Undermining Board Game

by Gary Sonnenberg

(Waukesha, WI)

Undermining Board Game
Board game manufacturer:
Z-Man Games
Number of players:
2-5
Ages:
8yrs+
Time:
45 mins

Quick verdict

Undermining is a quick, light, family-friendly game of futuristic mining that has greater depth than you may see initially.

The game and gameplay

In Undermining, you are competing to fulfill various contracts by mining particular goods specified by the contracts. Each turn, you have 3 action points that you may spend as you choose. You may use them to drill, drive, use a portal, unload, purchase upgrades, fulfill contracts, or charge batteries.

The upgrades allow you to drill more spaces, drive more spaces, hold more cargo, and take more actions. Upgrades are also worth points at the end of the game. Finally, there are alien technology resources. When these resources are unloaded, you draw an alien tech card that you may use at any time. These tech cards are very powerful and can help give you a leg up on the competition.

As contracts are fulfilled, they are replaced by more contracts that are worth fewer points. As soon as one column of contracts is empty, the game ends.

At first glance, it may seem like you should quickly fulfill the early contracts that are worth the greatest amount of points. However, if one player focuses on contracts while another focuses on upgrades, the player with the upgrades will be able to collect additional resources more quickly (because they have additional cargo holds, or more actions per turn, etc.) and can easily pass up the player who went for the early contracts but has no upgrades.

The game is a careful balance of taking opportunities as they present themselves and watching your opponents and making your choices based on their actions.

Pros and cons

Undermining board game has a quick playtime and is easy to learn. It’s family-friendly, has great components and wonderful artwork.

It’s perhaps too light for some. There is a tedious setup process, and rulebook is poorly written.

See more strategic board games

The verdict

Undermining is deeper than it initially seems. Based on the quick playtime and cartoonish artwork, it may appear to be nothing more than a filler game. However, repeated plays show the importance of being opportunistic and watching your opponents’ actions. It rewards both tactics and strategy. I recommend it to gamers of all experience levels.

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