Making the End of the World Cute with “Doomlings”

I was introduced to Doomlings after my friend backed the original Kickstarter campaign. I didn’t have any expectations when I played it for the first time but was surprised with how much I adored it. It’s a quick card game with cute artwork that was easy to learn.

This was several years ago, and since then, Doomlings has exploded in popularity. The game had a booth at Gen Con in 2024 and it was packed, with a long line of people waiting to spin a wheel and win prizes. All the friends and family I have introduced it to share positive sentiments for the game. Doomlings has become one of my favorites to play.

Courtesy of Doomlings

The goal of Doomlings is to score the most points before the final apocalypse card is played on the table. Players earn points by playing trait cards, some of which have abilities like trading cards or stealing trait cards from other players. After each player completes a turn, an age card is flipped over, which introduces new abilities to gameplay, including catastrophes—cards that have adverse effects during gameplay. After the third catastrophe card is revealed, the game ends. Players will add up their total score from their trait pile, and whoever has the most points wins the game. Doomlings has a video on YouTube that teaches the game in under two and a half minutes.

Courtesy of Doomlings

When I first played Doomlings, it immediately reminded me of Unstable Unicorns, a game made by Unstable Games. The art is cutesy, colorful, and cartoonlike. This contrasts with the catastrophe cards which are darker in tone. The art style feels unique enough that it stands out while attracting potential fans who like games similar to Doomlings. 

When I play board games or card games, something that’s important to me is replayability. Is this a game I can play more than once, or is this a game where I play it once and then it collects dust on my board game shelf? With Doomlings, there are so many cards in the base set that it’s a new game every time you play. It comes with 167 cards, including the traits, ages, and catastrophe cards. When I play, I always draw new cards I haven’t seen yet.

Courtesy of Doomlings

Doomlings has quickly become a staple in my game collection. It doesn’t take up a lot of space, so it’s great to bring to a local library, a friend’s board game night, or a brewery. The base Doomlings game retails at $24.99 and is available at Doomlings.com. There is also expansion, and it only adds to the shenanigans.

You can also follow Doomlings on Bluesky, Facebook, and Instagram.