Frosthaven Digital Hands On First Look At Gen Con 2025

As of Gen Con 2025, Frosthaven Digital has just entered Early Access on PC, and I was able to get some hands-on time with it at the convention. The game, developed by Snapshot Games, aims to bring the massive, complex tabletop experience to the digital realm, much like its predecessor Gloomhaven Digital. My time with the demo provided a good look at the core gameplay, the new features, and the state of the game in its initial release.

What’s New and What Feels Familiar

The digital adaptation of Frosthaven brings all the new content from the board game to the screen. This includes the new characters, monsters, items, and the extensive 100-scenario campaign. The demo let me try out a couple of the starting classes, and it was great to see their unique mechanics translated digitally. The Drifter, with its persistent abilities, and the Banner Spear, with its formation-based attacks, were both playable and felt true to their tabletop versions.

One of the major draws of Frosthaven is the city-building and outpost management, and the demo offered a glimpse into this system. While I didn’t get to dive deep into it, the potential for customization and progression beyond just the combat scenarios is clear. The crafting system, which replaces simple item purchases from Gloomhaven, also seems to be a key element, making resources more valuable.

User Interface and Gameplay Flow

This is where the impressions become a bit mixed. While the 3D models and environments look great, the UI and overall user experience feel like they’re still in a very early stage of development. The core card-based combat system is there, and it’s as strategic and satisfying as ever. However, navigating the menus and getting information about cards and abilities can be clunky. I found myself having to go through multiple steps to check a monster’s stats or a card’s full text, which felt like a step back from the mouseover functionality of Gloomhaven Digital.

Animations for monster and character actions, while well-made, are on the slow side. While I assume there will be options to speed them up or skip them in the full release, in the demo they did create a noticeable amount of downtime. There were also some oddities with the game’s flow, such as a requirement for all players in a co-op game to hit “ready” when one player takes a short rest. These are the kinds of issues that will hopefully be ironed out during the Early Access period with player feedback.

Voice Acting and Immersion

A definite highlight of the demo was the inclusion of voice-over narration by Forteller Games, a feature that many Frosthaven board game fans will be familiar with. This adds a great layer of immersion to the game, and having a professional narrator guide the story brings the world of Frosthaven to life in a way that the digital adaptation of its predecessor did not.

Early Access and What to Expect

Frosthaven Digital is currently in Early Access and will likely be for some time. The developers have stated that the launch will include about one-third of the planned content, with more to be added in updates. My experience at Gen Con confirmed this—the core elements are there, but the game has a lot of polish and refinement to go. The developers are actively seeking feedback, so hopefully, the rough edges on the UI and game flow will be smoothed out in the coming months.

Conclusion

For fans of the Gloomhaven and Frosthaven board games, this is an exciting time. The digital version provides a way to experience this epic campaign without the massive setup time and table space. The core tactical combat is as good as ever, and the new mechanics and world of Frosthaven are faithfully represented. However, the game is very much an Early Access title, with a UI and overall user experience that needs significant work. If you’re a dedicated fan who is willing to be part of the development process, it’s worth checking out. If you’re looking for a polished, seamless experience right out of the gate, it might be best to wait until the game has spent more time in development.

You can buy it on Steam right now, and try it for yourself.