UnderMine

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.

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.

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.

Overall, I quite enjoyed my time with UnderMine. It takes a fair amount of time to beat the game, at least 20-40 hours. That’s highly dependent on your skill level, of course. There is also a hidden mode to unlock, called OtherMine. To overcome it, you’ll have to push forward without the benefit of permanent progression upgrades like you’ve had in the main campaign. Naturally, this means you’ll have to make do with the random items you find along the way. UnderMine is available on the Nintendo Switch eShop for $19.99. You can also find it on Steam and Xbox. Do you have what it takes to conquer the mines, and the OtherMine?

Roguelike game with good mix of gameplay elements, but with a lot of grinding and dying.

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.

With a slew of dungeon-diving roguelikes on the Switch already, is this pickaxe-wielding title yet another gold mine of addictive gameplay or not?

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.

For some people, that’s not going to be enough, just because… well, as mentioned, this is not an underserved genre at this point. It’s not hard to find a variety of roguelikes out there, and I’m sure there are people who will take a look at what the game has on offer and determine that they hardly need another one in their library. But if you like this genre? Well, you’re in for a solid treat, because it does what it’s trying to do well. What more could you ask for from a game?

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.