind. We traded the fantasy dungeons for the gritty California underworld.

Turn-Based Area-Control Board Game

This is a turn-based area-control board game where you run an outlaw motorcycle club. You muscle rival gangs off the streets. You run guns. You bleed the town dry.

Browser-Based, No Massive Setup

You do not need a massive table or a long setup. Sin of Angels is a browser-based digital board game, and there is no install.

Play on Your Device

It's built for your desktop, your tablet, or your phone. An Android app is planned, and it is coming to Steam for PC, no date yet. It is built for the way people actually play games today.

You build your crew by bringing in Members and Recruits. You take territory by moving onto the town's Sites. Every location is a front to use:

• Dive bars
• A weapons dealer
• The morgue
• A drug lab
• The docks
• A strip joint
• The high desert
• The highway out of town

You use those locations for Cash, Guns, and Narcotics. You trade on The Silk Road and manage your Felonies with the law.

Combat has teeth. When rival clubs clash on a Site, it is a Brawl, and these are not just dice rolls. Gang fights play out as cinematic 3D battles. When a rider goes down, you get an atmospheric death vignette. The game features a real soundtrack with an original outlaw-country and dark-Americana album, per-location ambience, and punchy sound effects.

The politics are just as ruthless. You cut deals with rival clubs. You forge ceasefires. Then you break them the second it benefits you. You hold the most Sites to build the biggest pile of Cash, and whoever has the most Cash when round six ends wins. A full game is about six rounds, making it perfect for a quick match or a dedicated game night.

It plays your way:

• Solo: face off against a smart AI opponent.
• Online multiplayer: play with friends scattered across devices.
• Party mode: throw the 3D board up on a TV and everyone in the room plays from their own phone.

You get the heavy strategy of a massive board game, the negotiation of a tabletop alliance game, and the ease of a digital party game. It is our outlaw-MC strategy board game, built for players who want to settle things in the dirt.

Join the Beta

Sin of Angels is in closed beta at soa-game.com. Get on the list and you play early, and the bugs you report shape what ships.

Join the Beta

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a game like Gloomhaven?

Yes. Frosthaven is the direct sequel, while Jaws of the Lion offers a streamlined version. If you want a digital alternative, PC RPGs like Baldur's Gate 3 deliver similar tactical grid combat.

Is Gloomhaven or Frosthaven better?

It depends on what you want from your campaign. Gloomhaven is the classic dungeon crawler that started it all. Frosthaven adds deeper mechanics, town building, and more complex character classes for veteran players.

What is the #1 board game in the world?

Rankings change constantly based on player votes on major database sites. Gloomhaven held the top spot for years due to its massive campaign and deep tactical combat. Heavy strategy games and legacy campaigns often share the highest ranks today.

What's the closest game to Gloomhaven for solo play?

The Rove board game is an excellent small-box spatial puzzle for solo players. If you want a massive campaign, you can play the original game solo by controlling multiple characters. You can also play tactical PC games like Slay the Spire by yourself.

Are there video game versions of Gloomhaven-style campaigns?

Yes. The PC and Steam ecosystems are full of deep tactical RPGs. Divinity Original Sin 2 and Baldur's Gate 3 offer massive campaigns with turn-based grid combat. Slay the Spire captures the feeling of a brutal, card-driven tactical puzzle.

What should I play after finishing Gloomhaven and Frosthaven?

Look into Oathsworn for massive boss battles and a dark narrative. If you want to fight your friends instead of the board, try an area-control game like Scythe. You can also get on the list for a digital strategy game that skips the heavy setup entirely, like Sin of Angels, a browser-based area-control pick currently in closed beta with a small player pool.

Claim Your Turf

If you want deep strategy, brutal fights, and a game night you can actually get off the ground, it is time to ride. Get on the beta list now, and be ready to throw the board on the TV and settle your grudges in the dirt the day it opens. Get Early Access.