History TabletopGame / Gloom

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. Each player assumes control of the fate of an eccentric, Victorian family of misfits and misanthropes, whose world-weary, thin-lined faces are caricatured from the works of Charles Dickens, Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley, and Edward Gorey. Each seeks to magnify the tribulations of the members of their own ailing household and ultimately lead them to the [[PeacefulInDeath well-deserved respite of an untimely death]], while [[HappilyEverAfter assuaging the sorrows of their deserving opponents]]. Storytelling is encouraged!

* MonsterClown: Mr. Giggles ''always'' has a smile for the children.

** Chopper Johnson, [[AnAxeToGrind Hatchetman]]

''[[http://www.atlas-games.com/gloom/index.php Gloom]]'' is a [[BlackComedy darkly comic]] card game by Keith Baker for two to four players (increased to seven with the expansion packs).

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''[[http://www.atlas-games.com/gloom/index.php Gloom]]'' is a darkly comic card game by Keith Baker for two to four players (increased to seven with the expansion packs).

* AffectionateParody - Of Victorian literature, especially GothicHorror, and ''especially'' Creator/CharlesDickens.
* AristocratsAreEvil - Lord Wellington-Smythe is oblivious to what goes on under his roof, and Cousin Mordecai is ill-treated by the rest of his family. The rest of Castle Slogar, Hemlock Hall, and Blackwater Watch ''all'' count.
* ArrangedMarriage - Professor Helena Slogar intends her daughter Melissa to be wedded to Grogar... never mind that Melissa is [[CameBackWrong barely undead]] and Grogar is [[CreatingLife home-made]]. They'll be certain to get along splendidly, since Grogar is partially Melissa's ''teddy bear''.

* BigScrewedUpFamily - ''Four of them'', and more in expansions.
* BlackComedy - What can you expect when the goal is to give your own family the harshest backstory?
* BrainInAJar - Lord Slogar has a rather sedentary life these days.
* BreakTheCutie - Life is not fair to poor Cousin Mordecai.
* TheButlerDidIt - Butterfield, head servant at Hemlock Hall. Whatever it was, ''he'' did it.
* CharacterDeath - These can happen in the game.
* CrapsackWorld - Given that the name of the game is "Gloom" and the ''point'' of the game is to make tragedies happen to your own character's family, you're actually ''making'' it a crapsack world! ...For yourself, at least...
* CreepyTwins - The Wellington-Smythe twins, the most adorable little sadists you'll ever meet.

* DarkAndTroubledPast - The path to victory.

* DemonicPossession - Apparently the reason the [[CreepyTwins Wellington-Smythe twins]] are so evil.
* DeathByDespair - ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Died of Despair.]]''

* EvilMatriarch - The Old Dam, naturally.
* ExpansionPack - ''Unhappy Homes'', ''Unwelcome Guests'', and ''Unfortunate Expeditions''. Each adds an additional family.

* FemmeFatale - Angel Blackwater.
* HappilyEverAfter - A welcome fate for ''other'' families.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter - Lord Wellington-Smythe, considering his staff.
* IncompetenceInc - Dark's Den of Deformity isn't as terrifying as it is simply ill-maintained. Its financial straits are continually dire, mainly because Mr. Dark is tragically terrible at selecting and marketing his performers. He has a bearded man, a woman too shy to show off her supposed magnificent tattoos, an abhorrent clown, and a woman only a few inches tall ... whom Darius Dark advertises as an opera singer.

* LowLevelAdvantage - Characters do not give you points until they have passed beyond the mortal coil, at which point they are past the other families' best efforts to cheer them, but they also have no more lots left in life for you to worsen. In general, the better a player is doing, the harder it is to improve further.
* MadScientist - Professor Helena Slogar prefers the title 'Eccentric Inventor'.
* MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter - Melissa Slogar ''would'' have been, had she not been prevented from growing up...
* MonsterClown - Mr. Giggles ''always'' has a smile for the children.
* PeacefulInDeath - A possible means of death that you can inflict is "Died Without a Care". This is a ''harmful'' kind of death, though, since their point bonuses will be erased this way.
* PokeThePoodle - It is evidently quite traumatising for a character to be ''Pursued by Poodles''.
* PoisonMushroom - Some cards that can be used on characters offer massive miseries but have debilitating side effects like erasing the rest of your hand and keeping you from getting new cards for a turn or two. Since the card can be used on any character, you'll have to weigh between reaping the massive points in exchange for the terrible modifier, or force these modifiers onto their opponents and work around their massive points.

* ScoringPoints - Points are ''negative''. You want as many negative points as possible, and a character who has positive Self-Worth can't die.
* SpinOff - TabletopGame/CthulhuGloom, which applies the gameplay style to the Franchise/CthulhuMythos. It's compatible with the original but not otherwise related. There's also a crossover with ''TabletopGame/{{Munchkin}}''.

* UnwantedAssistance - Keith Baker's inspiration was to create a game he could play with his wife Ellen - most card games are based on the principle of [[PlayerVersusPlayer kicking your opponents around the block until you're the last one standing]], and Ellen was too nice to hurt a friend that way. Solution: A game where you win by helping your opponents' character and traumatise your own, faster than they can do the reverse!

%% * LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters

* PeacefulInDeath - A possible means of death that you can inflict. This is a ''harmful'' kind of death, though, since their point bonuses will be erased this way.

* PeacefulInDeath - The object of the game.

%% * SanitySlippage: Characters can go through this if they "Went Mildly Mad".

[[http://www.atlas-games.com/gloom/index.php Gloom]] is a darkly comic card game by Keith Baker for two to four players (increased to seven with the expansion packs).

[[JustForFun/IThoughtThatWas Has nothing to do]] with the [[VideoGame/{{Gloom}} 2017 video game]] of the same name.

* YourCheatingHeart - After his wife's (naturally, tragic) death, Lord Wellington-Smythe dotes extensively over their young twins... oblivious to the suspicious lack of family resemblance.

* SanitySlippage: Characters can go through this if they "Went Mildly Mad".

%% * DeathByDespair* DysfunctionJunction

** And most recently, FairyTale Gloom.

%% * And recently, FairyTale Gloom.

* AffectionateParody - Of Victorian literature, especially GothicHorror, and ''especially'' CharlesDickens.

* '''Dark's Den of Deformity''', which presents beneath the [[CircusOfFear circus tent]].

* SpinOff - TabletopGame/CthulhuGloom, which applies the gameplay style to the CthulhuMythos. It's compatible with the original but not otherwise related. There's also a crossover with ''TabletopGame/{{Munchkin}}''.

* BlackComedy

* CharacterDeath
* CrapsackWorld

* ColourCodedArmies

* DeathAsComedy

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters

* ThisIndexHasHadAHardLife

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. Each player assumes control of the fate of an eccentric, Victorian family of misfits and misanthropes, whose world-weary, thin-lined faces are caricatured from the pages of Charles Dickens, Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker, and Mary Shelley. Each seeks to magnify the tribulations of the members of their own ailing household and ultimately lead them to the [[PeacefulInDeath well-deserved respite of an untimely death]], while [[HappilyEverAfter assuaging the sorrows of their deserving opponents]]. Storytelling is encouraged!