This is yet another expansion of your favorite card game and it’s actually 5-in1! Oh yes! It contains 5 collections of the most unusual and unbelievable creatures you ever imagined, emphasizing in fantasy: Magical Merchants, Deeplings, Moonlings, Glitterlings and Fuzelings. You must be familiar with the base game in order to play withh this expansion. Let’s see what they are about:
Magical Merchants
There are 11 merchants accompanied by 40 trinkets. You can earn extra points by fulfillling objectives and pocketing trinkets but beware: Trinket powers may not be as useful as promised.
This expansion alters the setup of the game. Now each age stack should include 1 basic age, 1 catastrophe and 2 merchant ages. Merchant ages are new types of ages that interact with trinkets. Trinkets are shuflled and each player is dealt 2 trinkets, trash one and keep the other. When you get a trinket, you put it in front of you and as soon as you can complete its objective, you can pocket it, that is flip it to face down position. That’s it! Now the number of points printed on the card are yours and you can get a new trinket at the beginnings of the next round.
Trinkets!
Deeplings
Deeplings live hidden in the dark and are very creepy! These cards introduce a new mechanic: “Suppress”. You can play suppressed cards, face down under any card. They will be worth +1 points and not count as traits.
Deeplings
Glitterlings
Glitterlings are cards with random effects, defines by one word: Chance. If you like risking, just close your eyes and play a Glitterling.
Glitterlings
Moonlings
Moonlings are strange creatures that give a lot away and shine with low Gene Pools.
Moolings!
Fuzelings
Fuzelings are medleys of Deeplings, Moonlings and Glitterlings and can give bigger bonuses from Drop of Life effects. They also trigger new combos.
Fuzelings
Now let’s see how this expansion scores in our usual scoring system:
Components
The only real component in Doomlings are cards. And these cards are beautifully done. Each little creature has its own special image, and indeed a very imaginative one. The new creatures continue our spectacular trip in the world of cutiness and some of these are so cute I will be just playing them in order to keep staring at their images. I have some favourites from the set: “Elegance” and “Frumple Pumple”. Congratz to the artist for them.
Merchants and trinkets cards have a special dark theme, which I also loved. Moreover, these cards have full-art, meaning that their images take-up the whole card, not just a rectangle in the middle, like the rest of the cards.
Magic Merchants
Each expansion has its own special symbol, so we can easily tell from which expansion it is. 9/10
“Elegance” and “Frumple Pumple”, my favourites!
Gameplay
Every Doomlings expansion has something new to offer and this one is no exception.
The most innovative concept in this one are the magical merchants that make for a whole different game. When you play with this expansions, you use along with original ages, some merchant ages as well. These enable you to interact with trinkets which I see as little shiny thingies you buy from the merchant. When they are face up, they give you an awesome power but you can and must pocket them as soon as you can to gain their points. This expansion adds a lot of variety in the game and I like playing with it rather than the original game. It’s so fun. I never know which trinket I am going to get next and always anticipate revealing and pocketing a new one.
The rest of the small expansions provide a little more variety to the game. My favourite is Glitterlings. I love that random effects they provide. They are so crazy and unexpected that they add tons of funn to the game. My least favourite I can say is Deeplings. The “Suppress” effect doesn’t impress me much. It is handy for getting rid bad cards but if you don’t have bad cards you will have to supress your good cards which isn’t that awesome. 7/10
Replayability
Every expansion of a game aims to boost replayability and this one certainly hits the nail. Especially the Magical Merchants set, revamped my apetite for the game and made me want to play several sessions to have even more fun with it. 7/10
Theme
The theme of the game is emphasized with every card with the help of that little text written on it that explains the existence and nature of each creature and makes us delve deeper in the fascinating world where Doomlings live and thrive. 7/10
Player interaction
Every once in a while you have the opportunity of interacting with your opponents in this game and with this expansion, this opportunity is expanded in a way that interaction remains at the same level, not being more intense neither not subtle. Subsequently player interaction is not really affected from this expansion. 7/10
Learning Curve
Although the Moonlings, Fuzelings, Glitterlings and Deeplings rules are pretty straight-forward, I can’t say the same about the Magical Merchants. Actually I had to go over the rules many many times in order to understand the rules of them and still I am not sure if i have fully understood them. The specific rules maybe need a bit of rewriting in order to be more specific and clear. 6/10
Final Thoughts
A collection of expansions that features even more super-cute little creatures and new mechanics that will catch your interest, with the most exciting from a presentation but also content point of view being the Magical Merchants. I would buy this expansion for the merchants only while Fuzelings would be the next best thing. Awesome graphics and catching theme that will renew your interest for the game and hook you many hours more in the crazy world of Doomlings. Fun guaranteed!
