In the card game Doomlings, the end of a world is in sight and players try to bring strong new life forms into the world using some genetic engineering to survive its demise. Will your evolution remain just a theory or do you know how to apply some Darwinism to the lower life forms at the table (i.e. your fellow players)?
In the “kinda take-that”-style game Doomlings, players score points by applying so-called traits (Traits) to your Doomlings’ species, making them more adaptable, resilient and mischievous. These Traits are cards that score points, but also provide special actions that help you during the game or give you bonus points at the end of the game.
During the game, players receive Trait cards and play them in a tableau in front of them to collect the points indicated on the card. There are Traits can also have special abilities and bonuses. Incidentally, there are different colours to Traits and these colours play into a particular strategy.
At the beginning of each round, a card is drawn from the era pile that determines the special rule for this round. This pile also contains so-called catastrophe cards with negative effects, and once three of these cards have appeared, the end of the world and the game is in sight. Each round, a player plays a Trait from his hand, applies the corresponding effects and adds or discards cards up to his hand limit. The hand limit is determined by the player’s current gene pool. The gene pool is increased or decreased by effects of Traits and era cards (including catastrophes).
In terms of complexity and gameplay, Doomlings falls somewhat into the same category as Exploding Kittens. Another similarity is the funny and colourful illustrations, but otherwise the comparisons end there. Doomlings revolves around a the management and use of special effects of cards making the game very dynamic. Which cards you draw obviously depends largely on luck… but if you can play the right combination of cards to doom your opponents, it is perfectly satisfying!
