You can't choose your family. How awful. At least you can torment them until they die. In Gloom, that's how you win!

Gloom is a game about making your family members as miserable as possible before they die, while lifting their opponents' spirits. When your family members are serial killers, crazed circus folk, and demonically possessed sociopaths, misery comes easy.

Gloom is full of ridiculous yet tragic circumstances. Exactly how did Lord Slogar, the brain in a box, end up Shunned by Society and Devoured by Weasels? Players are encouraged to narrate their tragic family histories, although the use of live weasels is strongly discouraged.

A Sad State of Affairs: Gameplay Basics

In Gloom, each player places Modifier cards on their family members to make them sad and benighted, and on other players' cards to make them horribly joyful. Untimely demises lock in points for good or ill.

The award-winning gameplay uses unique transparent cards that stack atop each other to hide and reveal the Self-Worth scores from the cards below. The easy scoring and evocative, gloomy art are guaranteed to make players tragically happy.

The game ends when one entire family has shuffled off this mortal coil. The winner is the player whose deceased family members were more miserable in life.