Remember that new Doom game that came out not too long ago that nobody seems to be talking about anymore? It was pretty good, but gamers are always on to the next thing. Maybe people will start talking about it again once this Doom board game hits the shelves! Yeah, a tabletop game based on Doom from Fantasy Flight Games was just revealed this weekend at QuakeCon. The game will feature two operations of six missions, but the coolest thing about it has to be the miniatures. As of right now, they don’t have any paint designs done, but they still look awesome enough and ripped right from the game.

Doom: The Board Game is expected to hit gaming stores and other outlets around the holidays and will go for $80, so don’t forget to tell Santa you want to slay some demons in Doom this Christmas.

DOOM provides two operations of six missions each for your invader and marines to battle through. Every mission takes place on a unique map and presents a different set of objectives and threat levels. The objective cards designated for each mission describe the victory conditions for both the team of marines and the invader, in addition to all associated special rules. The marine’s objectives can vary from securing the battle area to collecting valuable assets, while the invader has just one goal—to kill the marines…repeatedly. 

The invader’s method of summoning demons is determined by one of three assigned threat cards—Infestation, Horde, and Assault. Portals scattered across each map designate areas where new demons will spawn from, but how those portals behave will vary depending on the threat card, throwing demons onto the map in unique ways and forcing the marines to approach each mission with a customized strategy.

Each of the four marines, Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Delta, begin with the same special sprinting ability and equal health points, but differing classes and weapon loadouts will help each marine establish a distinctive set of strengths, abilities, and strategies. Class cards are selected at the beginning of the mission and provide your marine with unique skills, from increasing your defenses to loading your action deck with grenades. 

You will also begin each mission with a ten-card action deck, featuring armor, three pistol actions, and three cards each for your marine’s designated guns. Throughout the game, you will take a number of these cards into your hand and play them as actions. Every card in your deck will give you either a main action, a bonus action, or a reaction. While main actions will deal significant damage to any advancing demons, the less powerful bonus actions may be easily chained together to execute additional unique and useful attacks, movement, or other actions. Both main and bonus actions may only be used during your activation, though your deck will also contain a reaction or two, such as your armor, which can be used to respond to an attack at any time. These cards can help you avoid damage, retaliate with an attack, or draw more cards into your hand.

Even if you are without reaction cards in-hand, you are not without defense when targeted. Whenever your marine comes under attack, you will flip one of the cards remaining in your deck. The symbol in the upper right-hand corner of the flipped card designates the strength of your defense, either limiting the damage you take, denying the attack altogether, or forcing you to take the full force of the demon’s strike. The most effective defense will often come from cards that perform less powerful actions, so every draw from your ever-cycling action deck is a thrilling gamble, whether you’re filling your hand or defending yourself. 

Not only do your marines begin the game with this ten card deck, but they will also have opportunities to expand their arsenal with pickup items. The marines are only as dangerous as the weapons they wield, so your game is heavily defined by both their initial loadout and the equipment they collect. At the start of each mission, the map will be populated with health packs and weapons for the marines to find as they pursue the mission’s objective. Health packs allow the marines to recover health, and can make the difference between life and death in a dire situation. Weapons, on the other hand, expand a marine’s action deck with new, often more powerful cards than those in the starting action deck. The earlier you set out to collect these weapons, the more quickly you may be able to gain the upper hand in your fight to save humanity.

One player in your game of DOOM will take the invader role, commanding the legions of Hell in an attempt to terminate the UAC Marines. As the invader, you are able to spawn hordes of demons throughout the mission from portals scattered across the campaign map. Your band of relentless fighters and the way they spawn will vary depending on the threat and invasion cards designated by each mission. The threat cards mentioned earlier apply unique rules to the portals around the map and at what point you may introduce new demons, while the invasion cards, kept hidden from the marines, indicate exactly which demon types you’re able to summon. While the marines have the ability to respawn when they die, you instead summon masses of increasingly terrifying demons.

Each of the three portal tiers has two invasion groups which you may choose spawn, increasing in strength and ability as the mission progresses. Early on, you’ll be able to summon less powerful demons, such as a mob of possessed soldiers or a single armored Pinky. While both of these demons are a threat to the marines, they are less intimidating than, for example, the Mancubus or Baron of Hell. You will be able to summon these menacing monsters and others like them when the red, higher-threat portals become available to you, increasing the challenge to the marines as they draw nearer to achieving their objectives. Because the invasion cards are not available to the marines, they will also be unaware of the terrors headed their way until the demons actually spawn.

Where the marines have action decks to indicate many of their abilities, each class of demon has specific speed, range, health, attack, and special abilities indicated on their demon card. Some of these abilities are inherent and may be used at any time, while others require special Argent Power to trigger. These tokens may be collected by discarding event cards or spawning an invasion group which includes additional Argent Power. Once the tokens have been assigned to a demon type, they cannot be moved, so it is in your best interest to spend them before each demon dies, again adding difficulty for the marines as they progress.

Event cards are the invader’s equivalent of an action deck where defense and special abilities are concerned. The cards in this deck vary depending on the mission being played, and are indicated alongside objective, threat, and invasion cards. At the beginning of the status phase, before activation for all characters begins, you will draw event cards until you have six in your hand, and may then discard up to three to generate Argent Power. The cards kept in hand can be used throughout the activation phase to modify attacks, defenses, and more. The cards remaining in the event deck serve as your demons’ defense when attacked by marines.

Where the marines have action decks to indicate many of their abilities, each class of demon has specific speed, range, health, attack, and special abilities indicated on their demon card. Some of these abilities are inherent and may be used at any time, while others require special Argent Power to trigger. These tokens may be collected by discarding event cards or spawning an invasion group which includes additional Argent Power. Once the tokens have been assigned to a demon type, they cannot be moved, so it is in your best interest to spend them before each demon dies, again adding difficulty for the marines as they progress.

Event cards are the invader’s equivalent of an action deck where defense and special abilities are concerned. The cards in this deck vary depending on the mission being played, and are indicated alongside objective, threat, and invasion cards. At the beginning of the status phase, before activation for all characters begins, you will draw event cards until you have six in your hand, and may then discard up to three to generate Argent Power. The cards kept in hand can be used throughout the activation phase to modify attacks, defenses, and more. The cards remaining in the event deck serve as your demons’ defense when attacked by marines.

Fear of death has no place in this game, and it is this reckless abandon that will allow your marines to take advantage of two exceptional abilities—the Glory Kill and Telefragging. Below each demon’s health is a stagger value, signifying the amount of damage they must take before a marine can perform a Glory Kill. Once a demon has become staggered, a marine may charge into the demon’s space for two movement points and dispatch them with ease. Similarly brutal is Telefragging, an action in which a marine may move from one active teleporter on the map to another. If occupied by a demon, you immediately remove that monster from the game. With that in mind, the invader player would be best served by avoiding active teleporters at all costs.

Gear up and lock down to bring the thrilling experience of Bethesda and id Software’s DOOM to the tabletop withDOOM: The Board Game. Whether you aim to charge through the mob of demons with your team in pursuit of a larger goal or flip the switch and command Hell’s death-dealing masses to slaughter the UAC’s best and brightest, a descent into the fiery pits of DOOM is sure to bring out the master combatant in you. 

DOOM: The Board Game is expected to arrive at retailers during the fourth quarter of 2016!