A while ago, the Doomlings team sent me a review copy of their base game, and now they have sent me the expansion packs and the Overlush box. First of all,  shoutout and a big thanks to the Doomlings team! And now let's dive into reviewing all the cute, fun, and crittery expansions!

If you want to buy the Doomlings base game or any of their expansions, feel free to visit the Doomlings website.

Related:

- Doomlings (base game) review.

- Other Board Game Reviews here.

Disclosure: The creators of "Doomlings" sent a copy of the "Doomlings Upgrade Pack Expansion," and the "Doomlings Overlush Mystery Expansion (4-Pack)" for me to review, but the creators do not have any influence over the contents of this review. The review includes my opinions based on my personal experience. Find the Review Policy here.

My Experience With Doomlings: I have played Doomlings with and without the expansions in multiple sittings - as two players, three players, and four. It's been with both - experienced and casual players. 

A Quick Foreword

1. To keep things simple, when I'll say the Expansion Pack, I will mean the "Doomlings Upgrade Pack Expansion." And when I'll say the Overlush Box, I will mean the "Doomlings Overlush Mystery Expansion (4-Pack)".

2. The Expansion pack and the Overlush Box are two separate products, but given that the Overlush Box have many similarities with the Expansion Pack, I'll keep everything within this one article.

3. The Expansion Pack comes with 5 separate expansions, so the review will focus on the Expansion Pack, but of course, the Overlush Box will have its separate section in the review.

4. Just a few weeks ago, Doomlings introduced a new "Imaginary Ends Variety Expansion." Unfortunately, I do not have this expansion pack, so it is not featured in this review.

Now, without further ado, let's dive in and find out what these two boxes have in store, and how these expansions improve the base game!

"Doomlings Upgrade Pack Expansion" Contents

The Expansion pack includes 5 separate expansions - Dinolings, Mythlings, 
Techlings, Multi-Color, and The Meaning of Life.

Some expansions have more cards, others less, but in total you'll find 81 cards in the box, so for an expansion that costs 20-25 USD it is an OK amount of cards. Not an amazing value, especially considering that the base game costs the same, but it is adequate.

The Expansion pack comes in a neat box with a plastic insert that houses the five expansions each separated in their plastic wraps. Otherwise, there is not much else to say about the contents.

Setup and Implementation of the Expansion Pack

Technically speaking, the setup is super easy. For the Dinolings, Mythlings, and Multi-Color expansions you just take the expansions and add the Trait cards to the Trait deck, and add the Age/Catastrophe to the Ages deck, and you're good to go!

Before adding the cards to the main decks, you should read the instruction cards for the "the Meaning of Life," and the "Techlings" expansions as these two expansions add a few additions to the game rules. But that being said, the additional instructions for these two expansions are also straightforward, and learning them should not take more than 2-3 minutes.

Additionally, my personal take - if you want the expansions to have a bigger significance in your gameplay, I would recommend to removing (about) the same number of cards from the regular game. Of course, you don't have to do that, but for me, it was more fun like that, especially when I was playing with 2-3 players. 

If you want to later remove or separate the expansion cards from the base game, the expansion cards have their unique symbol in the upper right corner (except the Multicolor expansion that have its identifier in the lower left corner). I would have preffered that the identifiers were in both, the upper and lower, corners of the cards allowing to find the cards even more convenient, but in any way, the identifiers are a good feature, if you want to separate the cards. 

New Mechanics of the Doomlings Expansion Pack

The expansions vary in terms of mechanics. Dinolings, Mythlings, and Multi-Color come with cards having new effects, but without introducing new mechanics.

However, the Meaning of Life and Techlings introduce new simple yet meaningful additions to the core mechanics of the base game. In a nutshell, the Meaning of Life gives each player a random secondary goal (like, ending the game with no Dominant traits, getting some specific range of colors in your trait pile etc.). And the Techlings introduce a new attachment mechanism which plays like it sounds - the attachment cards attaches to another card granting an additional effect or changing the card type.

All in all, the expansion pack introduces new cards and a few new mechanics, but don't expect to have significantly different experience compared to the base game.

Expansion Pack: Art, Quality, and Unique Cards

While playing with the expansions, I did not seem to find any duplicates, also found in the base game, except there was one card - "The Ruggedized." This card is found in the Techlings expansion, and also in the main game just without the "attachment" effect icon. 

That being said, there may be some other duplicates that I did not find (base game and expansions have 248 cards, after all), but all in all, the expansions provide plenty of new unique cards by keeping the same cartoon-art style, and keep the same printing quality, so the new cards mix with the base game perfectly. Which of course, is a good thing!

Storing the Expansion Pack

The box of main game (classic edition) is designed with the expansions in mind and it includes a spare slot for the expansions, so storing the additional cards is a breeze. It is convenient and functional.

However, if you want  to also add the Overlush cards on top of the expansions, then it becomes difficult. One option would be to remove the insert from the main game's box, but that would result in a messy organization within the box. 

So, the best way to store the cards when adding Overlush cards + expansion cards would be to separate the cards in 3-5 plastic bags and then placing them in the main box (without the insert). For some that might not be an ideal solution, but it works well. 

Special Note: New Expansion Available

Just recently (in July, 2024) Doomlings released a new expansion pack "Imaginary Ends Variety Expansion." This expansion pack also comes with 5 separate expansions, and included 127 cards which is 46 cards more than the previous expansion pack. And at the time of writing, both expansion packs cost the same.

Unfortunately, I don't own or have played any expansions from this pack, so I don't know how good does it play, but given the fact that it has about 50% more cards, it could be also a good choice, maybe even a better choice, to upgrade the base game.

Fun Factor of the Expansion Pack

Probably the most important question for any board game and its expansion is - how fun is it?

Now, if you have played the core game, it is a simple answer - the expansion is about the same fun as the core game. In my opinion, it is better with the expansions, but if you did not like the core game, the expansions probably won't change your mind.

However, if you already liked the base game - the expansions will not re-invent the game, but should make it more fun. The question is, does the price tag is justified - and only you can be the judge for this.

Doomlings Overlush Box Mini-Review

Contents of the Overlush Box

The Overlush Box comes with 4 separate booster packs, and each pack has 15 cards, including one guaranteed holo-foil card. So, in total you'll get 60 cards, but you won't know exactly which cards you'll be getting.

In my box I got 7 dominant traits, 7 Ages cards, 6 Catastrophe cards, and the remaining were Trait cards. All Age and Catastrophe cards were unique.

Overall, only a few cards were duplicates within the Overlush box or with the main game cards, so it seems that the overall roster of the Overlush expansion cards is impressive with many unique cards.

The Mystery Effect

The good and the bad of the Overlush packs lies within the fact that you won't know what cards you'll be getting in each pack. They are mystery packs.

It is "fun" because of the excitement of finding out what treasure is in your next pack. I have not checked how popular is it, but technically you could trade with your friends, family, and withing Doomlings fan base. 

But, of course, it is a double edged sword - if you want to get a specific card, it may difficult (or expensive). And if you are the kind of person, who wants to get what you paid for, then this is definitely not for you.

Collectors Dream or Nightmare

The Overlush expansion includes some mini collections, like "Mushrooms," "Tropical Trees," "Tropical Fruit" etc., so if you are a collector you can try to collect all of these critters from each category, and from the looks of it, there are many cards to be collected, if you wish to complete these collections. If that is good or not, is up to you decide. Also, the included holo-foil cards are a nice touch.

Overlush Box Value

The Overlush box does not introduce anything new to the main game. Of course, you'll receive 4 holo-foil cards and new cards that are illustrated in the same cute cartoon art style possessing new effects. But don't expect new mechanics, new elements, or different card types; it simply adds more of the same. So, the biggest value comes from the collecting aspect. 

Do I recommend the Doomlings Expansion Pack and Overlush Box

Thanks again to the Doomlings team for sending me the Expansion pack and the Overlush box. It was a blast testing and reviewing them! But for this review to be honest and useful for you - the reader, I will try to wrap this up by imagining that I paid for them in full, and with that in mind give you my final thoughts.

Do I Recommend Doomlings Upgrade Pack Expansion?

Doomlings Expansion Pack contains 5 separate expansions introducing a few new mechanics and a lot (81 in total) new cards you can add to the base game providing a fun experience. 

But the expansion pack costs the same as the base game, and does not introduce anything game-changing. So, if you are expecting the expansion to introduce significant changes to the core formula, then probably stick with the main game.

However, if you are already a fan of the base game and want more of it without the need for learning new complex rules - I can wholeheartedly recommend the expansion.

Do I Recommend the Doomlings Overlush Mystery Expansion (4-Pack)?

The Overlush Box is a tougher recommend, because it is relatively expensive, does not add anything new to the gameplay, and it is possible to receive duplicates (especially, if you buy more of these expansions).

However, if you love the base game and you consider yourself as a collector, then sure the mystery effect of the Overlush cards can be fun and exciting!

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