/pic1069095.jpg)
In Undermining, players dig for resources on an alien world, making the best of the actions available to them to achieve short term goals (such as obtaining particular resources) while upgrading their Universal Mining Vehicles—UMVees—and fulfilling contracts in the long term. To win, you need to earn more "star bucks" than anyone else, and you earn those by completing contracts, upgrading vehicles, finding alien technologies and having resources on hand at the end of the game.
Upgrading your UMVee also provides it with special abilities that can come in handy throughout the game.
Undermining is a highly interactive game, with player actions sometimes benefiting and sometimes impacting the future actions of others. Competition for resources is important, of course, but using open tunnel spaces to get where you need to go—and blocking those spaces from opponents—is also key. Players can still move through other UMVees, but doing so costs battery power, and managing your batteries—which allow extra actions—is another important aspect of playing well.
Undermining comes with a double-sided game board, with player interaction being significantly different from one side to the other. With a random layout of resources, UMVee upgrades, contract variability, and one-off special bonuses from the finding of alien technology, no two games of Undermining are ever the same.
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- a draw could be good if the battle was hard fought and deserved winning a close game is always the most satisfying and losing a close one is okay too but having multiple people win seems like a fake conclusion and everyone gets a participation ribbon kind of feel
- for me it's the journey I enjoy the most not necessarily winning don't get me wrong I love winning but games are about enjoying who I'm with not just the outcome
- board games are a social hobby I don't play deep strategy games or games that take three or four hours to finish where a clear Champion is really important
- tiebreakers are absolutely necessary for games just in the sole fact that it will change the way I play the game
- for me the tiebreakers need to make sense Within the play of the game
- games that include tie Breakers should have meaningful ways to break ties
- a tie is like kissing your sister there's just no thrill
- there needs to be a definitive tie breaker where I just barely barely squeak out a win and I I hold on to that Victory it tastes that much better
- the more possible points there are to score in a game the rarer it becomes that there will be a tie
- if you have a very short game and there's a tie well you can easily solve that problem by playing another game of it however if you're playing a lot longer game like an hour or even 2 hours or more more then you're investing so much time and so much energy in that game that I prefer there to be several tiebreakers at the end of that game
References (from this video)
- Engaging loop of mining, upgrading, and contract fulfillment
- Two-sided board and randomized layout for replayability
- Rulebook and summary cards provide clear setup and onboarding
- Strong thematic flavor and appealing artwork
- Player interaction through blocking portals and resources
- High component count can be fiddly for new players
- Alien tech cards can create power imbalances if not managed
- Endgame trigger (Starbucks pile depletion) may feel abrupt to some players
- Resource collection, upgrading machines, and racing to complete contracts before others run out of Starbucks resources
- Moon mining operation on a lunar surface with a futuristic tech twist
- procedural/techno-satirical
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Action Points — Three action points per turn, with additional action points granted by reactor upgrades.
- Alien tech cards — One-time-use powerful cards that can dramatically affect a turn and strategy.
- Cargo bay and smelter — Unload cargo from your bay to the smelter to process resources.
- Complete contracts — Complete contract cards to earn points and rewards; new contracts refill the deck.
- Contracts — Complete contract cards to earn points and rewards; new contracts refill the deck.
- Drill — Dig on adjacent spaces; the number of drills on your machine influences range.
- Drive — Move into two spaces plus one for each rocket booster mounted on your machine.
- Portal movement — Use an action point to move from one portal to another.
- Recharge battery — Spend an action to recharge one battery cube.
- Resource Management — Resource tokens serve as victory points; piles deplete to trigger endgame.
- Resource tokens (Starbucks) — Resource tokens serve as victory points; piles deplete to trigger endgame.
- Tile/Map Shifting — Spend resources to upgrade your digger, improving efficiency and capabilities.
- Upgrade tiles — Spend resources to upgrade your digger, improving efficiency and capabilities.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- the layout is always random and is open for custom Moon designs
- we're giving it eight Diamond filled stars out of 10
- the rule book explains everything you need to know to play the game