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My shiraz and vodka shot-fuelled nemesis, about to draw the cards to deliver the coup de grace
Gloom
A clear frame turns a mediocre game into an awesome display piece.
Hand-made Gloom playing mat
Gloom
My "Gloom Cube" - Base game and both expansions
Game storage bag I made for BGG user Wyckyd; embroidered red silk outer, lined in black sateen.  Holds game plus all expansions nicely.
Basement Cat's favorite game? Gloom of course.
Inside Wyckyd's Gloom game bag: appropriately embroidered on the bottom too!
Gloom

Gloom (2005)

Players
2–5
Best: 4
Playing time
60–60 min
Age
13+
6.33
Average rating
16,586
Ratings
1.63/5
Weight
#2503
BGG rank
Top 5,000
Alternate names:晦暗世界
Designer:Keith Baker
Artist:Michelle Nephew, Todd Remick, J. Scott Reeves
Publisher:Atlas Games +5 more
Average rating, ratings count, weight and rank are sourced from BoardGameGeek (BGG).
Game DNA
  • This game: Strategy 5, Luck 5, Interaction 7, Complexity 3.3, Theme 7
Strategy5.0
Luck5.0
Interaction7.0
Complexity3.3
Theme7.0

This game's strategy, luck, interaction, complexity and theme.

Card GameHorrorHumorStorytellingHand ManagementTake ThatLose a TurnLayering

Overview

The world of Gloom is a sad and benighted place. The sky is gray, the tea is cold, and a new tragedy lies around every corner. Debt, disease, heartache, and packs of rabid flesh-eating mice—just when it seems like things can't get any worse, they do. But some say that one's reward in the afterlife is based on the misery endured in life. If so, there may yet be hope—if not in this world, then in the peace that lies beyond.

In the Gloom card game, you assume control of the fate of an eccentric family of misfits and misanthropes. The goal of the game is sad, but simple: you want your characters to suffer the greatest tragedies possible before passing on to the well-deserved respite of death. You'll play horrible mishaps like Pursued by Poodles or Mocked by Midgets on your own characters to lower their Self-Worth scores, while trying to cheer your opponents' characters with marriages and other happy occasions that pile on positive points. The player with the lowest total Family Value wins.

Printed on transparent plastic cards, Gloom features an innovative design by noted RPG author Keith Baker. Multiple modifier cards can be played on top of the same character card; since the cards are transparent, elements from previously played modifier cards either show through or are obscured by those played above them. You'll immediately and easily know the worth of every character, no matter how many modifiers they have. You've got to see (through) this game to believe it!

Expansions

Gloom: Unhappy Homes
Gloom: Unwelcome Guests
Gloom: Unfortunate Expeditions
Munchkin Duck of Gloom
Gloom: TableTop Promo Expansion
Gloom: Unquiet Dead
Gloom: The Looking Glass Promo Card
Gloom: Bookmark of Death
Gloom: Went Dark in the Night Promo Card
Gloom: Shot by a Scorpion Promo Card
Gloom: Coffee Cup Out of Time Promo Card
Gloom: Game of Trades Promo Card
Gloom: Knighted by a Noble Promo
The Gloom Chronicles
Gloom: Got the Pox at Pax
Gloom: Christmas Creep Story Promo Card
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