Matthew BaileyYesterday I spoke to you about Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion, my favourite dungeon crawler and the one I always recommend as an entry point to the genre for older kids or those looking to step up from something like CoraQuest. In that review I said it was the “smaller version” of Gloomhaven and Frosthaven, and while that’s true, there’s actually something even smaller.
Let me introduce you to Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs.
Now, Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs is a bit of a strange project. Not long after the original Gloomhaven exploded in popularity, a fan project called Gloomholdin’ appeared. It was completely unofficial, but it was given the blessing of the original creators to go ahead. That little project proved incredibly popular in the fan community, and eventually the designers of Gloomholdin’ were approached by Cephalofair to make an official version. And so, Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs was born.
In a nutshell, this is a shrunk-down version of the Gloomhaven experience in an unbelievably small box — about the size of two decks of Uno. The game is designed as a solo experience, but we’ve found it works perfectly well as a two-player game too, either by discussing moves together or by playing as if you were in the full game, simply upping the difficulty to balance it out.
The storyline is great fun: a spell has shrunk your party down to tiny size, and you have to navigate the world while trying to find a way to restore yourselves. It’s a clever theme and it works really well, and like its bigger brothers, the storyline is surprisingly engaging.
Of course, some concessions had to be made, but this is still a remarkably close replication of the Gloomhaven system. You still use ability cards the same way, choosing either the top or bottom action, and initiative still determines turn order. You eventually need to rest, losing a card each time and creating that familiar soft timer on how long you can last in a scenario.
Another thing that works brilliantly here is that there are no dice. That makes this one of the very few dungeon crawlers you can play on a train, a plane, or even at the kitchen table on holiday without worrying about bits rolling away.
The components, while simpler, are excellent for what this is. The cards are good quality, and the teeny-tiny miniatures are adorable — you get one for each of the main Gloomhaven classes. Monsters are represented by cubes, which works fine, though I do wish they had included a few more sheets of card and some standees. I suspect it was the lack of miniature clips that prevented that.
Would I ever choose to play Buttons & Bugs over Jaws of the Lion or the bigger Gloomhaven boxes? No, of course not. But as a travel dungeon crawler, this absolutely nails it. It genuinely captures the feel of Gloomhaven, and it’s surprisingly tough too — I’d even say the difficulty is tuned a little higher than in the base game. I’d definitely recommend starting on easy, and if you fancy playing with two, it works just fine without causing issues.
I also love that the theme of being shrunk down fits so perfectly with the tiny travel box format. It just works. Best of all? It’s great value at under £20.
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I wouldn’t recommend this instead of Jaws of the Lion, but if you love dungeon crawlers and want something you can easily take on holiday, play on a train, or even in the back of the car with a tray table, then Buttons & Bugs is a fantastic, well-produced little package.
