Critical Strike - Doomtown Reloaded

Tox brings back Critical Strikes with a look at Alderac Entertainment Group's Doomtown Reloaded a new LCG!

Join in our discussions on our Homepage, Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus:

[rickert]

Game is much easier to learn and teach than represented here, at least the original CCG was. From reading the rulebook, this one appears to be a bit easier than the original. Anyone who has nothing against LCGs and likes the poker mechanic instead of dice, will love this even if the theme doesn't immediately sound interesting.

[KilliaK]

Great small review man, Im a fan of CS and really like this upload.

How are all the other new things comming along?

[CritsHappen]

It's deep and meaty, but it's a great game if you don't mind investing time into it.  Glad everyone seems to like the return of the strikes :)

[ionas]

As long as the release cycle is slower and the meta does not change as fast as in ANR then imho the investment for SEMI-REGULAR play is much better than in ANR. I really loved ANR but the tournament model that FFG pushed instead of an online ladder killed it for me.

[TRez]

I remember buying a couple of starters when this first released (I think it was in the early 2000s).  

I never got to play it because nobody I knew had even the slightest interest.  I tried to teach it to my brother once and a few minutes in he said "let's play Star Wars (Decipher CCG) instead." 

Flash forward 10+ years and now it's the hotness and now I'm the one who could care less about it.

[KCMerchant]

I'm looking forward to the Whatelys and The Agency!  I feel if you've played the Original Deadlands RPG or the Savage worlds Deadlands reloaded game you'll enjoy the game that much more. 

[chopperdan]

I don't think the game terminology is nearly as inside-baseball as Netrunner is. Yes, you have "booting" instead of "tapping", but as you noted, that's because of WotC. Draw and Discard piles are self-explanatory. Boot Hill requires a little explanation but nothing out of the ordinary. Dudes, Deeds, Goods, Actions, Spells are pretty straightforward. Netrunner has the added complication of calling the same thing by two completely different names depending if you're referring to the Runner or the Corp (Grip v. HQ for instance both referring to the players' hand of cards).

There are some things to learn that are a litte out of the ordinary, such as the difference between your Play Hand and Draw Hand, and getting players to understand the movement rules - To Move, you Boot a Dude. There are 3 exceptions to this rule.

Yes, there is a learning curve. But once you understand that at its heart Doomtown is an Area Control game, it's easier to grasp the tactical and strategic challenges that encompasses.

[rbb]

got this game.  still struggling a bit but the by the 5th playthrough, it gets better.  but those 5x are PAINFUL. :)

[peteshirey]

I played the original, So I will probably be ok with the terminology, since I have used it before.Looking forward to this one. If you don't like it I will buy your copy from ya :-)

[DefiasBrotherhood]

I’m getting tired of people complaining about terminology in games.  Netrunner is a fantastic game.  Yes it does take some time to master the terminology.  But the rewards are well worth it.  I’m betting this game will be the same. 
There are some Euro games where you scratch your head till you “get” the game.  Because the mechanics are hard to wrap your head around.  But once you do you are rewarded with an excellent game experience.  It doesn’t make it not worth playing just because it can be tough at the start.
I personally am really looking forward to playing this game. 

[Ulairi]

Nice review. Why didn't you like it? I felt like you were afraid to give your opinion. You think it's a good game but just not for you, why? I'm always interested in hearing more about your personal feelings. This is the first review of yours I've watched. What sorts of games do you like? I'm going to subscribe to your channel. Good job!

[tkpope]

It's not an "LCG" - FFG owns that name.  It's an "ECG", where the "E" stands for "Expandable"!

[bgm-]

Am just now getting into this game,  hence my four comments below,  two years late. But first, I think Doomtown Reloaded is a brilliant design with a very different theme. And it's the different theme which is why I think this game is being touted as hard to get into. That's unfortunate! I see several comments on this page that this video has single-handily caused the writer to stay away from this game. Their loss. Despite that this game is no longer being produced, there are still many copies to be had and it still has a long life ahead. So for prospective players who have watched this video, I offer the following comments & counterpoints to *consider* before blindly declaring that this game isn't for you: 

- I was looking for an answer to Kenny Johnson's question: "Why didn't you like it?". As any good reviewer does, you presented both the good and the bad of this game, as you saw it. But your presentation seemed to favor the good over the bad. So what was it that caused you to emphatically declare that you don't like the game? 
- I'm not sure why the complaint about the length of the rulebook. For instance, the rules Reference for the 'A Game of Thrones' LCG is at 34 pages and is far denser that DTR's 31 pages. 
- Personally, I'm glad that the one turn tutorial in the 'Gettin' To Know Gomorra' booklet is presented in written form. Having to setup the game in front of a TV, or having to squint at my smartphone's screen isn't very conducive to learning a new game. Also, using a video tutorial means frequent pausing and rewinding whereas a written tutorial allows me to flip & study pages at my own pace.
- Finally, I'm also not getting all the complaints about the terminology used in this game. True, it has a lot of fiddly terms, such as, "Huckster", or "Hex", or "Pull", or "Resolution". But all other card games have their own vocabulary and just as much of it (i.e., I can think of 14 or 15 terms unique to 'A Game of Thrones' LCG). So I'm not getting why Doomtown's vocabulary is so troublesome.
And, not every card game should use "tap" anyway - even if they could. Contrary to an earlier comment, I like that the terms are thematic! For instance, the 'A Game of Thrones' LCG uses "kneel" instead of "tap", and the 'Lord of the Rings' LCG uses "exhaust'. Yet people don't seem to  have any difficulty playing with those terms. Also, is it really that difficult to instantly translate in your mind,  "Dudes" into "characters", or "Deeds" into "locations"? "Boot Hill" = "Dead Pile". Sorry for being snarky, but that's not really so hard to deal with.
Now to be fair, I do admit that I have an issue with the term, "Draw hand". I think "Draw Hand" and "Play Hand" can easily mean the same thing. If I were king at AEG, I'd use the term, "Poker Hand" instead of "Draw Hand".

[rckyv]

Thanks for the review! Our group play a gane of thrones lcg for the multi player aspect... how does this stack with more than 2 players?

[xDIABOx]

I've played the original back in the days. I've always been a poker player so I connected with the game very well.
When I've heard of a Reload of it I've rejoiced and started following everything about DT:R.

As it is right now, I've read through the rulebook and seen some OCTGN action. I guess it's a good game but not a great one. Very hard to teach, very hard to master. And the random Poker hands breaks apart the game, so, competitive Magic players will be far away from this game due to its randomness.

I would not give a Strike for this game. It's an alright game, as complex as L5R also from AEG, and I guess it will not reap the rewards of playing it because I guess it will sink after the hype passes. And for the "new" gameplay there's already Netrunner on the market and doing pretty well.

I hope AEG will do the same they did with Doomtown but for 7th Sea. Once again it wouldn't be an innovative game nor bring cool ideas into the market but has a one-on-one game of conflict it's pretty neat! That I would go for it blindly, for this I will wait untill it settles and see if it has space to compete with Netrunner, Game of Thrones and the new WH40K game from FFG that I will not buy for certain (another recycle piece of trash like the Star Wars LCG).

[homelessjoe]

"verbiage used makes netrunner look like a doctor seus book" heard enough right there. This is not a game for me. As always thanks Tox

[bookaddict]

I think I will give this one a pass.  As much as I like deck builders, this one sounds like it is above my head!

[bbblackwell]

For the life of me I cannot understand the decision to introduce superfluous vocabulary to mundane game elements. It comes off amateurish and contrived, and it's coming from some of the most professional publishers in the industry!

Nowhere in the universe is Android Netrunner the only game sitting on someone's shelf -- how could we keep track of all this if every game is reinventing the terminology? I get the notion of thematic immersion, but that's not the place to do it. It's a goddam discard pile, can't we just say that and move on? I shouldn't need Rosetta Stone to translate your game.