In Doom Pile, decks are not shuffled at the start of the game. Instead, you can and must “stack” your deck, putting the cards in any order you choose before gameplay begins. While this removes some – but not all – elements of luck, what remains is engaging strategy as you aim to unfold your deck’s win condition while disrupting your opponents,’ and overcoming disruptions yourself!

Additionally, Doom Pile’s major resource is time. Rather than requiring the use of resources accumulated over multiple turns, each card you play will require several turns to pass before resolving, giving your opponents time to react and either enact counter-plans of their own, or outright prevent you from succeeding. It all depends on whether they planned ahead to do so. You can either slowly build up a complex machination a few cards at a time, or begin the countdown towards a single explosive turn all at once.