n00bulus

Doomtown: Reloaded (Doomtown) is an expandable playing card game set in the fictional world of Gamorra. Gomorra is not your average wild west, it not only contains Wild West aesthetics, but also is saturated with aspects of magic, fantasy and steampunk. These additional elements enhance the world of Gamorra and make the game interesting, visually appealing and add an additional layer of enjoyment for those who play the game. Doomtown has the possibility of appealing to a wide player base thanks to its engaging setting and mechanics but there are some barrier which keep it from appealing to wide player base.
There are several genres that have basic mechanics in common with Doomtown. While playing, the game felt like a mashup of Poker, strategy board games and TCG’s. It is very obvious once you start playing how Doomtown shares mechanics and rules with Poker. Poker hands are used to determine the outcome of duels in the game and are, generally speaking, ranked the same way in which poker hands are ranked. Doomtown expands on the Poker hand mechanic by letting the players use cheating hands. Although this can lead to some rather strange and powerful hands, it can be risky business using cheating hands. There are many cards in Doomtown that have ability to punish and opponent using a cheating hand. The game also bears a strong resemblance to strategy board games as you must carefully plan your moves and know when to attack, defend or flee. Doomtown also shares many characteristics and mechanics with TCGs. Cards have abilities and stats that are used in combat situations. They also use the tapping (booting) mechanic that many TCGs use.
The object of the game is to control the board by capturing and control points. You do this by astringing influence on the control points using dudes (creatures/characters). This is accomplished by constructing a deck around one of four factions; Sloan Gang, Law Dogs, Morgan Cattle Company, and the Fourth Ring, each of which has their respective strengths, weaknesses, and play styles. These elements combined with the randomness of constructing poker hands (through card draws) makes for some interesting and rewarding gameplay. The suite of the card (Spades, Clubs, Hearts and Diamonds) determine the type of card. Spades are dudes (creatures), Diamonds are deeds (locations), Hearts are Weapons/Equipment/Spells, and Clubs are actions.
The game takes place in phases where players are able to collect ghost rocks (currency) from their cards or pay the upkeep cost for cards they already have in play. Players are also able to move their cards around the board, challenge other cards to a shootout which the player on the receiving end can either accept or flee from. The victor of a card draw is determined by the rank of the poker hand played as well as the card abilities which can be activated by the owner or controller of the cards.
While some of the mechanics of Doomtown will feel familiar to people who have played TCG’s, Poker or a variety of strategy based board games, the complexity of the game makes Doomtown fairly unfriendly and difficult to learn. This causes barriers for those who wish to play or would be interested in the game but are daunted by the complexity and the time requirement that must be put in to learn how to play. While Doomtown can be an engaging and fulfilling experience for those with and advanced understanding and experience playing board and card game. However, it proves to be frustrating and difficult to learn for those with a beginner to intermediate knowledge of board and card games. In conclusion I would recommend this game to anyone who likes challenging strategy games and has a decent experience and knowledge in card and board games and I would recommend that beginners stay away as they will more than likely get frustrated.