UnderMine Reviews
UnderMine is a ridiculously easy game to recommend. If you are at all a fan of roguelite games, you owe it to yourself to pick this up at your earliest convenience. UnderMine demonstrates clear mastery in its overall design, controls, upgrade systems and presentation, which all come together to make for a thoroughly engrossing experience. The one caveat is that those of you who are sick of roguelites won't find anything to change your mind here; if you fall in that camp, it's perhaps best to take a pass, even if you're essentially missing out on one of the best examples of the whole genre. Otherwise, we'd give UnderMine a high recommendation; this is absolutely worth your time.
If you are looking for a new challenging game to take on with a unique take on a tried and true genre, UnderMine is absolutely a must-play. Especially as a day-one Xbox Game Pass release, there is simply no reason not to go spelunking in this well-crafted, deep, and challenging game. With its unique take on roguelike combat mechanics and an array of resources and stats to balance and manage, UnderMine is a great place to start for newcomers to the genre and players looking for a serious challenge alike.
So overall, Thorium’s Undermine is a fantastic Roguelike on both the PC where it has released from Early Access and on the XB1 where players are now playing for the first time. Top down and only designed to keep being entertaining hours down the line as you push further and further into the mine, here is a Roguelike that is both accessible to players new to the style and to long time veterans looking for a new challenge. Check back next week for some Let’s Plays as we were wonderfully treated to both an XB1 and a PC code to cover Undermine!
For anyone who's a fan of Rogue-like indie dungeon crawlers with a hint of RPG elements in them, I heartily recommend UnderMine. Even for gamers who don't like indie titles, like myself, it's totally worth playing. I'm pleasantly surprised by how much fun I've had improving my runs until I finally managed to beat the first boss without too much trouble. After every time I died, I couldn't wait to continue digging and see how far I could get this time. However, I missed the opportunity to apply my own playing style a little more. This is mainly due to the randomness of the Relics, but I would also have liked to see some more RPG options regarding upgrading your character. UnderMine is a great game that I will definitely launch more often.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
As far as roguelike dungeon crawlers go, UnderMine is firm but fair. There’s no need to go into this game bracing yourself for a barrage of beatdowns like you would with others of its ilk, but you’re also not going to get very far if you think that a slower approach to the roguelike experience means an objectively easier one. I know that my tastes are not representative of everyone else’s. However, I’d still like to confidently state that UnderMine is a must-play for anyone who fancies themselves a roguelike fan.
Undermine is an excellent and challenging rogue-like that fans of the genre will enjoy. While it is more approachable than some of its counterparts, it still demands time and effort from the player and may not be for everyone. The 16-bit aesthetic may be alluring to novices of the genre, but be aware that the game is deep and challenging and depends on the player’s commitment in order to achieve maximum enjoyment.
All in all, Undermine is a lot of fun and it lived up to the hype I had for it. While there are small issues, I never felt my overall enjoyment was tainted in any way. I would love there to be a physical release and I want DLC.
There isn’t much more that needs to be said about Thorium’s UnderMine. I don’t care if you’re a fan of roguelikes or if you hate them – this is one of the easiest recommendations I’ve made. There’s a ton here to keep you busy, and the subject matter and setting seamlessly lend themselves to DLC. Given the response UnderMine has received so far, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear of more content coming along sooner than later. Now, excuse me, I’ve gotta get back to work.
UnderMine offers a rogue-like experience that’s both entertaining and addictive, with each run through the titular dungeon making for an exciting (and dangerous) romp. There’s a satisfying sense of progress to be found with the collection of gold and improving your character between runs, whilst the solid level design ensures there’s always something new to overcome or discover during each run. It can be a little bit guilty of lacking originality in places and it didn’t do anything I hadn’t seen done in the genre before, but its great sense of exploration and competent design across the board ensures that UnderMine stands out as a must-play rogue-like.
The secrets and characters you encounter truly give every attempt a unique feeling, and once you make it through the Undermine's five areas and bosses, you unlock the Othermine, which is a true roguelike without the base game's progression mechanics. There are dozens of hours to be spent with UnderMine, and many more if you want to complete the 96 in-game achievements and find every partner familiar, item, and potion. Without question, Thorium Entertainment has struck gold with UnderMine, and it's a worthy addition to the Switch's stable of rogue-ish titles.
Undermine is, unlike many of his contemporaries, a memorable and respectable roguelike. The title masterfully reproduces several classic elements of the genre and brings its own spirit to a formula that is somewhat beaten. Enthusiasts of roguelikes, dungeon crawlers and very challenging games full of content will love to venture into this dangerous gold mine full of personality. Unfortunately, Switch owners, again, have to accept a not-so-optimized experience, but at least it doesn't get in the way that much.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
As a connoisseur of roguelike titles of all stripes Undermine had me excited at first glance...
Overall Undermine is a really good roguelike with a lot of well implemented mechanics. Is it breaking any molds? Not really, but the implementation was well done. The environments are large enough that you don't feel guided, but stages are small enough that you don't start getting frustrated being in the same location. There are plenty of randomized power boosts, and the upgrade system is pretty fair about when you need upgrades vs. How much they cost. While my luck may have screwed me over, there wasn't a design choice that did. I was really pleased with Undermine as a roguelike, and with the shorter nature of the stages, it lends itself really well to the Switch and its portable nature.
A well designed, entertaining, and black humoured roguelite that does a great job of balancing long-term progress with the need to extend individual runs.
UnderMine may look like a Super Nintendo game, but it takes some of the best (and sometimes frustrating) elements of games like Binding of Isaac and Enter the Gungeon and brings it altogether to create an addicting journey.
It isn't perfect; using the floaty jump as a dodge can sometimes land you in even more trouble, aiming your throwable pickaxe is imprecise, and some rooms just feel unfair. We also noticed some odd visual hitches, although these can be smoothed out by enabling vsync in the settings. All that said, if you enjoy a rogue-lite, particularly those with meaningful upgrades, UnderMine is well worth delving into.
Enjoying UnderMine hinges on what you find important in a roguelike. There are tons of items to unlock, deeper mechanics like some items fuse for different or better perks, there are a lot of secrets and it's all set up so skill means more than luck. It just doesn't have that sensation that this is going to be a good or bad run that makes similar titles exciting. Instead, UnderMine has a distinct set of rules, and players are expected to see just how far their skill can take them. It's fun, especially as a fan of the genre, though it absolutely isn't for everyone.
Undermine is a clever rogue-lite with plenty of pixel art charm. The gameplay and design elements come together to create a fun, addictive experience that'll appeal to action arcade gamers and RPG fans alike.
UnderMine smashes, blasts, and hurls its way onto the PlayStation scene, bringing with it a nearly endless dungeon crawling, roguelite adventure. So grab your trusty pickaxe, stuff as many bombs as you can fit into your pockets, and get ready to assume the role of a countless series of generic peasants who will soon meet their untimely demise. There is a surprising amount of fun to be had dying over and over in this UnderMine PS4 review.
UnderMine on Switch is a strong, quirky roguelike full of personality that strikes a healthy balance between challenge and accessibility.