Undermining

Board Game Geek Reviews

1. 6.5 out of 10

   duckweed

   Great theme, nice components, solid if uninspired gameplay. The rule book is inadequate to explain several of the key gameplay aspects and we found this frustrating for such a simple little game. Luckily, the player aid card and official FAQ posted here on BGG are excellent and answered all of our questions. I must admit I question a few of the design elements - like spending the majority of your actions simply moving to and from the refinery ad infinitum. Also, there's the layer of solid rock just below the surface. It's such a deterent in most games that I'm not sure what the point was, especially given all the portals on the board. Did we need star bucks (victory dollars) associated with the upgrades? Shouldn't buying the upgrades in lieu of contracting be reward enough? Finally, what's with the extra bays on UMV cards? Why not simply have the bays start blocked, as with the upper (upgrade) spaces on the UMV cards - the ones which are only removed and available in a 5 player game. Instead, you start with the bays blocked, then once you upgrade to extra bays you get... more blocked bay tiles. Huh? What am I missing? The minerals themselves are never named or explained in the rules, leaving players guessing as to which one is "X-ium" etc. Sure, you'll eventually figure that one out based on the artwork, but it would still be nice to have a reference. Ditto for the upgrades. The extra bay upgrade, for example, is not explained in the rules. Despite some odd design elements and numerous flaws with the rule book itself, the game is decent for such a quick contest, and the multiple paths to victory give it some depth and replayability. There is no way to stop a runaway leader, but with a game so short I'm not sure it really matters. And that's one of the game's saving graces - it's so short that many of its would-be faults can be written off by simply trying a new approach in a new playing.

2. 6 out of 10

   Born-of-Ashes

   This was better than I was expecting from the reviews. It was also a lot shorter (turns) than I was expecting, but I also suspect that may have had to do with a certain AP player convincing everyone else to just rush the endgame ASAP. It is a little too random in the way contracts come out that you basically hand points to the next player, but I do like how you can camp on a portal to block it for a round. I also like how tight the game is, it really is an efficiency race.

3. 6 out of 10

   djnesq

   You can exchange the resources that you have mined either for victory points (star bucks) or for enhanced actions. However, because the victory points diminish with each exchange, it almost always makes since to go for the VPs first. That is, the choice seems more theoretical than real, at least early in the game. Unusual and nicely implemented theme, though.