Cephalofair Games Gloomhaven: Forgotten Circles Expansion
- This is the first expansion for Gloomhaven featuring twenty new scenarios that take place after the events of the original Gloomhaven campaign which involve one new character class the Aesther Diviner and her attempts to prevent an approaching calamity.
- Players will delve into twenty new scenarios that take place after the events of the original Gloomhaven campaign. These new adventures will involve one new character class—the Aesther Diviner—and her attempts to prevent an approaching calamity. The accompanying scenario book breaks up these scenarios across multiple pages to create more dynamic and surprising encounters.
- Expansion also features seven new monster types (including three new bosses) and fourteen new items.
- 1-4 players, Ages: 12+
- 60–120 play time
Ahmar Khan
Lives up to the hype
This is the game that every co-op dungeon crawler wants to be: a complete video game in a box. I am completely thrilled and even after playing 85 missions, I want to play more. However, it's not for everyone, and you shouldn't pay upwards of $140 for something that will take up an entire shelf gathering dust, so be careful. Mechanically, Gloomhaven has hundreds of hours of content to uncover (2/3 of the box starts sealed), a pseudo-legacy system where you make steady progress at unlocking the game over those hours, and a remarkably good balance considering how much there is in there. A flexible campaign system lets you add, remove, or swap players, or tune the difficulty without breaking anything. (Start on Easy mode, even the tutorial can be tough for first timers.) There's an innovative and elegant replacement for dice: a set of 20 cards that both you and enemies can modify. There's an innovative and elegant action system: a hand of cards that you slowly spend over time, creating a natural timer that keeps up the urgency in every mission and makes every turn count. There are dozens of enemies, each with a small but unique set of behaviors that adds some randomness. The whole package is polished to a high gloss, gameplay-wise. Even the art is pleasant, with sensible clothes for both genders. However, this is not an RPG in a box. There is little opportunity for roleplaying, and you are forced to retire your characters and start new ones every few sessions (otherwise you would never open most of the box). Nor is there much base building or long-term planning; all that stuff is abstracted to a single good/evil tracker and a single prosperity track, which your actions influence VERY slowly over time. It is a tactical battle-puzzle game first and foremost; you are only "exploring the wilderness" in the sense that the mission today calls for a fight against wolves on the forest map tiles. Nor is this a light purchase. It is meant to be played by a hardcore gaming group with lots of free time, because the pace of progress is very slow and each scenario is quite thinky. Even the group that plays Scythe with you may not be thrilled with dedicating 100 hours to a campaign. Because setup and teardown is a beast, solo play takes forever; the additional hands really help get the game started in under 30 minutes. If you have a wife who also loves video games, and another friend or couple that is similarly enthused, that's the optimal way to enjoy this game. The more hardcore you are about Euro/American hybrid games, the more you will like this game. It is a masterpiece of design that, like many such things, is not entertaining to the average gamer, and that's OK. I love it!
Sheryl Lynn Mumm
Amazing game, well worth it!
This game is amazing!!! I've been playing it on a solo campaign and even when I lose in a scenario I still had a great time. The fighting mechanics are so well balanced, especially if you pay attention to the nuances of the rules in fights. It has taken a few scenarios to really get down all the little things but it is well worth it. I think the only minor issue I've had so far is that my Scoundrel miniature came out of the box unnaturally bent backwards and it is a bit flimsy, I fear it may soon break off at the knees. Even with this issue I can't dock it any points, it is just too well designed and has an amazing ability to keep my attention captured.
Ginny Farris
It's awesome and it makes D&D players mad. Win-win!
A fantastically elegant system that literally knocks every board game competitor in the dirt. Components are pretty well made, the quality of construction is quite good. Yes there are a ton of them. Yes the game needs and organizer, badly. Yes the broken token organizer is relatively expensive (but worth it IMO). Guess what! You can put your own system together for about 20 bucks if you have a level of personal motivation that doesn't resemble a porcelain door stop. The mechanics of this game flow smoothly (it is only clunky if you're not so hot in the brainpan department) and the modifier decks are small, easy to handle, and most importantly not in the way of a single thing. I hear a ton of people bashing this game because "dungeons and dragons." Well, this game is a LOT more accessible to players than DnD. Given the cost of books and materials with DnD it's probably a lot cheaper to have this in your closet than to ask everyone to go buy their own manuals/dice/minis and then thumb through all 7000 pages of available lore to put something together that works. Also, when was the last time you sat down with your DnD group and got anything meaningful done in less than 5 or 6 hours? Spend a ton of time debating and rules lawyering with your DM pal? DM pal unfairly exercise their blue-bolt and because-i-say-so privileges? That one dude who constantly seduces everything that moves because he has no game in real life? You get 0% of that in this game and guess what! You can STILL roleplay. Yep. All it takes is imagination and a shred of desire. Every time you pull a card, make a choice, or literally anything happens, you can roleplay all you want. One of my favorite critiques is that the game has cosmetically "resurfaced" tired old tropes (thief is now a "scoundrel", fighter is a "brute") to seem new. Yet that same review will go on to recommend a game that beat those tropes into our brains and hasn't offered anything new in decades except a different way to roll the same old dice and a new opportunity to buy another 400 dollars worth of books. Seriously this game is insanely well done and an absolute achievement in legacy gaming. Characters grow and develop in skills and health, a process you guide. They have motivations in their overall participation and in each scenario. Players can experiment with different characters and it is easy to drop-in, drop-out characters and players throughout the story arc. As the game progresses your decisions and actions have meaningful, formative consequences on the game world. Clocking in with 95 available scenarios with the base game, played on branching story lines, theres enough here to keep you and your pals busy a long time. Yes, you'll want an organizer. Check out YouTube for some great ideas from other players on the cheap. Or, if you have the skrilla, I'd get the previously mentioned organizer. I can set up a game in about 5 minutes now with it. Videos for gameplay reviews and tutorials are plentiful online and more fun than the rule book (which is useful as a reference after the videos). I learned most of the rules watching those and use the book now just for minutiae and double-checking. Two thumbs up. Nobody paid me anything for this review.
Ana Kolevska
A true masterpiece
It's hard to describe the awesomeness of this masterpiece. All my friends and family thought I was crazy waiting 7 months after spending over 200 in total for this one game... It was worth the wait. An escape from the digital world, in that fantasy realm, with more detail and lore than even triple A games seem to provide these days.... This game is a true master piece. There was so much planning and consideration put into this game, ensuring that you had content for weeks/months/years to come (varying on how much you play obviously). Balance feels great and provides a sense of challenge. Let me be clear, this isn't your family board game. This game requires dedication, commitment, and enthusiasm. You will spend time on setup and clean up. But, the experience is worth it for any RPG/dungeon crawl fan. If you find the likes of DnD/Pathfinder etc too "open ended", you will appreciate this giving you that same friends at a table top experience, but a well defined rule set, where everyone players. And it's your game, so if you want to house rule it to add some openness still... go for it! The only problem I have with this game is that the people I play with don't live with me... :)
Robert Niles
Amazing game with an enormous amount of content that is a must have for any dungeon crawler/ RPG enthusiast
It is typically overpriced here on Amazon, but if you can find a copy under $130.00, and if you have a couple friends who like dungeons and dragons, but don't like the whole talking like an elf part, then this is your game. PROS: It is easily one of the best stand-alone games I have ever played. My group has only played through about a half dozen dungeons so far and I am thoroughly blown away by how good it is. The actual game mechanics when you're in dungeons is pretty clever and well designed. The use of cards instead of dice works very well and always makes every choice you make feel important and satisfying. The overall campaign is basically a full D&D campaign sprinkled between exciting dungeons. We played on normal mode, and each time we completed a dungeon it felt like we just barely completed it. Choices you make in town or on the road have actual consequences that last the entirety of the campaign and can lead to different paths for different groups. If you like painting the character models that come with it are pretty well detailed and are a pleasure to paint as well. It is a game with so much content that i can see my group playing off and on over the course of a year (or more). CONS: It is an $$expensive$$ game that takes a long time to set up, a long time to play, and a long time to pick up. Also, punching out all the content out of the cardboard takes a long time. Storage is also an issue - there is so much stuff that fitting it all in the box it came in can pose a challenge (although there are companies that make really good solutions to this... but they can be pricey).. Overall it is an amzing game that will give you somewhere around 100 hours of playable content. The dungeon gameplay is deep and rewarding and a pleasure to play, and the campaign story ties it all together in a fun "choose your adventure" style system where you and your group of friends can forge your own somewhat unique path.
Andrew Springer
If it's up your alley, YOU WILL LOVE IT
I will be the first to admit that this game is certainly not for everyone. It's massive, time and space consuming, and requires no small amount of time for set-up and takedown. However, I can very comfortably say that this is my favorite game of all-time. I have anxiously anticipated this game for two and a half years, and it certainly did not disappoint. The box was well-packaged, and came without bend corners or scratches. If you enjoy dungeon-crawling, leveling up fantastically nuanced characters and an immersive story-driven experience, and are fine with a great deal of admin and a hefty price tag, this game is for you. I sincerely could not recommend it enough.
Michelle Donley
What a well thought out, creative and utterly addictive game that is well worth the price.
After you get done punching out all the tokens, enemies, map tiles, and opening all the card packs you'll certainly be intimidated by this game. Don't be. The rule reference book is one of the best I've seen with great visual identifiers for components, rules that are well written and easy to remember, and fantastic organization of concepts and mechanics of the game. Speaking of mechanics, this game strikes an uncommon balance of tactical planning and spontaneity. The perfect plan can be foiled by an enemy moving before or after when you had hoped they would do so, but the top/bottom function of the action cards allows for last minute changes in strategy. The scenario's (I've played three so far) are of a satisfying length that never seemed too short or long and are certainly challenging (if you choose them to be) enough to satisfy a gaming veterans need for some real close calls. In the end the campaign appears to be the real deal for folks that are on board with spending many, MANY, hours in a game that has secrets (sealed envelops, unrevealed characters, etc.), remarkable combat, outstanding art, and easy to follow rules and scenarios. It's basically the game we all wished Descent would have been. Oh and nevermind the price tag, this game is well worth it.
Adele Semenaviciene
This game is absolutely wonderful!
Long Story short: This game is absolutely wonderful! This (according to many board game review sites) is set to be the top game of 2017, and I 100% recommend getting yourself a copy, though it will likely be difficult/take some time. Its definitely a HOT selling item and I was lucky enough to pre-order mine a month ago before other folks started seeing it listed on Amazon. This is definitely worth getting and will make a huge hit to your gaming nights! A more detailed breakdown is below. (Note relating to pictures: The game does NOT come with painted miniatures. As I enjoy paining them, I did so, but my wife and I played several games before they were painted without any issues/confusion. They just look cooler/it's more immersive in my opinion when they are painted.) Legacy Mechanics: (A legacy game is a game that does not reset from one playthrough to another. But rather, like reading a story, each game played builds on the next, in an overall 100+ hour 'campaign'. Note unlike other campaign/legacy games, this does not require a single playgroup, but rather you can start a new party with just about anyone, anytime, and you just 'drop' into your already existing world to plunder dungeons and kill baddies) The game comes with 17 playable characters, but you only start with 6. As you play through the game you 'unlock' new characters/races/classes to play as. Additionally as you play through, you will be able to "level up" the prosperity of the town of Gloomhaven, which is where your party will travel between adventures to level up, buy/sell gear, get your grog (or mead) on, and perform random town events. As Gloomhaven levels up, new items become available to purchase, and any new characters can start their quests at higher levels. As you play through, and eventually retire characters, you will gain additional permanent 'stat' boosts that apply to all your characters going forward. Like many other Legacy game this game includes a bunch of sealed envelopes, unlockables, and high quality stickers, that go on the area map, as well as on character cards. UNLIKE many legacy games, I feel like this can easily be played through again, without having to buy another copy of the game. You don’t need to rip up cards or anything in this game, and other than the character card upgrades, the experience wouldn’t necessarily be ruined by having all the locations already on the map. I imagine it would be like playing Skyrim a second time through; less surprises, but allows you to fully explore character/class types you didn’t previously and allows you to take separate paths than you took the first time. Story: Don't worry, I won’t spoil anything. The game has tons of missions (90+). You start with just one, but similar to all those RPG video games we love, you begin unlocking more and more. Then pretty soon you find yourself with branching and interweaving stories. Some have consequences that have an impacts on others. For example, will you go and work for this shady contact you meet who is obviously up to no good? Or will you take up a mission to hunt down and kill the shady contact, preventing them from unleashing havoc. Whatever choice you make, it 'locks off' other missions; you can't work for someone if you brought their head to the city guard ;) Of course you can always enter "casual mode" and play through these missions, its your game afterall, but I personally won’t be doing this until I complete the full game a month or so down the line. Map: The game comes with a wonderful looking board map of Gloomhaven's surrounding area. Overall the map is fairly blank to start with, and you begin the game by applying a sticker in a specific location, representing the available missions you can travel to. While I am not even close to completing it yet, it already looks great and will undoubtedly look amazing after your adventures are complete. Gameplay: This is a semi-cooperative game. Overall each character has a personal goal (the reason why they choose to risk their lives fighting monsters) that they are trying to achieve. After you achieve this your character retires from the game (though you can start a new character with the same class) and you unlock various things, including new characters. Of course using team work to assist each other and actually beat dungeons is essential, overall you are trying to complete your own goals while others are simultaneously doing theirs. When you aren't visiting town/traveling you will be spending a vast majority of the game delving into dungeons, crypts, forest encampments, ancient temples, etc. (You know, all the classics!) Setup/tile placement is VERY similar to games like Decent or Shadows of Brimstone. However there are NO dice in this game, not 1! Instead, movement/combat is performed via playing from a hand of cards. You begin every dungeon with a set amount of maximum cards (~10). And each round you play 2 cards, performing 2 actions (typically a move type action and one that centers around attacks of some sort). After this the cards go to your discard pile, and can be recovered via a rest action. However, when you rest (as well as take damage) you begin to 'lose' cards for the rest of the scenario. After you have completely run out of cards, your character becomes exhausted and can no longer participate in the rest of the scenario. So the trick is performing your actions in the most efficient way possible so that you can complete the dungeon before running out of cards. For every attack, you will also draw a card from your 'attack modifier deck', which is the element of randomness in this game. You begin with a preset amount of cards that add/subtract (+2 damage, -1 damage, etc) the amount of damage you deal, but this deck can be altered via leveling up. Setting: The game does a bit of a unique twist on the dungeon crawler genre. While still taking place location-wise in the sorta medieval magic laced location setting, It does away with elves, dwarves, goblins and the other classic tropes, to give you a unique world that FEELS very Tolkien-esk but at the same time gives you a VERY fresh look. Starting characters/races include the Vermling (a humanoid mouse/cat type creature), Humans (of course), an Orchid (mage creatures that are somewhat reminiscent of Asari from Mass Effect), Quatryls (small creatures that are great with mechanical machinations), Saavas (sorta rock men/monsters), and Inox (horned bigfoot with a sword). Not sure what is in store for characters I have yet to unlock, but overall just feels far more fresh and unique than the standards we are all used to in these sorts of games. Leveling up: What would an RPG be without leveling up your character?! As you gain experience you will be able to level up your character. Which allows you to add new, more powerful cards to your hand. You are also allowed to modify your 'attack modifier deck' so that it can become more powerful or add new abilities that can synergize with your team/other cards. And of course, there are tons of items/gear that can be purchased/found to further augment/beef up your character. (I just found a sweet necromancer ring that summons a skeleton!) Components: Components in this game are wonderful. AND you get so freakin much! The huge box (see picture next to gallon water jug) weighs over 20 pounds (NOT an exaggeration) and comes with tons of stuff, not to mention a wonderful in-box insert that keeps most of the cards/components fairly organized (GREAT design). All playable characters comes with miniatures that are extremely detailed. I am having a blast painting them if you are into that. All monsters have cardboard standees. But don't let that turn you off, the artwork on them is top notch and it really doesn't detract from gameplay/immersion. Each character comes with their own unique hand of cards to use/upgrades to be added. Hundreds of cards (both the small type and magic sized ones). Really can't make a single complaint about anything component-wise. Difficulty: As the game is cooperative, playthroughs are not a cakewalk and do take some thinking. That being said, the game sets monster difficulty based on an equation determined by your average character level. This can further be adjusted to play the scenario on "easy" or "hard" which affects gold & xp collected. The game doesn't mention this, but I personally say you should start your first few scenarios playing under easy mode, both to get the hang of the game mechanics and so you can get gold to buy gear and such. Otherwise you may find yourself getting stomped around for a bit. I would put this game in a moderate level when it comes to ‘heaviness’ of rules. Definitely NOT something your 6 year old would be able to play. But if you can ‘get’ how to play other dungeon crawling games, you won’t have any issues with this. Rules: The game has a wonderfully set up/thought out rule book. Reading through it was fairly easy, though it is long (50+ pages), the book contains many picture aides that guide you along your playthrough. After our first couple of sessions (as is typical with these moderately heavy games) we got down the mechanics and no longer/rarely needed to actually consult the rulebook. It is refreshing to find a game with very little holes within the rules which require house-ruling specific circumstances due to ambiguity. Final Thoughts: Wow! What a great game! My wife and I can't get enough of it and we have only started to scratch the surface of it. After several play sessions (at least 15 hours of gameplay) we are still just as entranced as when we first started, and it is only getting better as we level up. We still haven't retired any characters (expect probably at least 10 dungeons before you retire, though this is just a wild guess, and depending on your personal mission, may take longer/shorter), though I am getting close. The game feels a lot like a first play through of those ‘classic’ video game RPGs (Elder Scrolls, Dragonage, Witcher, etc) There is just this massive world, all for the exploring. And you quickly find yourself with tons of choices of what to do, what story arcs to explore, etc. There are side quests, loot, leveling up, more side quests, and not to mention an interesting story with branching/intertwining story arcs. My wife and I are always eager to get off on the next mission and the 'choose your own adventure' style of play is very unique, especially when it comes to board games. The game has many unique concepts that I hope future games incorporate. Shadows of Brimstone, I absolutely LOVE YOU, but sorry, won’t be playing you for a few months while I obsess over my new found love; Gloomhaven.
Sharon Brace
Incredible!
Really can't recommend this game enough. Do you want to be a psychic rat that stabs and mind controls your enemies? How about an outcast rock elemental that slams his enemies through things? What about a mechanized gnome with bombs, traps and a flamethrower? Gloomhaven is heavy, theres a lot of components and its -very- long but if you're looking for the perfect blend between a video game rpg, a deck building board game and d&d, this is it. While there's a lot to it, theres never too much, the game concepts are handled so elegantly that really anyone can pick it up with some practice and there's plenty of helper apps on the app store to help with token and character management. You can play solo using two characters at a time or with a group of up to four, no dungeon master required but plenty of immersion just the same. The game is a string of chosen scenarios many of which you won't or can't see in one play through which are strung together by a simple narrative and random event cards that impact the world and add flavor to your adventure. Each time you unlock a new scenario you add a sticker to the 'world map' board, allowing you to explore somewhere new. After awhile your characters 'retire' unlocking a new class, of which there are 20'ish I believe. Persistent character levels, item cards, ability cards and ability upgrades allow you to grow more powerful and customize to your hearts content as the adventure unfolds. I'm blown away by the world building and just how darn fun it is to play this game. Every scenario has you visiting somewhere new, making unique choices and fighting something new and in a way where you thought you were good and knew how to play, then you get slapped in the face and have to try again. You're looking at over 100 hours of choose your own adventure, build your own character and get lost in this world goodness. I didn't think it was possible to get this experience out of a tactile medium like a board game but here we are. Worth every penny. If you're up for the challenge and experience, do NOT miss this!
Yvonne Beaver
Whether played solo or with a group, you will not be disappointed.
Don't be daunted by the price (granted it's supposed to retail at $140). This game destroys all other games hands down. The sheer amount of stuff that you get in the box is impressive to the point it's almost ridiculous and it weighs nearly 30 lbs. Fair warning though that it will take you about 2 hours to fully learn the game, not to mention the time to fully get prepared to play your first game from punching out all the assorted enemy standees, tokens and map tiles. Basically don't buy this and expect to open it and be playing within a few minutes. Once you get the rules down pat and have everything sorted and ready to go it is sooooo much fun. You can play the game solo or with a group of up to 4. You start out in the town of Gloomhaven and must take on quests to proceed in the massive story the game book provides. Along the way there are optional side quests you can partake in to get more loot and experience. After each quest whether you succeed or fail, you travel back to town where you can visit the shop to spend your hard earned gold on new equipment and gear, level up your character that you are playing from the experience you gained from the quests, donate to the local church (which gives a benefit) , start a new character AND/OR take part in city events. The town itself has a prosperity level that is raised as you do specific quests. It starts at level 1 and every time it gains a new level more different items get added to the town shop to pick through for purchase. The city events are randomized and they supply an interesting story of something happening in the city that allows you and your group to make a choice on how you want to proceed with the event. The choice you make determines whether something good, bad or neutral happens to your group. This game is LONG. It takes on average 2 hours to complete one quest and there are 98 different quests in the quest book. Mind you that 2 hours is generous, for my group it typically takes about 3 hours per quest as we have much more discussion as we are delving into dungeons. As such the game is made for new people to easily join and drop from playing throughout the game if someone decides they don't want to play anymore. Also there are 6 characters to choose from starting out so if someone doesn't like the character they picked right off the bat, then they can easily switch to a different character once they get back to town. Once you finally get done partaking in the city life you draw a random road event quest card to complete. These basically act just like the city event cards I detailed earlier but with story elements more directed to life on the road. Once that is finished, you start the quest you were traveling to. You open up the quest book and find the current quest and start the setup process. Each quest has a completely different setup and they are all played on modular pieces that make up the game board. Each piece will snap together to form the current dungeon or area and there are doors throughout usually that separate the individual rooms. One of the cool things is, your group doesn't know what lies in wait on the other side of each door until one of you opens it. Then whoever is running the quest book sets up the next room for the party. Also the quest book has very thematic story elements you read as you start the quest and when you open each new door to really set the mood. There is always a specific quest goal that you must complete to beat each quest run, at which point you and your group will gain any number of items. It could be gold, experience, new locations to explore, new gear to be added to the market. All kinds of cool stuff not to mention your progression in the very awesome story. If you lose the quest, you are transported back to town to recover. The good news? You get to keep all the gold and experience you gained from the quest so you don't leave empty handed and feel like you wasted your time. However if you want to proceed in the story and open new locations/quests you must buck up and beat the quest at hand. If the game feels too hard you can easily lower the difficulty of the enemies but be warned that this also lowers the bonus experience and amount of gold you collect from enemies. I would suggest for first time players to play the first couple of quests at the lowest difficulty until you have a good grasp of the play mechanics and rules. Then after that have at it! As far as progression of the game goes, as you defeat locations and quests you will unlock new locations and more quests to take part in. There is another game board that acts as a map of gloomhaven (the town) and its surrounding land. On this gameboard you will keep track of all the locations you have unlocked and beaten via stickers that are included with the game. When you beat a location you check a little box on the sticker with a marker or pen to show you have completed it. And when you unlock a new location you find that location sticker and place it on the gameboard in its specific spot. This is also where you keep track of the towns prosperity level and any global achievements that you have completed. Global achievements are specific things that you and your team have completed during the life of the game and have an effect on the overall story and determine other quests that can be done. There are also party achievements that act in a similar fashion but to a lesser extent. As I said earlier there are 6 characters/classes that you can choose from at the start. When you start the game you randomly choose a character quest card as well. This card has some specific thing you need to complete in the game to unlock it's benefits, such as discovering a new character/class. Because of this there are numerous other characters/classes included with the game that unlock for players as the game progresses. Each character comes with its own mini as well AND each one is in its own little tuckbox so you cannot see what it is. This adds so much excitement to the game. You CRAVE the play just so you can get to the point of opening up the new box and see what's inside. On that point there are numerous other envelopes that are sealed from the onset of the game and are not opened until you completed specific objectives. As far as value goes, the time played to cost ratio is outstanding. At 2-3 hours per quest for 98 quests (plus more online) it will take MONTHS before your group finally beats the game (story). Even longer if you do every single side quest depending on how often you play. Heck, even once you beat the game there is nothing stopping a group from just picking any quest in the quest book and going back and replaying it just for the fun of it. Granted there wont be much point for the gold or story elements as you already traveled that road but for the gameplay it would be worth it. Speaking of gameplay, battling beasts and other critters in the game is very unique. Each character has a specific amount of ability cards in hand each dungeon run. It's different for each character but as an example let's say there are 13.....for each of your turns you play 2 of the cards. Each card has a top and bottom ability that you can use. On the 2 cards you play you pick 1 top and 1 bottom ability to be used, whether it's movement, setting traps, healing, casting spells or just attacking plus more. After you use the cards they either get discarded or "lost". Cards generally get lost if they have a decently powerful ability so you can only use it once during a quest and they go in a specific pile next to your character board. The discarded cards go in a diff pile and you can choose a "rest" action to collect those back but lose one to the lost pile. Basically as you traverse the dungeon, you will get more and more tired and if you ever "lose" all your ability cards and cant rest to get some back, you then become exhausted and have to head back to town, leaving the rest of the party to contend on their own. This creates a very strategic playstyle in where you only use your powerful "lost" cards sparingly when you absolutely need them. I love it. Another cool mechanic that I think alot of people miss when they play is that when an enemy attacks you for enough damage to kill you, you can choose to "lose" any one of your ability cards in your hand to prevent all that damage. TLDR: This is a game that will keep you occupied for months, possibly years. The sheer amount of content and interesting story creates enough value to keep a group intrigued and wanting to come back for more. Whether played solo or with a group, you will not be disappointed.