We’re Doomed Board Game

Designed for 4 to 10 players, We’re Doomed! is a fast-paced party game with an intriguing premise. The world is coming to an end in 15 minutes. Players must work together to acquire resources to build a rocket and escape. The twist? There might not be enough seats on the rockets for everybody to leave safely. The game starts with everybody cooperating with each other but quickly descends into betrayal, backstabbing, and revenge.

At the end of the game, you have to count the number of resources to see how many seats you’ve built on the rocket. The bigger the rocket, the more people get to escape. Players with the most influence board the rocket first and the rest get left behind.

Players with the most influence board the rocket first and the rest get left behind.

To win, players have to delicately manage the balance between acquiring resources and gaining influence, which are represented by tokens in the game.

Setup is simple. At the beginning of the game, each player is given a different civilization card– more on that later. Each player is also given a reference card, which reminds them of the rules. The box is placed in the center of the table and serves as a container for holding the resources to build the rocket.

The event cards are placed nearby. Influence and resource tokens are placed in their respective bags and players begin with nothing. The game comes with a beautiful hourglass that serves as the 15-minute countdown timer. The game starts once the timer is flipped.

Players take turns performing one action on their turn. There are 5 actions that players can take. Players can choose to gain resources or gain influence. They can also use their resources to steal influence from other players or use their influence to steal resources.

Lastly, if they acquire enough resources, they can NUKE other players, eliminating them from the game. You will have to keep an eye on other players’ resource piles to ensure they don’t grow too big. You don’t want them to start nuking people out of the game.

The interesting element is that each player gets an enhanced action based on their civilization class card.

The interesting element is that each player gets an enhanced action based on their civilization class card handed out at the start of the game. For example, if you are a part of the Technocracy civilization, you can gain 3 resources rather than the normal 2. This simple twist adds a subtle layer of strategy to the simple gameplay.

After everybody takes an action, players have to contribute resources to build the rocket. It’s not necessary to take turns during the contribution phase.

These light negotiation mechanics add to the competitiveness to the game.

These light negotiation mechanics add to the competitiveness to the game. In the event of a tie, the majority votes on the winner. The player who contributes the most resources is awarded an influence token and must draw an event card.

It is these quirky event cards that serve to upend the game. There are one hundred game-changing event cards.

It is these quirky event cards that serve to upend the game. There are one hundred game-changing event cards.

There are two types of event cards. The black cards are secret cards that players read to themselves, while the white event cards are read out loud to everyone. We don’t want to spoil them because they are more fun to experience without any prior knowledge.

The game continues in this fashion until the timer runs out. After 15 minutes elapse, the gameplay commences. Who will board the rocket? How many seats are available? The players who have the most influence tokens board first. The rest of the players are doomed.

As you play, there is a tricky balance between gaining resources and acquiring influence. As the timer is about to expire, the tension really ramps up. It’s a game that wouldn’t work if it was any longer, but when condensed into 15 minutes, it shines.  It’s one of those rare games that works even better with more players, so if you can find 10 people who want to play, it’s even better.

With its fast-paced gameplay, We’re Doomed! is an essential ice breaker party game that just about every board game fan is going to want to add to their collection.  Just don’t expect to have any friends left after playing it.