Happy Holidays, gamers! Hopefully, you all got the chance to spend the holidays with loved ones, or at least people you can tolerate. While the holiday season is a time to spend time with others, those moments can be awkward or even uncomfortable. Many use libations to help unwind or ease tensions around the holidays, while others use games to help relax and unwind. This holiday season, we chose to play board games while unwinding, and the one that kept everyone’s attention the most was the Meyer Brothers’ card game, Doomlings. But what is Doomlings: A Delightful Card Game for The End of The World? You’ll just have to find out before the world ends.
Doomlings: A Delightful Card Game for The End of The World
Publisher: Doomlings LLC
Designer: Justus Meyer, Andrew Meyer
Artist: Justus Meyer
Players 2 to 6
Price: $24.99
Setting up Doomlings might be confusing at first, but if you stick to the base instructions, you will probably be fine. The first order of business is shuffling the cards based on their piles. Shuffle the Catastrophe cards, the Age Cards, and then the Trait cards.
Once all cards are shuffled, deal three Catastrophe cards randomly, then deal out nine Ages cards split into three piles. Put one of each Catastrophe card into one of the three piles. Shuffle the piles individually and then stack them on top of one another; this makes sure that all Catastrophe cards cannot be pulled in succession.
After setting up the Ages card, put the Birth of Life card on the very top. Each player takes a Gene Pool card and starts off by drawing five Traits in their hand. The player to the left of the dealer goes first and plays one trait. After playing the trait and applying its effects, the player then stabilizes their hand (draws or discards) til their hand equals their genepool size.
After all players have taken their turns, the next Ages card is flipped over. If the Ages card is normal, apply its effect and continue with standard play. If the Ages card drawn is a Catastrophe card, apply the first effect, but do not apply the World’s End effect. Rotate the order one to the left and continue to play until it reaches that player on the next rotation.
Continue to play until all three Catastrophe cards are drawn. Once all three are showing, apply the last one’s World’s End effect; be aware, there are cards that can allow a player to choose which World’s End effect is applied. At this point, players tally their points and apply any end-game trait effects. The player with the highest points wins the game.
The first time we played Doomlings, we were not super into the game; this is primarily due to everyone being tired from Thanksgiving dinner or just not being in the mood to play. Although we read over the rules and even watched the tutorial video, it still felt like the younger and slower members of the game had difficulty understanding the game’s core mechanics. This led to some misplays and even arguments with those who had previously had trouble understanding. The game was then ultimately rushed through and left a minimal impression.
After putting the game away for a bit, we decided to pull it out for the Christmas season. Rather than playing with family members who are either too young or too old, we decided to try and play the game with people our own age. Playing Doomlings with a group of your peers in the same age range drastically impacts how much fun you can have with the game.
The initial setup, discussion of the rules, strategy during turns, and solving disagreements went a lot smoother than the previous session. In fact, I would say everyone who played this time around had a good time, even those who were targeted by other players’ trait cards. When you play with a group of similar mindsets, the game becomes more enjoyable. In fact, I would say we had fun with it and would be willing to play it again, depending on who is available.
Now the core gameplay is fairly easy to understand, but there is an added layer of depth to it, depending on strategy and knowing how people in your group will play. Regarding the game’s artwork, it is two sides of the same coin. With the Catastrophes and Ages, the art feels colorful, unique, and interesting.
Then, when it comes to the Trait cards, they feel a bit plain or ordinary. Yes, this is partially due to needing to be able to read the cards, but the promotional card they give you in the box is holographic, and that is still legible.
The main artwork style is reminiscent of Exploding Kittens, Snack Attack (Nomnivore Games), and Unstable Unicorns. This isn’t to say it’s bad, but it doesn’t have its own unique feeling. The art is cute and wholesome, but it does feel like it could use a bit more variety.
The color patterns on the cards also feel a bit difficult. When looking at the cards from afar, some could blend together. For those who are colorblind, this can make differentiating the cards’ colors fairly difficult.
After trying Doomlings: A Delightful Card Game for The End of The World numerous times, we can say that the game can be pretty fun. Its biggest downside is that it just requires the right kind of people to play with. The Age art is pretty to look at and makes the time periods feel special, but the trait artwork feels like it could use a bit more love or detail to make it stand out and not look like other games.
If you are looking for a game that you can play with up to six players, then you should consider playing Doomlings. If you are partially colorblind, then it would be advisable to skip Doomlings. The game itself is worth its price, and you can easily buy, or download and print the expansions. If you are looking for a party game to play on your time off, then it is worth your consideration.
Doomlings was reviewed using a copy provided by Doomlings LLC. Additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy is here. Doomlings is available to purchase at Walmart, Amazon, Target, and through Doomlings LLC.
