Stats:
No. of players: 2-4
Amount of time to play: 30-60 min
Age requirements: 14+
Set-up time: minimal

Doomseeker is set in the Warhammer universe and you take on the role of a dwarf slayer. You must kill monsters for points (and can even gain points when they kill you) to score the most and win.

Doomseeker Rules Description:

To start Doomseeker you take a slayer card. This contains your dwarf’s stats and special ability. You also gain a random grudge that will score you VPs at the end of the game. Next you draw five Fate cards.

You must build the Doom deck. It contains monsters that get progressively harder to fight the longer you play. The Treasure deck is shuffled and then you place the top five Dooms and Treasure cards on the board.

Each round the first player will pass clockwise. On your turn you draw one Fate card and choose which Doom you want to fight. Then each player may play a Fate card. These cards manipulate the battle positively or negatively for the current slayer. Their effects are cumulative so might lose or gain strength once everything is totaled.

Then you fight the Doom by adding your strength to the result of a d6. If the total is equal to or greater than the Doom’s strength you win and take the Doom card. You also gain gold equal to its gold value. If you roll lower than its strength you take a wound and discard the Doom. You may instantly spend any gold you have on any face up Treasures. If at the end of your turn you have more than five Fate cards you must discard down to five.

If you are killed you take the Doom that killed you and may still play fate cards against other players. In addition you may bet fate cards or other tokens on the outcome of each fight. If you bet correctly you gain a renown token that is worth a VP at the end of the game.

The game ends once the Doom deck is empty or all Slayers are dead. To get your final score you add your number of renown tokens and the number of Dooms you’ve killed. Epic Dooms are worth 2 VPs. If you were killed by an Epic Doom, you gain five extra VPs. Lastly, if you meet the condition on your grudge it will score you additional VPs. The slayer with the most VPs wins.

Quick Review of Doomseeker:

Doomseeker is a light, but fun, dice roller with a good bit of “take that” in it. You can have the best laid plan only to have someone’s fate card mess you up. So be prepared for some shenanigans and warn them if your group is sensitive to them.

The components for this game are really nice. The cards look very cool and the chits are durable too. The rulebook is short and straightforward which helps you get this boardgame to the table quickly.

I like that you can create a synergy between your weapons and the Dooms you are collecting. When you kill Dooms they might give you a future bonus for killing more of their type and some weapons are better against certain Dooms too.

Sometimes you will need to attack a Doom you have no chance against. Or there might be only one you have a chance to kill. That can be frustrating as some decisions are made for you by the game.

Doomseeker is a good game for groups that don’t mind stabbing each other in the back. It is on the lighter side so it can make a good starter boardgame on game nights. But if your group doesn’t enjoy “take that” boardgames you should avoid this one.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 3 out of 6
Luck 6 out of 6
Player Interaction 5 out of 6
Replay Value 4 out of 6
Complexity 3 out of 6
Fun 4 out of 6
Overall 4 out of 6