DogMatic: Holy War

Champion your Ultimate Faith. DogMatic: Holy War is a map-claiming and engine-building game about cults.

The continent is vast, but not vast enough for all of them. In DogMatic, each player takes on the role of a cult leader vying for control of regions big and small, racing against heretic cults—other players—for the capital at the map's center. Once any cult has taken the capital, the game ends, and the player with the most points wins.

Cult leaders aren't alone. Players will recruit followers that can move around the map and claim regions, adding them to the cult's territory. The bigger your territory, the more actions you get each turn, and the more points you score at the end of the game. Followers can also reap the land for other resources, including more followers.

Build your dogma. Players also earn Blessings on their mission to grow their territory. They can spend these Blessings to play Doctrine cards, which generate a string of commands that offer a slow buildup of resources. These can range from recruiting more followers into your fold, drawing cards, exceeding the maximum of five cards in your Doctrine chain, and even forcing heathens to sacrifice their own followers. The supremacy of your faith depends on the strength of your Doctrine.

Conquest is your destiny. Each region on the map has a claim value. Once a player moves a number of followers onto a region equal to or greater than its claim value, they claim it, adding it to their territory. The game ends when any one player has claimed all of the capital spaces at the center of the map. Players then tally the sum of all claim values among the territories they have claimed. Whoever has the highest number wins.

Contest with the Heretics. You're not alone in your mission. Other cults won't hesitate to steal the land that's rightfully yours. Will you overwhelm them with sheer numbers, or build a Doctrine that can't be stopped? The choice is yours.

Print & Play Guide

Download the Rules Document and print it out double-sided, then staple it together to form the rulebook.

Download and open the Print & Play Demo Zip file. Open the Document and print it out single-sided. Cut out each component (Cult Leader cards, Doctrine cards, Follower Tokens, Claim Tokens, etc.) and organize them into matching groups. For Cult Leader cards, use adhesive or card sleeves to keep the card backs on.