Fighting against adversity and luck
Life in an outpost can be hard and takes someone with a tough spirit to devote to such a life. Whether that be as a guard or one of the citizens tasked with the construction, it's not a life that everyone is cut out for. That is why when a group of mercenaries show up right as you get attacked, you welcome them as your new defenders.
That is where you come in. In Frosthaven you are a group of mercenaries sent to check on the titular town of Frosthaven. Your goal is to get to the town, protect it, and help it thrive in these hostile environments. But first we need to recruit the team we are going to send out.
You can have four heroes in your team at one time, and at the start you have five to choose from. Each one has its own unique decks at their disposal, from throwing javelins to summoning skeletons. However, in the case of the Boneshaper character, summoning those skeletons does consume health from their life force, so there is some risk involved. Each one has their strengths and weaknesses that you’ll need to consider as you flesh out your squad.
When you have got everyone figured out and got their starting equipment set, it is then time to set out. As you travel from place to place you will come across road events. These events can range from simple interactions that give a boost to the next fight, or they can reveal a new quest where you can gain new items and levels. So, make sure you make the right choice.
On the way to Frosthaven, you will encounter three battles that you must complete. These are where you learn how the battle system works. This is also where the main meat is to this adventure begins, as these battles can get tense. I have had more than my fair share of fights come down to the wire before I won, but that is half the fun.
Here, battles are card based. Each hero picks two cards they will use each turn. Each has four actions on them, two basic actions and two primary actions. The two basic actions are simply whether you move two spaces or deal two melee damage. The primary actions have a slew of effects they can provide, from healing your allies to summoning an undead skeleton to aid in the fight.
Battles are turn based but not where you attack and then the enemy attacks, it is based on the cards you and the enemy play. Each card has a number on it, this is what determines who strikes before who. The other thing is you will not see the enemy's cards until you confirm your own cards, so try to get your team to have the lower number. After the order is decided, you then take turns performing actions until the end of the turn order, then you repeat till the fight is over.
Now, when you use the attack function on the cards, you don’t just deal the damage on the card, there is a bit of a roll that is done. When you attack, your character draws an attack modifier from their deck to add to the attack. This is where a bit of frustration can creep in as one is a times-zero (X0) meaning you'll deal no damage, but you regain all used damage modifiers. On the other end, you can draw a times-two (X2) and double the damage, so those modifiers can make or break a fight.
Speaking of fights, the cards you use are not infinite and can be used up. You can regain your cards with long and short rests, but will permanently lose one for the fight each time you do. When your hero permanently loses all their cards, they are gone from the fight, so watch how many of them get used up.
That can be challenging as some of the cards can be permanently lost just by using them, which luckily you are told through a red card icon on the action that will do that. Plus, if a character is hit with damage you can burn a card to stop all damage, but not the status effect that comes with the attack. So, balancing your cards and spending them wisely is a major part of battle.
Now, once you make it to Frosthaven, the next part of this adventure takes place, as you find the outpost burned and destroyed. So, you take it upon yourself to help the outpost rebuild. To do that, you must set out on missions to find resources and fight the enemies that threaten the outpost. Luckily, fighting the enemy and grabbing the loot bags is the best way to get the resources needed to build the outpost.
Now, when you leave the outpost to go on a mission, you will encounter a road event. However, once you get back to the outpost you will encounter one there too. Both of these events are mainly dictated by the season you are in. but you will need to be more careful with outpost events, as picking wrong in them can result in the building in the outpost being damaged or destroyed. Each one of these will see you putting your hard earned resources in to help repair the buildings that just got damaged.
Now, speaking of buildings, there are not many you can build at the start. The only way to get more is to have your characters retire. When you complete their personal quest you chose for them, they will retire. As when they complete it they will no longer go out and fight. But in return, when they leave, they will unlock one of the other buildings you can build.
Now, luckily, you are able to recruit new heroes to help when one of yours retires, and as you progress you will find more of them. But they will start at level one, at least at the start, though there is a way to fix this and that is level up your outpost. To do this you need to build and upgrade buildings in the outpost.
And there are a lot of them to unlock, each one with its own unique thing it can do. From lowering the cost of building new structures to enhancing the cards of your heroes, some buildings allow you to create items and potions that can help you in the fights to come. They all help you to complete the task that you have set out to do.
With all that said, Frosthaven has been a fun time to play, with no bugs to speak of. The visuals are clean from the simple map you see on the over world, to the isometric battle fields you fight on. You can tell the devs put a lot of time into making the world feel as real as possible. And the sounds are crisp, not to mention that the narration for the events and fights are beautiful. The use of sound while the narrator is talking really helps to build the scene as you enter and leave. The only thing that got on my nerves was the attack modifier, I don’t know how many times I made the perfect plan only to have my character roll a times-zero and mess it up.
Even with that, the fights are hard but satisfying to beat which makes Frosthaven a fun time to play. If you are a fan of turn based strategy with an element of card battle to it, I would highly recommend you play this and see if you can turn this broken down outpost into a strong, safe place for people to call home.
Developer - Snapshot Games Inc. Publisher - Arc Games. Released - October 15th, 2026. Available On - PC (Steam, Epic). Rated - (T) Blood and Violence. Platform Reviewed - PC. Review Access - A review code for Frosthaven was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.
Kelvin is a big fan of survival crafting, simulator, base management, and RPG's. From 7 Days to Die to Deep Rock Galactic. When not trying to survive the post apocalypse you will find me fighting in the field for democracy in Helldivers 2.