Bringing Frosthaven to Life: Snapshot Games on Adapting the Beloved Board Game to Digital

With the upcoming Early Access release of Frosthaven on July 31st, fans of tactical dungeon-crawlers are getting ready to dive into one of the most ambitious board game adaptations to date. Following in the footsteps of Gloomhaven Digital, Frosthaven promises a faithful recreation of the massive board game experience—but in a more accessible, streamlined form.

We got the chance to speak with Hristo Petkov and Julian Gollop from Snapshot Games, the team behind the digital adaptation, to talk about the development process, working with Gloomhaven creator Isaac Childres, and what players can expect from this digital journey into the frozen north.

How closely does the digital version of Frosthaven stick to the original board game?

Hristo: It is 95% or more faithful to the board game mechanics, with some small exceptions where it did not make sense. All changes are done in collaboration with Isaac Childres, the board game creator.

Julian: Some aspects of the board game are either very difficult to implement digitally or need some special treatment. Our adaptations won’t alter the basic experience, and any changes are discussed and approved by Isaac Childres and the Cephalofair team.

What kind of changes did you make to make it feel better in a digital format?

Hristo: Apart from the obvious ones (no setup time, no need to calculate AI moves and faster pace of play) we have implemented multiple other adaptations such as shortcuts in the gameplay to increase the pace and increased speed of animations on demand. House rulesets are also on the horizon, along with better tutorialization and general information accessibility and more.

Julian: There are a few notable differences. First, we’ve included an introductory adventure that serves as both a tutorial and a prequel to the main story, making it especially helpful for new players. Second, we’ve introduced a ‘Story’ mode, a lower difficulty level not found in the board game.

What were some of the biggest challenges in translating Frosthaven to a video game?

Hristo: Frosthaven, compared to Gloomhaven, has a lot more exceptions to its ruleset, which leads to a more complicated testing process. The biggest challenge by far is the UI/UX of the game, which is a constant work in progress and will continue to be during its Early Access period as we continue to adapt the feedback we receive from players.

Julian: The main challenge comes from the sheer ambition and scope of the board game, plus some specific challenges in adapting some of the board game rules into a computer game system.

Were there any mechanics that just didn’t translate well into digital form?

Hristo: There is this one support feature (not going to spoil it for the board game fans) that required in-person human interactions which did not make sense for the digital version and is currently removed from the game but we are looking for a way to reintroduce it later.

Julian: There were a few quite tricky scenarios to translate to the digital version, mainly due to the fact that they bend the game rules too much, but we managed to include almost all of them.

How involved was Isaac Childres in the digital version’s development?

Hristo: He [Isaac] was with us every step on the way, approving any design changes along with all the art for the game.

Julian: The team has shared very positive feedback about the collaboration with Isaac, and we’re committed to continuing this strong partnership through to the end of development.

Were there any unexpected advantages from going digital?

Hristo: I cannot think of any unexpected ones since the first game Gloomhaven, was already digitalized and we knew what we are getting into. For me personally, one thing that I am happy we were able to do and was not planned from the beginning is that we were able to work with Forteller, who developed the app for the board game, which has amazing voice acting and we were able to bring that in the digital game too.

Julian: Yes, as Hristo mentioned, one of our main concerns was the large amount of narrative text in the game, given the richness of its world. Forteller has been a huge help in elevating the experience, adding a level of liveliness that was previously missing.

Is this version meant more for newcomers or seasoned fans?

Hristo: The game at Early Access is more focused on the core board game fans of the game know and love, but we do believe that with some love, tutorials and UI/UX improvements, we can reach a broader audience of tactical RPG fans.

Julian: Our goal is to design the game with thoughtful tutorials and balanced difficulty curves to accommodate both veterans and new players. At the moment, we’re focusing primarily on the core audience of the Haven games, while gradually preparing the experience for newcomers as well.

Will players be able to customize characters or campaigns in new ways?

Hristo: Character customization is not currently planned but it is never out of the question if it is something people want. As for campaign customization, we are planning to have a lot of options for house rules so players can customize their experience to their liking.

Is there any plan for mod support or Steam Workshop integration?

Hristo: At Early Access launch, this will not be supported. These options would be more difficult to implement, given the exceptions and rulesets used to build Frosthaven.

How do you plan to support the game post-launch?

Hristo: After the Early Access launch, we have quarterly content updates. In between updates, we will be patching the game regularly for bug fixing and quality of life features.

Speaking of feedback—how are you gathering and implementing it during Early Access?

Hristo: We are working very closely with our community on Discord and we are collecting feedback from Steam. This feedback is categorized and evaluated and then we try to inform the community about our decisions. On top of that, we have created a Community Council of very dedicated players who are testing the game before others and we also ask them for opinions about upcoming changes. We are very committed to making this game a co-development with the community because we firmly believe that Frosthaven and board games in general are driven by their communities.

What excites you most about sharing Frosthaven in this new format?

Hristo: Releases are always exciting and scary, when something that you have worked on for a long time finally gets into the hands of the players. I really want players to see the amazing work that everyone on the team has done and hear their feedback. As I said earlier this is a co-development - let’s make a great game together!

Julian: I believe players will be genuinely impressed by the game’s striking visual representation of the scenarios and their diverse environments, along with the detailed animations and effects for each character. Visually, the game is looking fantastic.

I don’t know about you but I’m excited for this game. Frosthaven Digital launches into Early Access on Steam and Epic Games Store on July 31st, alongside a bundle including Gloomhaven Digital. If you need an extra push, Frosthaven will also launch with a 10% discount for the first week.