Review: Doomlings — Chaotic, Charming, and Surprisingly Strategic

Julia Press Simmons
12 minutes ago
3 min read

If you thought card games couldn’t be both absurdly funny and strategically sharp, Doomlings is here to prove you wrong. This indie tabletop card game — deceptively simple at first glance — pulls you in with its quirky artwork and hooks you with its bizarre, delightfully chaotic gameplay.

What Doomlings Is

Doomlings is a card game for 2–6 players built around evolving your own little apocalyptic creature tribe through random events, wild traits, and the ever-looming possibility of wiping out entirely. Your goal? Accumulate the most points by the end of the game — but exactly how your Doomling gets there is part of the glory (and chaos). In play, each round you draw cards, choose which trait or event to activate, and chain effects that create unpredictable outcomes. The result is part strategy, part chaos, part comedy, and 100% fun.

Gameplay: Simple Rules, Deep Chaos

One of Doomlings’ biggest strengths is its easy setup and intuitive rules. Most games take about 30–45 minutes — perfect for casual play or as a warm-up to heavier games.

Here’s how it flows:

Players start with a small hand of cards representing traits, events, mutations, or actions.
Each round, you play a card into your “lineage,” which either helps or hinders your progress.
Cards often have conditions (e.g., “If you have a ‘Furry’ trait, do X”), rewarding synergy.
At the end of a round, players score points based on cards in play or combos they’ve triggered.
The game ends after a set number of rounds or when certain conditions are met, like environmental collapse.

It’s structured enough to encourage strategy, but intentionally messy so that every game feels like a unique narrative of your miniature apocalyptic saga.

Why It’s Fun (and Funny)

The game’s humor is baked into the card names, art, and descriptions. You’ll encounter traits like “Extremely Adorable,” “Crustacean Rebellion,” and catastrophic events like “Volcanic Barbecue Day.” These elements aren’t just jokes — they actively affect gameplay.

This makes Doomlings one of those rare games that’s as fun to read aloud as it is to play seriously. The world you end up building — full of quirks, contradictions, and hilariously grim outcomes — is more amusing than serious lore in some AAA RPGs.

Strategy vs. Chaos — Balanced Nicely

While Doomlings leans into randomness, there’s room for real decision-making. Card synergy matters. Building combos that trigger off other cards gives you tactical choices. Hand management counts. Playing (or holding) the right card at the right time can save you from disaster—or doom another player. Risk vs. reward. Do you play your strongest trait now, or wait to combo with something even better? Across multiple plays, you begin to see patterns and develop strategies — without the game ever feeling predictable.

Art & Components

Doomlings presents itself with delightfully weird, whimsical art that matches its tone. Cards are colorful and expressive — not just pretty, but purposefully silly. The artwork helps sell the comedy and encourages players not to take themselves too seriously.

The physical card quality is solid for an indie game, and symbols are generally easy to read once you learn the mechanics. A small learning curve exists for iconography, but nothing too steep.

Where Doomlings Can Be Rough

No game is perfect, and Doomlings has its quirks. Randomness Can Run Wild. Some combos feel completely chaotic — which is fun sometimes, but occasionally it feels like you don’t get meaningful choices because randomness overshadows tactics. This is by design, but for players who prefer tight strategy, the chaos might feel overly strong.

Player Interaction Is Light. Most effects work on your own cards, and direct player interference is limited to specific conditions. If you like heavy take-that mechanics or competitive sabotage, Doomlings won’t scratch that itch hard. New players may stumble over a few rules early on. The game is intuitive once you play a couple of rounds, but first-time sessions benefit from someone experienced guiding the group.

Doomlings is a joyously unpredictable game that blends strategic choices with absurd humor and delightful randomness. It’s not trying to be the next Twilight Imperium — it’s trying to be a game that makes every group laugh, groan, and celebrate their worst decisions with equal enthusiasm. Who it’s perfect for? Casual gamers who love humor and light strategy, groups that enjoy storytelling through gameplay & fans of games like Unstable Unicorns, Exploding Kittens, or The Mind

Doomlings isn’t just another card game — it’s a micro-apocalypse simulator with a sense of humor. It creates memorable moments, encourages creative play, and doesn’t ask you to be a rules lawyer to have fun. In a world where games can be too serious or too long, Doomlings strikes the sweet spot: fast, funny, and just chaotic enough to keep you coming back for “one more round.”