Undermine Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• What Is Undermine
• Goal
• Components
  • Cards
  • Tokens
  • Component Guide
• Setup
  • 2 Player Game Setup
• Gameplay
• Round Structure
  • Player Turns
  • Collection Phase
• Investment Cards
• Mine Cards
• Gallery Cards
• Opportunity Cards
• Equipment Cards
  • Equipment Features
• 1st Player Token
• 2+ Player Games

What Is Undermine

Undermine is an easy-to-learn resource management & worker placement game. Thanks to its simple rules and small size, you can easily carry the game, teach other people its rules and play with them.

Goal

The goal of the game is to operate mines, play the Equipment cards for the right investments and thus try to be the first player to reach 7 points.

Components

Cards

• Investment Cards (7)
• Equipment Cards (18)
• Mine Cards (3)
• Gallery Cards (8)
• Opportunity Cards (7)

Tokens

• Diamond (10)
• Gold (10)
• Iron (10)
• Miner (10)
• Copper (10)
• First Player (1)

Component Guide

• Diamond: Where to Get: Diamond Investment card. In the Collection Phase of each round, players get 1 Diamond. Where to Use: Investment cards.
• Miner: Where to Get: Miner Investment card. Where to Use: Gallery Investment card / in Galleries to collect minerals.
• Equipment: Where to Get: Equipment Investment card. Where to Use: To earn points & win the game.
• Iron / Gold / Copper: Where to Get: Galleries. Where to Use: To play the Equipment cards you draw and earn points.
• Gallery: Where to Get: Gallery Investment card. Where to Use: To get the Miners to work at the Galleries to mine minerals.
• Opportunity: Where to Get: Opportunity Investment card.
• First Player: Where to Get: First Player Investment card. Where to Use: You play first in the next round.

Setup

2 Player Game Setup

• Lay 3 Mine Cards, one below another, face up.
• Lay 7 Investment Cards right below the Mine Cards, one next to another, face up.
• Shuffle the Opportunity, Equipment and Gallery decks and place the decks, face down.
• Give each player 2 Diamond Tokens.
• The youngest player plays first – give him/her the First Player Token.

Gameplay

Players take turns investing in Investment Cards with their 2 Diamond Tokens. After all players make their investments, the Collection Phase begins. In this phase the players collect the income for their investments from the bank, while returning the used Diamond and Miner Tokens to the bank. When the collection is complete, a new round begins. The game continues this way until the sum of a player's Equipment Card points equals 7.

Round Structure

• Player turns
• Collection

Player Turns

On each turn, players can:

• Use the Investment cards
• Draw and play Equipment cards in front of them, provided that they pay the necessary resources to the bank
• Draw and play Gallery cards on their corresponding sides of the Mines
• Play the Opportunity cards they draw
• Order their Miners to work in the Galleries they own

After First Player is done with all their moves, next player clockwise takes turn.

Collection Phase

When a round is finished, players receive the income from their investments and from the galleries where their miners work, beginning with the player who owns the First Player Token and proceeding clockwise. This is the Collection Phase.

• Players collect the income from the investments they have made in Investment cards, while paying the resources they have used for the investment to the bank.
• Miners working at the Galleries are returned to their owners.
• Each player receives a Diamond Token from the bank.
• After the collection phase, a new round is played, beginning with the player who has the First Player Token.
• A player can't have more than 8 Tokens of one kind. (i.e. a player can have 7 Miner Tokens and 7 Gold Tokens but s/he can't have 8 Miner Tokens.)

Investment Cards

Investment cards lay face-up the whole game. Each player, when it's his/her turn, lays the number of Diamond Token(s) or Miner Token required by the Investment card they choose, on his/her side of the Investment card. This way, the player can then collect the earnings of the card in the next Collection Phase.

• In a 2-player game, an Investment card used by a player can not be used by the other player within the same round.
• A player can not use more than 2 Investment cards within the same round even if he/she has the necessary resources.
• A player can not use the same Investment card twice within a round.
• At the end of each round (at the Collection Phase), players who have used their Investment cards collect their earnings according to the numbers given on the corresponding card. The Tokens used for investments are given to the bank, and then a new round begins, in which the player who has the First Player Token plays first.

Mine Cards

There are 3 types of Mine cards in the game; Iron, Gold and Copper. Mine cards can't be operated without Gallery cards. Each Mine card can be operated by two players.

Gallery Cards

Gallery cards are acquired by using Gallery Investment cards. They are utilized for mining. Owner of a Gallery card activates it by placing his Gallery card on his/her side of a Mine when it's their turn. By placing the required number of Miners (which is shown by number of circles on the upper side of the Gallery card) on the corresponding Gallery card in their active Galleries, players can then collect the number of Minerals shown on the Gallery card in the following Collection Phase. Each player lays his Gallery cards to the right side of a Mine card, making it easy to tell whom each gallery card belongs.

Opportunity Cards

Opportunity cards are acquired by using Opportunity Investment cards. Players can play any number of Opportunity cards they have when it's their turn. Opportunity Cards are discarded when played. When the Opportunity Deck runs out, reshuffle played Opportunity Cards.

• Remove an opponent's miner from the game: When playing this card, you can select any miner including the ones working on Galleries or the ones on the Gallery Investment Card.

Equipment Cards

To play an equipment card, players must pay the resources shown on the card to the bank. After paying for the Equipment Card, it must stay face-up in front of the player owning it for the rest of the game. When a player has enough Equipments to reach 7 points in total, they win the game.

Equipment Features

The feature written on the Equipment Card activates when the Card is played. The feature written on a Card is valid for the whole game unless it states "… this Collection Phase".

• Rescue Chamber: Your opponents receive no Diamond from the Diamond Investment Card. They still get their turn (1) Diamond.

1st Player Token

• The player who invests in the First Player Investment card receives the First Player Token in the Collection Phase; he/she lays it in front of him/her and plays first when the next round begins.
• The player who plays first in a round can not invest in the First Player Investment card in that round.
• If no player invests in the First Player Investment Card, First Player from last round keeps playing first.

2+ Player Games

By using more than one set, the game can be played by more than 2 players. In that case alternative rules apply:

• In games with 3-4 players, Investment cards can be used by two players within the same round.
• Investment cards are designed for 4 players. Therefore, 2 sets of Investment cards are required for a 5-player game (and likewise, 3 sets of Investment cards are required for a 9-player game). The only exception to this rule is the First Player Investment card: only one card is allowed to be used, and it can only be used by a single player.
• Each Mine card can be used by two players. Therefore the number of Mine card sets in the game should equal [Number of players]/2. In case of an odd number of players, the calculated number is rounded up (for example, 2 sets of Mine cards are used for 3 players).
• All the Gallery, Opportunity and Equipment cards from all available sets are to be included in the game.