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Spirit Island vs Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion (2026): if you want a deep cooperative game that rewards planning, these two top almost every list. Spirit Island casts you as nature spirits defending an island from invaders. Jaws of the Lion is the smaller, friendlier entry point to the Gloomhaven series, a tactical dungeon crawl played as a campaign. Here is how they compare.
Our pick for groups who want a campaign: Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion
A full campaign of 25 scenarios with a tutorial that teaches the game as you play, all at a fraction of the size and price of the original Gloomhaven. It costs about $60.
Price band: $30+ (about $60) · Check today’s price on Amazon
The two co-op heavyweights in brief
Both play solo or with up to four.
- Best campaign: Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion — 25-scenario dungeon crawl (about $60)
- Best one-off strategy co-op: Spirit Island — defend the island as nature spirits (about $65)
Spirit Island and Jaws of the Lion at a glance
| Spirit Island | Jaws of the Lion | |
|---|---|---|
| Players | 1 to 4 | 1 to 4 |
| Game length | About 90 to 120 minutes | About 30 to 120 minutes per scenario |
| Format | Stand-alone games | Campaign of 25 scenarios |
| Theme | Island spirits drive off colonizing invaders | Mercenaries take on jobs in the city of Gloomhaven |
| Core system | Power cards, growth and spreading presence | Hand of ability cards that doubles as your health |
| Learning curve | Steep but you learn as you play | Built-in tutorial over the first scenarios |
| Ages on this listing | 14+ | 14+ |
How Spirit Island plays
Each player controls a spirit with its own powers. Each round, spirits grow, gaining new power cards, energy or more presence on the island, and then play cards to push invaders away, frighten them or destroy their towns and cities. The island’s native people, the Dahan, fight back when attacked, so protecting them matters.
The invaders follow a predictable cycle: explore, build, then ravage, moving across land types shown on their cards. Generating fear eventually makes them flee, and too much blight on the island loses the game. Every spirit plays very differently, and adversaries and scenarios add difficulty for years.
How Jaws of the Lion plays
Each player picks one of four characters with their own deck of ability cards. Every turn, you choose two cards and use the top action of one and the bottom action of the other. Cards spent are lost or discarded, and when you run out, your character is exhausted, so your hand is also your clock. Monsters act by drawing their own cards, and a modifier deck replaces dice.
Unlike the original Gloomhaven, the map is printed in a scenario book you lay on the table, so setup takes minutes. The first five scenarios teach the rules step by step. Between scenarios, characters earn money, items and new abilities.
Which is easier to start, Spirit Island or Jaws of the Lion?
Jaws of the Lion. Its tutorial scenarios introduce one rule at a time, so you never read the whole rulebook up front. Spirit Island has a quick-start setup and lower-complexity spirits, but the first game still asks you to absorb many rules at once.
Spirit Island or Jaws of the Lion for solo players?
Both are excellent solo. Spirit Island solo means controlling one spirit or two for a richer game. Jaws of the Lion solo works best with two characters, which is more to track but a great way to play the campaign at your own pace.
Commitment: one-off games or a campaign?
This is the biggest difference. Spirit Island is a self-contained game you can play once a month with whoever shows up. Jaws of the Lion is a story that unfolds over many sessions, ideally with the same group, and characters improve along the way. Pick the one that matches how often your group meets.
Pick Spirit Island or Jaws of the Lion
- Buy Spirit Island if you want a deep puzzle you can play with any group, any time.
- Buy Jaws of the Lion if you have a regular group or partner and want a story that grows over many evenings.
- Buy both if cooperative games are the core of your collection.
For more teamwork games, see our best games like Pandemic, the best cooperative card games and the best cooperative games for team building.
Spirit Island vs Jaws of the Lion questions
Is Jaws of the Lion a good start to Gloomhaven?
Yes. It is designed as the entry point, with a tutorial, a smaller box and a quicker setup than the original.
Is Spirit Island too hard for beginners?
It is a complex game, but starting with the low-complexity spirits and no adversary makes the first games manageable.
Do you need to play Jaws of the Lion with the same group?
It works best that way, since characters progress through the campaign, but you can swap players between scenarios.
