Stats:
No. of players: 1-5
Amount of time to play: 45-60 min
Age requirements: 12+
Set-up time: 10 min

Thunderstone Doomgate Legion Description:

Doomgate Legion is the second expansion for Thunderstone. It adds Treasures, Mercenaries, new Diseases and more Monsters and Heroes. Do all these new elements add up to a better game or is it just more of the same?

If you have not played the base game, Thunderstone, you can read my overview and review of it here.

New to this expansion are Treasure cards. Treasure cards are added to the Dungeon Deck during setup and gained as soon as they are added to the Dungeon Hall. You place any treasure cards in front of you not into your discard pile. To activate your treasure card you must destroy it. The benefits of the different treasures range from extra cards to pluses to attack or even additional gold.

The base game comes with a standard Disease card that subtracts one from your attack. Doomgate Legion adds five new types of diseases. A couple sap your heroes’ strength, one makes visiting the Village more costly, and one even subtracts two VPs at the end of the game. These Disease cards are placed face-down.

Of course you also get new monsters to battle. And many of these are tailored to hand out the new Disease cards. Some also destroy specific types of heroes. There is even a new Guardian.

And speaking of heroes you get seven new ones in Doomgate Legion. New Dungeon abilities include: preview and arrange the top three cards in Dungeon deck, gaining attack for gold, and a hero that keeps returning to the top of your deck.

Along with new equipment and food, Doomgate Legion also introduces Mercenaries to the Village. Mercenaries cannot level up and are not worth VPs. They have both Village and Dungeon effects and help you gain cards, protect your heroes, or spend XP to increase your attack.

A Quick Review of Thunderstone Doomgate Legion:

Doomgate Legion is a good addition the already strong series. I am impressed AEG can continue to add new heroes, monsters and items, which add variety to the gameplay without making the old cards useless or ruining the exiting mechanics.

The new diseases can be tough but add good variety. The Sidhe hero makes the new Disease cards even better as she allows you to give diseases you might gain to other players. This increases player interaction and helps you defeat your opponents.

Mercenaries are another nice addition in Doomgate Legion. These villagers add some nice versatility to your deck and can support your heroes very well.

Lastly being able to spend XP for things besides leveling is nice. There are times when you just aren’t able (or don’t want) to take a Village action. If this happens enough, at the end of the game you will have leftover XP. You can now avoid this by spending that XP in the Dungeon.

I also think by adding a few more cards that let you arrange the Dungeon Hall and Deck, AEG is addressing the slow start that can result if tough monsters are drawn early.

As I have said Doomgate Legion adds some nice variety to Thunderstone. The new card types and mechanics are fun and add a bit of interactivity. If you are a fan of the series you will be happy to add this to your collection.

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