DOOM: Arena Board Game preview — Let the blood flow

Modiphius Entertainment is currently crowdfunding the latest tabletop adaptation of DOOM, this time as a fast-paced skirmish game. In DOOM: Arena Board Game, two players take on the roles of the Doom Guy and the Demonic Horde as they face off against each other in up to three rounds of fighting. These rounds function as a best-of-three victory condition, with each round producing more carnage than the last as the players upgrade themselves between rounds.

Gameplay is simple, with each side getting six alternating turns each round to move and/or shoot with their units. Doom Guy gets to perform any two actions on each of his turns, and has access to a growing loadout of weaponry to shred through the demons with. On a Demonic Horde turn, the player gets three activation tokens to spread amongst their forces however they wish, with stronger demons costing more tokens to activate. The mindless fodder units that the Horde starts the game with also have a tendency to shoot at Doom Guy whenever possible, regardless of any allies caught in the explosions. The goal in each round is to spill as much of the opponent’s blood as possible, and the fighting doesn’t stop until the timer’s up. More demons are constantly joining the fray, and if the Doom Guy ever dies, he just respawns to continue the fun. Players are rewarded for consistently hitting their opponents with Tempo Tokens that can be used to fuel powerful abilities, like the legendary BFG. 

Whoever spilled the most blood after six turns wins the keycard for the round, and players move to an intermission where Doom Guy can accessorize with new weapons and upgrades while the Demonic Horde expands their forces. Once both players are ready and a new, larger map is selected, the fight begins anew. Once one player has two keycards, the game is over as they’re crowned the victor.

Although the components aren’t finalized and the preview copy only came with a single map, I had a lot of fun with this light and fast skirmish game. It isn’t a highly tactical experience, but DOOM: Arena really captures the frantic pace of the franchise at its best, as players simply find the best ways to cause as much carnage as possible. Getting to charge Doom Guy with the nigh-unstoppable Cyberdemon in the finale round was an incredible highlight of the game for me, just as finally taking the beast down was for my opponent. I’m looking forward to trying more of this game, especially with more maps. The medium-sized map had a layout that made it a bit tricky to get the slow-moving fodder into a position where they could shoot before getting annihilated by Doom Guy’s heavy weaponry.

Anyone who wants to check out more of DOOM: Arena, including the Dark Ages version, can follow the campaign at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/modiphius/doom-arena-board-game, which will end on November 21st.