Doomlings Review – DNAin’t Fair
Doomlings sits alongside a glut of high player count, take-that card games that gain traction across social media and Zing shelves, yet never seem to get noticed by hobbyist gamers who might sneer at titles like Exploding Kittens and its contemporaries. Packed inside the base box Player2 received are 167 cards which accommodate up to six players comfortably, the included rules on a fold-out sheet organised in such a way that you’ll want to read them over to ensure you get gist of the game which is pretty straightforward outside of a few game specific terms that are handily collected in a glossary on the back page.
Before each game, players construct the Age deck, a set of 12 cards – 9 Ages, 3 Catastrophes – which acts as the game timer. Each player is given a rotating ‘Gene Pool’ card that denotes hand size ranging from 1 to 8 and is dealt five ‘Trait’ cards. On a turn, each player will place a Trait card from their hand into a tableau in front of them, executing any specific effects it might have. This is where the back of the rule sheet becomes invaluable, as it outlines exactly how each effect works. Often, effects range from stealing a card from another player, to forcing them to discard a card, or simply letting the player put more Trait cards down in the same turn. Many Trait cards don’t come with effects or rely on other cards already having been played for their effect to occur which can make some turns only a few seconds long.
Special ‘Dominant Trait’ cards can be found in the deck marked by a gold border and star in their top right corner. These are vital to winning strategies, offering high points or powerful effects as well as being immune to any Swap, Steal, Discard, Return or Remove effects on other Trait cards. However, each player can only ever have two Dominant cards in their tableau, so it’s important to choose wisely. After their Trait card has been played and any subsequent effects executed, the player ‘Stabilizes’ and draws up or discards down to their ‘Gene Pool’ size, which starts at 5 but will increase or decrease due to Age cards, Catastrophe cards or the machinations of other players.
After all players take their turn, a new round starts and a new Age card is flipped, which will occasionally have a positive effect but generally instigates a negative one for all players. This can range from reducing the size of your Gene Pool to preventing certain card colours from being played during the round. The Age deck has three Catastrophes shuffled throughout each third of it and much like Archeos Society (or the original Ethnos) this randomises when the game will actually end. With a maximum of 12 turns, players need to make quick decisions about which colour sets they’d like to build, as some will synergise better than others and even allow further card placements or outright thefts from other players. Once the final Catastophe card is drawn, players execute its effects and end the game immediately, tallying up the scores of each player based on the points assigned to each Trait and any multipliers or bonuses doled out by ‘Drop of Life’ cards which sport a unique symbol in their bottom right corner.
With bright aesthetics, Doomlings stands out on the table and the font and sizing don’t clutter up each card with text, only a few cards requiring further clarification from first-time players. The cardstock is fairly standard though and likely won’t stand up to many plays without sleeving for those that are worried about marked edges or scuffed faces. The publisher also offers a wider array of expansions, but there is plenty of game in the base box before players will tire of seeing the same sets and synergies over and over again.
Doomlings works best with a semi-serious group of gamers who are looking for something slightly more involved than Uno but are also not going to get upset at the often negative interactions between cards and bad runs of luck from the draw pile. The theming and terminology can also get in the way of some of the basic concepts when explaining the rules, with the included player aids helping to smooth out the proceedings. Playing up to six, it’s also accommodating to larger parties who are reluctant to split and want something that’s engaging enough you’ll pay attention to others turns, but also light enough to still hold a conversation.
Doomlings was reviewed using a copy kindly donated by the publisher. It can be purchased directly from the Doomlings webstore.
