The Doom Arena Board Game is hell on Earth (in the best way) | Preview

The original Doom came out two years before I was born, but that doesn't mean I can't dance with the demons. I've been ripping and tearing for as long as I can remember (which means I first met Doom Guy far too young), so couldn't wait to take that experience to the tabletop.

The Doom Arena Board Game distils the core of the original release, from its blocky graphics to its weapon management mechanics. Coming from Modiphius games, the brains behind some of the best board games based on digital properties, there's a pedigree to this Kickstarter but it's still got a big challenge ahead of it.

Doom itself runs on speed and action. If you're standing still you're dead. Translating that into a turn-by-turn combat game is always going to come with its own thematic hurdles.

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Are there elements of the source material missing from the prototype I've been playing for the last couple of months? Yes. Is it still fun? Absolutely.

Deathmatch for the tabletop

At launch, the Doom Arena Board Game is set to be playable between two to four hell-dwellers. Right now, though, the prototype is set up for two.

One takes on the role of Doom Guy himself, while the other commands a demon army of nicely detailed miniatures (and not-so miniatures, looking at that Cyberdemon). The goal is to rip and tear each other across a map, running attacks and movements based on weapon and character stats, over six turns. Once everyone has exhausted their tearin' arms, the winner of each round is declared based on the amount of 'blood tokens' they have collected from their enemy's HP, earning themselves a keycard. Simply win best of three keycards to take the match.

In between rounds, our Doom Guy has the opportunity to buy new weapons ranging from the Plasma Rifle to the trusty Chainsaw or upgrade his stats or add skill upgrades to his repertoire. The demons are brewing up their own plans as well, though.

Whoever controls this horde has the ability to buy new demon classes for their army, swapping their loadout for different movement and attack types.

That's not the only way to get extra blood for your buck, though. The first time damage is dealt you'll receive a Tempo token, granting extra abilities. In the case of Doom Guy, you're choosing between adding stun to your attack, retaliation damage, or - of course - a BFG shot. Demons all have their own special abilities granted by building up their Tempo pool.

A traveller's guide to Phobos

I've only got one map in my prototype box, but the final version will include two double-sided large maps and a single double-sided small map to play with. All use the same hex movement mechanics, with different layers of terrain representing various hazards. A yellow hex, for example, represents a trickier terrain that will cost an extra movement point to traverse. Meanwhile, red tiles are dangerous spots that will lead to damage. Fall in a black pitfall and you'll conk out immediately.

The map I've received is fairly standard; a nukage lined arena that forces combat into the center while still providing routes of escape around the edge. It's symmetrical so, while the demon player can choose which side of the board each faction starts on it, spawning positions don't feel like they make much of a difference to standard gameplay.

There's enough in this prototype map for the landscape to have a real effect on gameplay, though. Weighing up whether to escape through dangerous green goo or hold firm and blast the thing in the face with a shotgun is a very Doom decision to make (we all know which way it goes).

Elsewhere in the box, you'll find character cards for both Doom Guy (two versions are available) and the demons themselves. Each displays their health, speed (number of movement points available), Tempo abilities, rules of engagement, and weapon slots.

Knee-deep in the dead

The prototype version I've been playing comes with four fodder demons and two heavy demons to play with, as well as the big boss, a Cyberdemon. Modiphius has managed to wrangle a solid gang here, with Lost Soul, Imp, Shotgun Dude (as opposed to Shotgun Guy?), Zombieman, Pinky, and Cacodemon representation in the core set. There's definitely space for expansion here, but the core set provides enough variation in strategy and rules to keep repeat games interesting.

They're well matched with their video game counterparts. A Lost Soul, for example, can't move with thought or strategy - it simply either attacks or charges in a straight line towards the Doom Guy. The Cacodemon flies over dangerous or difficult terrain, with a lightning ball attack that runs infinitely over a straight line.

Everything about these characterisations and skillsets feels like proper Doom. It taps into muscle-memory knowledge of how these creatures act, rewarding those with an appreciation for their different strategies and roles on the battlefield.

My only criticism would be the lack of Spiderdemon, nearly everyone else from the original game is accounted for.

The Lost Levels

So far so good, the Doom Arena Board Game's central mechanics navigate the move from fast-paced run'n'gun to strategic tabletop 1v1 as well as they possibly can, with real flavor from the original running through not just the art, weapons, and tokens but the core mechanics themselves.

Unfortunately, there's a side of Doom that is completely ignored here - and including it in the final game would solve one of the only problems I can feel creeping into my playthroughs. Everything feels a little one dimensional at the moment. Changing your roster of weapons and demons and choosing which Tempo abilities to activate (and when) adds a little depth to the arena setup, but overall strategy is still pretty flat.

Secrets, hidden areas, and navigating enemies on different terrain levels are just as much a part of the core Doom experience as the bloodshed and yet they seem to be absent here. Resident Evil: The Board Game explores this core mechanic of its own source material with hidden cards, dynamically evolving maps, and separate puzzle mechanics. That extra layer of strategy, prioritization, and loadout building feels missing here.

Of course, this is the Doom Arena Board Game, not just Doom as a campaign. That means we're instead focusing more on the time-sensitive kill-fests that exist separately to the full games. Playing with terrain heights, different movement methods, and potentially some extra puzzle elements could add extra texture to the experience overall with more variation in repeat playthroughs.

The Doom Arena Board Game perfectly captures the intricacies of the original's combat strategy while navigating the inherent challenge of a slower pace particularly well. This feels like Doom combat - just slowed down and more considered. Easy to explain, quick to pick up and play, and relatively replayable with different demon factions and weapon cards in play, it's a particularly delectable slice of a franchise.

While its strategy could use extra depth, and I'm still waiting for my Daisy figure, the theming across both combat mechanics and art is spot on.

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