There are artifacts and equipment “recipes” to discover, new weapons to acquire and master, a wide variety of monsters to fight, and some fun bosses to go up against. The game also keeps things interesting by giving you plenty of tasks to accomplish and items to find inside the lively pixel art mines. In other words, you’re not stuck exploring areas that are below your level when a new miner begins his shift. I was impressed by the overall flow of the game, as it realizes where you’re at with your skills and equipment and seems to adjust itself accordingly. Undermine utilizes all of this to create quick, fun runs through the mine. Do you spend the gold down there to push a bit further, or do you save the money and just die more quickly in an attempt to retain as much as you can? This becomes a bit of a juggling act, as there are some monster merchants in the mines who will sell you various items to prolong your work day. Thankfully, the amount that can be retained is also upgradable. The canary carries your loot back to the surface, but she can’t take all of it. You also lose a good portion of your collection when you die. You do get some help from a friendly canary, but you can expect a lot of treasure to disappear into the dark corners of the mine. You have to gather it quickly, however, as monsters will appear and try to pilfer it. Gold is collected by hitting the appropriate rocks with your pickaxe, causing it to scatter across the screen. The gold you’ve acquired can then be used to buy these enhanced items. As you rescue other workers, they’ll set up shop back above ground. Of course, upgrades become available for the pickaxe and the other items you acquire along the way (boots, gloves, bombs, and more). Your only tool/weapon is your pickaxe which can be used to mine for gold and attack the myriad monsters that serve as job hazards. And if that isn’t a metaphor for modern corporate America, I don’t know what is. You’re simply expected to accomplish enough to make it easier for the next (we’ll assume non-union) employee who gets stuck with the job. The situation is so bad that there isn’t even a way out of the mine once you enter, you’re down there until you die. The employee turnover of this mine is so ridiculous that the wizardly foreman can’t even tell when he’s talking to a new miner.īut that’s the circle of Undermine, a very entertaining roguelite from Thorium Entertainment.
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