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Lead your tribe to glory on the island of Dokmus and become a legend!
Dokmus is a board game for 2-4 players. Your goal is to lead an expedition to the island of Dokmus, the ancestral god of your tribe. The island is represented by eight double-sided map pieces. During set-up, you randomize which side of each map piece is up and place them in a 3x3 grid so that the middle place is left empty.
The island is guarded by five Guardians, which are represented by Guardian cards. On each turn, players draft the Guardian cards so that each player gets the help of one Guardian. The Guardian cards decide turn order and they also give you special powers. With them, you can move and rotate, move your tokens, or gain first player marker for next turn.
On your turn, you have three tokens to use. You use tokens to spread your influence by placing them on the board. You can also sacrifice tokens to be able to cross waters or enter forests. Or you can just sacrifice them in a volcano. At the end of the game, you get victory points for discovered temples and ruins on the map as well as sacrificed tokens.
The layout of the islands changes constantly based on player actions, making Dokmus a dynamic, fast-paced game. So choose your Guardian, make the right sacrifices, and gain the favor of Dokmus!
- Rules-light and accessible to board game players transitioning to skirmish games
- Strong narrative focus with rich scenario generation
- Flexible use of existing miniatures and terrain
- Compact play area suitability; supports small-table setups
- Dynamic, table-driven tension via Nexuses and shock effects
- Clear pathway to build and scale a War Band with simple tracking
- May feel too light for players seeking crunchier mechanics
- Relies on minis/terrain or extensive kit-bashing discussions to realize the feel
- Complexity can grow with Dooms and random events; potential overwhelm for newcomers
- Hunting unique Horrors within a ruined world; Dooms as random narrative drivers shaping scenarios and tension
- Bleak sci-fi apocalyptic world; monster-hunting in a mash-up setting that blends medieval, futuristic, and Gamma World vibes
- Narrative skirmish with emphasis on story, atmosphere, and dice-driven outcomes rather than heavy bookkeeping
- Five Leagues from the Borderlands
- Forbidden SSM
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Action economy with limited modifiers — Movement and actions trigger tests; only minor modifiers (plus/minus one) affect the target number.
- Casualty and recruitment flow — Casualties trigger a casualty check; replacements can be hired between missions to maintain your War Band.
- Doomb-driven random scenario generation — Two-chart randomization (Horror and Conflict) using a D66 approach to generate scenarios with Nexuses and unique twists.
- Measurement Movement — Move by declaring a target; a successful or blocked result is determined by a D6 roll relative to Quality, avoiding continuous measuring.
- Movement without measuring — Move by declaring a target; a successful or blocked result is determined by a D6 roll relative to Quality, avoiding continuous measuring.
- Nexuses and special abilities — Horrors have Nexuses powering special abilities; destroying Nexuses alters the Horror’s capabilities as the battle progresses.
- No-hit-points damage and shock table — Damage is binary (damaged or not); every damage event triggers a 2d6 shock check to determine narrative consequences.
- Quality-based dice resolution — Each model has a single stat called Quality; actions require a roll equal to or higher than that Quality.
- Renown-based warband construction — Spend Renown points to recruit followers and leaders; different units have varying costs and innate gear/skills.
- Weapon stats with range and attack dice — Weapons specify range and how many attack dice to roll; hits are resolved against the target's Quality.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- this game is so simple to learn that you can start playing quickly
- the narrative focus is the heart of the game, not tracking lists