Beneath the Ice #1 – The Road to Frosthaven
Greetings, mercenaries! To all the Gloomhaven and Frosthaven veterans - you know your way around, to all who are new - welcome! My name is Hristo Petkov and I am the Game Director for Frosthaven. Today, with me is Rossen Cholakov, our Lead Game Designer, and in our first Dev Diary I wanted to share with you what the team at Snapshot Games has been working on for the past three years.
[h3]First, a Thank you[/h3]
To kick off our first Dev Diary, I want to take a moment to thank all of you for the incredible support following the announcement of Frosthaven Digital. Seeing the excitement from the community means the world to us as developers.
A huge thank you to everyone who joined our Discord server - we absolutely love seeing your fan art, reading your epic war stories from your Frosthaven campaigns, and hearing about the must-have features you want for the digital version.
And of course, a special thank you to everyone who joined our Closed Beta and shared invaluable feedback. Your insights help us shape the best possible experience.
In this first diary entry, we want to give you a behind-the-scenes look at our development process, the challenges we've tackled, and the exciting features we’re implementing. From the intricacies of adapting the scenario environment for digital play to refining the UI for a seamless player experience, there’s a lot to uncover. So, let’s dive in!
[h3]The Journey[/h3]
Bringing Frosthaven to the digital realm has been an incredible journey. The board game is a vast and deeply strategic experience, filled with choices, rich storytelling, and tactical combat. Our goal has always been to capture that essence while also leveraging the strengths of a digital format to streamline gameplay, improve accessibility, and enhance immersion. Over the past three years, we’ve worked tirelessly to translate this epic adventure into an interactive experience that stays true to its roots while making smart, quality-of-life improvements.
[h3]Who are we?[/h3]
For those unfamiliar with us, Snapshot Games is a studio with deep roots in tactical and strategy gaming. Founded by Julian Gollop, the creator of the original X-COM, we’ve spent years crafting complex, rewarding experiences that challenge players to think critically and adapt to evolving battlefields. Our previous games, Phoenix Point and Chaos Reborn, reflect our love for deep tactical gameplay, meaningful choices, and rich world-building—values that align perfectly with what makes Frosthaven such an incredible game.
You might be wondering how Snapshot Games became the developers of Frosthaven. Many of us at the studio are passionate board gamers (you may have even spotted some of us at conventions like SPIEL Essen). So, when we approached our friends at Asmodee Games, we were looking for a project that would combine our expertise in tactical games with our love of board games.
As luck would have it, they were searching for a developer to bring Frosthaven to the digital world. But the final decision rested with Isaac Childres, the creator of Frosthaven. To make our case, a small team from Snapshot Games flew to San Francisco to meet with Isaac and present our vision for the game. The meeting went incredibly well, and we were thrilled to win both Isaac and Asmodee over.
[h3]The beginning of the road[/h3]
At first, the project felt daunting due to the sheer complexity and depth of the game. To ensure we stayed true to its vision, we set up weekly meetings with Isaac, and let me tell you—working with him has been an absolute pleasure!
From day one, we knew that understanding Frosthaven inside and out was key. So, as soon as we got our copies, we divided the entire company into teams of four and started playing—kicking things off with Gloomhaven while we waited for Frosthaven to arrive. Meanwhile, our development team began diving into the codebase, eagerly sharing some of the wildest scenario rules they could find.
[h3]The challenges we faced[/h3]
Frosthaven is a colossal game, packed with thousands of abilities, items, monsters, and countless other elements. At its core lies a key rule: "If things are equal or unclear, the players decide." But that kind of ambiguity doesn’t work for computers. So, our challenge was to clarify and streamline the gameplay for a digital environment.
We wanted to create a welcoming experience for board game veterans, but we also saw the potential to reach a broader audience of gamers. To do that, we focused on making the game more accessible—reworking everything from onboarding and terminology to visual language in UI/UX.
So, what’s changed? For starters, there’s no fudging in the digital version—no take-backsies. That meant we had to take a hard look at the outpost flow and pinpoint moments where players might accidentally lock themselves out of their preferred path. The solution? We reworked the outpost phases, moving downtime and the adventure selection to the very end.
We also introduced a more forgiving difficulty level—one designed to let players immerse themselves in the story and art, without the pressure of the toughest decisions found in higher difficulties.
Right now, we’re confident that the game strikes a great balance of challenge for a wide audience. This takes me back to a story from our early development days, specifically our coding team’s first encounter with Frosthaven. To illustrate the challenges of bringing the board game to digital life, we chose a scenario called the Dancing Iceberg. In this scenario, players must carefully balance on a floating ice chunk to avoid capsizing while battling Lurker enemies. As we progressed through the scenario, our coders grew increasingly confident in their chances of winning and started to think it was a walk in the park... until the boss showed up.
[h3]What’s next?[/h3]
We are very excited for the future of Frosthaven and are looking forward to revealing more of what's to come in the near future! The community has been awesome in providing the much-needed feedback to create the best experience possible and we are very thankful for the opportunity to build and improve together.
I hope you enjoyed walking with us down the road to Frosthaven. We want to show you many more interesting things we’ve created over those past three years but there is a time for everything. Check back next month for our next Dev Diary where we will talk about working with Isaac on the art of Frosthaven - creating the identity, art style and design considerations that the team faced. We will also present our Lead Concept artist on the challenges of recreating hundreds of characters and their unique visuals and animations.
If you like what you see, consider adding the game to your Wishlist and join the community. Stay frosty!
[h3]FOLLOW FROSTHAVEN’S SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS[/h3]
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PlayFrosthaven
X: https://x.com/PlayFrosthaven
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FrosthavenGame
Discord: https://discord.gg/FUNmzWVfz2
[h3]First, a Thank you[/h3]
To kick off our first Dev Diary, I want to take a moment to thank all of you for the incredible support following the announcement of Frosthaven Digital. Seeing the excitement from the community means the world to us as developers.
A huge thank you to everyone who joined our Discord server - we absolutely love seeing your fan art, reading your epic war stories from your Frosthaven campaigns, and hearing about the must-have features you want for the digital version.
And of course, a special thank you to everyone who joined our Closed Beta and shared invaluable feedback. Your insights help us shape the best possible experience.
In this first diary entry, we want to give you a behind-the-scenes look at our development process, the challenges we've tackled, and the exciting features we’re implementing. From the intricacies of adapting the scenario environment for digital play to refining the UI for a seamless player experience, there’s a lot to uncover. So, let’s dive in!
[h3]The Journey[/h3]
Bringing Frosthaven to the digital realm has been an incredible journey. The board game is a vast and deeply strategic experience, filled with choices, rich storytelling, and tactical combat. Our goal has always been to capture that essence while also leveraging the strengths of a digital format to streamline gameplay, improve accessibility, and enhance immersion. Over the past three years, we’ve worked tirelessly to translate this epic adventure into an interactive experience that stays true to its roots while making smart, quality-of-life improvements.
[h3]Who are we?[/h3]
For those unfamiliar with us, Snapshot Games is a studio with deep roots in tactical and strategy gaming. Founded by Julian Gollop, the creator of the original X-COM, we’ve spent years crafting complex, rewarding experiences that challenge players to think critically and adapt to evolving battlefields. Our previous games, Phoenix Point and Chaos Reborn, reflect our love for deep tactical gameplay, meaningful choices, and rich world-building—values that align perfectly with what makes Frosthaven such an incredible game.
You might be wondering how Snapshot Games became the developers of Frosthaven. Many of us at the studio are passionate board gamers (you may have even spotted some of us at conventions like SPIEL Essen). So, when we approached our friends at Asmodee Games, we were looking for a project that would combine our expertise in tactical games with our love of board games.
As luck would have it, they were searching for a developer to bring Frosthaven to the digital world. But the final decision rested with Isaac Childres, the creator of Frosthaven. To make our case, a small team from Snapshot Games flew to San Francisco to meet with Isaac and present our vision for the game. The meeting went incredibly well, and we were thrilled to win both Isaac and Asmodee over.
[h3]The beginning of the road[/h3]
At first, the project felt daunting due to the sheer complexity and depth of the game. To ensure we stayed true to its vision, we set up weekly meetings with Isaac, and let me tell you—working with him has been an absolute pleasure!
From day one, we knew that understanding Frosthaven inside and out was key. So, as soon as we got our copies, we divided the entire company into teams of four and started playing—kicking things off with Gloomhaven while we waited for Frosthaven to arrive. Meanwhile, our development team began diving into the codebase, eagerly sharing some of the wildest scenario rules they could find.
[h3]The challenges we faced[/h3]
Frosthaven is a colossal game, packed with thousands of abilities, items, monsters, and countless other elements. At its core lies a key rule: "If things are equal or unclear, the players decide." But that kind of ambiguity doesn’t work for computers. So, our challenge was to clarify and streamline the gameplay for a digital environment.
We wanted to create a welcoming experience for board game veterans, but we also saw the potential to reach a broader audience of gamers. To do that, we focused on making the game more accessible—reworking everything from onboarding and terminology to visual language in UI/UX.
So, what’s changed? For starters, there’s no fudging in the digital version—no take-backsies. That meant we had to take a hard look at the outpost flow and pinpoint moments where players might accidentally lock themselves out of their preferred path. The solution? We reworked the outpost phases, moving downtime and the adventure selection to the very end.
We also introduced a more forgiving difficulty level—one designed to let players immerse themselves in the story and art, without the pressure of the toughest decisions found in higher difficulties.
Right now, we’re confident that the game strikes a great balance of challenge for a wide audience. This takes me back to a story from our early development days, specifically our coding team’s first encounter with Frosthaven. To illustrate the challenges of bringing the board game to digital life, we chose a scenario called the Dancing Iceberg. In this scenario, players must carefully balance on a floating ice chunk to avoid capsizing while battling Lurker enemies. As we progressed through the scenario, our coders grew increasingly confident in their chances of winning and started to think it was a walk in the park... until the boss showed up.
[h3]What’s next?[/h3]
We are very excited for the future of Frosthaven and are looking forward to revealing more of what's to come in the near future! The community has been awesome in providing the much-needed feedback to create the best experience possible and we are very thankful for the opportunity to build and improve together.
I hope you enjoyed walking with us down the road to Frosthaven. We want to show you many more interesting things we’ve created over those past three years but there is a time for everything. Check back next month for our next Dev Diary where we will talk about working with Isaac on the art of Frosthaven - creating the identity, art style and design considerations that the team faced. We will also present our Lead Concept artist on the challenges of recreating hundreds of characters and their unique visuals and animations.
If you like what you see, consider adding the game to your Wishlist and join the community. Stay frosty!
[h3]FOLLOW FROSTHAVEN’S SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS[/h3]
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PlayFrosthaven
X: https://x.com/PlayFrosthaven
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FrosthavenGame
Discord: https://discord.gg/FUNmzWVfz2