WBG Score: 7
Player Count: 2-6
You’ll like this if you like: Rescuing Robin Hood
Published by: Devilfly Games
Designed by: Nick Barker, Chris Fisher
This is a free review copy. See our review policy here
Undermined! Pairadice City debuted on Kickstarter in late 2023. It marks Devilfly's inaugural game and sets players against each other in an interesting blend of semi-cooperation and competition, within a racing scenario where the goal is to reach a predetermined points total first. Participants can assist one another each round in return for mutually agreed-upon benefits, deploy cards that may either hinder or aid fellow players, but all while pursuing their individual interests. Intrigued? I certainly was. Let's get it to the table and see how it plays.
How to Set Up Undermined! Pairadice City
First, shuffle all the separate decks of cards and place them out in front of you. From the shop deck, lay out the top five cards face up into a line. Each player then takes the starting cards shown with the gold boxed text at the bottom, two event cards and two coins each. Keep the event cards in your hand and your other cards face up in front of you. Place the dice and coins into a general supply along with the handy player aid. You are now ready to play.
How to Play Undermined! Pairadice City
Players will now take turns running through the four main steps of each turn until a player reaches the agreed-upon points target. The starting total is 12 points, but there are variants to play to 15 or 18 depending on how long you want to play.
The first step is simple. Players draw an event card and two coins. At this point, if you want to, you can exchange two event cards in your hand for one from the top of the deck.
The second step sees players visit the shop. Here, players can exchange coins for any one of the five face-up items, adding it to their hand. There is a limit of four items, but some cards allow you to increase this. If players do not have enough money at this point, they can sell treasures for their face value, but at the start of the game, you won't have any treasures to sell. And of course, treasures are worth points, so this is a key part of the game. Deciding if you want to rush to the total or try to build up your engine so that you may take one step back now but will be able to take two giant steps forward later.
The next step is the preparation phase. Here, players can pay two coins to move the top Rock card to the bottom of the deck if it has too high a value. They will then choose one tool to use to try and mine the top Rock card this turn. And then finally, ask for help from the other players if they are not using an explosive this round. If anyone agrees to help, they roll one die to add to your total for this round. Help can be offered for free or in exchange for cards, money, or whatever you want. It's a negotiation. It's up to the players if they want to do this, and of course, honour whatever promises they make at this point!
Play then moves to the final stage, the Mining phase. Here players roll two dice, add whatever they get from other players' dice who are helping, and then whatever bonus they have from the tool they chose that round, and any other cards they may be able to use. If the total combined number is equal to or greater than the number on the top Rock card, that player will then flip that card and gain the benefit on the back. Money or the chance to dip into the Treasure and Peril deck. If it is a Treasure card, simply add this to your face-up cards. This will not count towards your hand limit. But it will count towards your point total or can be sold in a later shopping round. If it is a Peril card, you must immediately carry out whatever it says, and if any other player helped and rolled a one, they sadly have to face this Peril too.
Event cards can be played throughout all this based on what the card says, and play continues like this until someone reaches the agreed points total.
Is It Fun? Undermined! Pairadice City
This game offers an interesting mix of competitive card play and cooperation. I found that in most games I played, two or three players would join forces while one player would go rogue. Either because they refuse to help or because they attack others first, causing a rift in the group!
This can cause some arguments and frustrations with younger player, who generally do not cope as well with take-that and double crossing. But works well with more experienced or less sensitive players!
The game comes with a second Rock deck with a higher value on the top. This makes achieving the target harder, encouraging more collaboration, and pushing players to work harder to build their arsenal of Tools and Items; perhaps selling Treasures early on to develop this, rather than just push for the points goal. I would encourage adding these in from game one.
The game is kept fresh with the varied Tools, Items and Event cards, which bring about some very interesting and fun options. However, as some Events are good for all, others bad for all, and the rest just affect one player, there can be some frustrations here too with the luck of the draw. This also applies to players who draw Treasures and Perils instead of gaining money when successfully mining a Rock card. You could theoretically go through an entire game and play just as well as another player and score no points as you just get Peril cards all the time.
Now you can buy items to negate the effects of the perils, but you still won't get any points! And your money supply will dwindle quickly without any treasures to sell. This is obviously pretty unlikely, but I have had a few games where one player felt like this was happening to them. It feels like there should be a little more control here.
The Big Magnet Item card helps a little here. Allowing you to draw two cards and choose one from it. But it is costly, only has two uses, and is the only card in the deck that really helps with this sort of thing. There are more than one though! But the Tool and Item cards are a real highlight, and I am exited each Shopping round when I get the chance to add one to my collection. The four card limit is a little frustrating, but can be negated with a few cards, and only being able to shop once per turn also holds you back a little. But there are some Event cards which bring more opportunities to the table, although for all players, so you will help the other players too. But sometimes, it is good to be nice! And shopping is always fun, right!
But my biggest issue with the game is with the Rock mining itself. When you use Explosives, you can smash your way through more than one Rock card if you score high enough. Generally two cards, but sometimes three if you are lucky. This feels great. But happens quite rarely as there are only so many Explosive cards in the game that you can get. As such, I am unsure why you cannot just go through as many cards as you can each time, no matter how you are mining. It just feels more fun this way? It wouldn't happen often, but still, I think the chance should be there. I want this game to offer me the chance to combo through a few Rocks Blow a few up each turn. Gain a little momentum. Have some fun.
But with all that said, when I play this game, I do have fun. There is a very interesting game here. The theme feels unique and is well implemented into the game. The cards are varied and offer a different game experience each time you play. The mix between working together and against each other appeals to my devious nature, and I find the balance of keeping others onside while secretly plotting against them to be a lot of fun. Although, there is perhaps a little too much "take-that" in the game for my liking. Although this is just personal taste.
I also think there could be a little more variety with the Rock cards. They offer either money or Treasure/Peril cards. It feels some thought here could have brought a little more excitement to the game. And the rewards, as well as being a little stale, could be a little more. A little bigger.
But again, I must stress, when I play, I do have fun. And the more I played, the more fun I had. This is a real builder of a game. As you learn new ways to play and try new strategies, the game open ups a little and you feel a little more in control. But then, you can still be slapped in the face by the game every now and then, that is part of it. And I suppose, thematic to the old Wild West. But if this game every got an expansion to fix some of the issues around variety and a lack of control, I would be very interested in seeing that.