![]() Success often comes down to finding the right mix of offense and defense. Some players may be skilled enough to take this risk, but removing this curse may never happen on a run – depending on your luck. Replayability skyrockets because death brings with it the thought that just one more upgrade may turn the tide in your favor for the next run.įor example, you can get random drops of food that heal you, but this food can also poison you – a slow death. In this way, death feels like less of a full restart, and instead, it feels like a fresh start with newly crafted relics or upgrades that your previously found resources allow you to obtain. When you die in UnderMine, your disposable miner is replaced and you come back as a random new miner but with some of the resources maintained throughout the run. While you start fragile, it is possible with a high amount of skill to not feel crippled and phased-out of completing a floor because you may be a little under-leveled or lack upgrades. The mine is filled to the brim with enemies, but death allows you to take gold back up for new gear, and your “familiar” – a buddy character – can also take some of your resources back up to be used for upgrades. Death is not final in UnderMine as you are able to retain unlocks and some resources from your failed or successful runs. The risk-reward factor is high and each choice can have various consequences or lead to success.ĭeath comes from a large number of enemies and obstacles in the mine. Trial and error is really the only way to develop some skill in UnderMine and I never had a boring run. You also gain bombs, keys, blessings, and curses. These combos are fresh with each run, and once you have enough upgrades, the game can quickly become addicting.Įquipped with a pickaxe at the start you can feel fragile, but each floor in UnderMine has at least one relic or an item to buy with your hard-earned gold. ![]() But the opposite is also true with self-imposed Hexes from an unlockable vendor or minor & major Curses that you can get on every run.Ĭurses come in small and major forms that, for example, can give you no crit chance + less swing damage + less throw damage for an item that gives you a chance to block all damage one time at the start of each room. UnderMine has such wild combinations you can do, like becoming insanely rich with gold in a single run or feeling unstoppable with massive damage numbers with every swing of the pickaxe. This is intentional in the design of the game, and even with what may seem like an overpowered setup – you can quickly fail if you are not careful. The developers of UnderMine masterfully pulled this off. Fans of roguelikes often play these games to find these setups and the feeling it brings is an art that is rarely perfected. Some items and combinations of them make you feel like you are breaking the game. Just like in our world, working a mine today is a very dangerous job in UnderMine. Characters slowly unlock as you progress and meet the unlock conditions for many like the blacksmith that can craft some relics for a run. There is an interesting story to some characters which are revealed as you progress throughout the game. The art style is charming and familiar within the genre. You start in a Hub area where you can progress with Relics, better weapons, armor, and more. UnderMine centers around the playable and highly disposable Miner characters that Arkanus the Archmage sends under into the mine to find out the cause of earthquakes plaguing the area. Each playthrough builds off the last with a unique and thoroughly thought-out design that makes every single run feel fresh. ![]() If you enjoyed The Binding of Isaac, you will feel right at home here. This action-adventure roguelike with RPG elements has one of the best-designed game loops we have seen. The game is also available on Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, Linux, and Mac OS. UnderMine released on August 6th, 2020 after a successful run on Early Access from developer Thorium, and is available for $19.99 on Steam for Windows. Let’s take a deeper look at what makes this such a great game. I enjoy a nice grind and UnderMine has polish, humor, and a large number of items to boot that keep me coming back for more. It might simply be the fact that I am a sucker for a good roguelike, but the game loop in UnderMine is incredibly addicting. ![]() UnderMine is one such game and it is truly one of the best Indie games I have played this year. Every so often an absolute gem is released from Early Access. ![]()
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