Thorium Entertainment has announced that it is bringing its action-adventure roguelike UnderMine to Nintendo Switch next month.
The game has already been downloaded 600,000 times on Steam and Xbox Game Pass, and places you in the role of a “foolhardy peasant” who will stop at nothing to find their fortune in a dark and dangerous mine.
It’s an interesting premise, and one which is made all the more appealing by the fact that UnderMine’s creators clearly owe a small debt to the classic 2D Zelda series, at least in terms of presentation.
As you can see in the trailer, some of the characters sport Link-style outfits, they perform a familiar pose when collecting important items, blow up walls with bombs and even sport an eerily similar animation when they fall down a hole. It’s all done with tongue firmly in cheek, of course, and the presentation in general looks fantastic. The loot-grabbing gameplay and roguelike elements make it stand out from Nintendo’s famous series, even if it does share some technical and visual similarities.
Derek Johnson, founder of Thorium Entertainment, had this to say about the news:
“Ever since we released our first Early Access version, the question our fans kept asking was ‘When is it coming to Switch?’ Releasing a game on a Nintendo platform is a dream come true, and we look forward to new fans joining the horde this February!”
UnderMine currently holds a 9/10 rating on Steam, which certainly bodes well. Our pals over at Eurogamer went hands-on with the Steam version and described it as “a distilled version of Zelda on SNES… if Zelda were confined to a dungeon”. It launches on Thursday, Feb. 11th on Switch, and will cost $19.99.
Here’s the PR:
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – January 28, 2021 – UnderMine, the action-adventure roguelike brimming with secrets from developer Thorium Entertainment, strikes it rich with a release on Nintendo Switch on Thursday, Feb. 11, after more than 600,000 players enjoyed the game on Steam and via Xbox Game Pass.
With pickaxe in hand and bravery in heart, control a foolhardy peasant bent on delving into a mysterious mine in search of untold riches. Fight for life against the dangers awaiting in the dark depths. Venture through the lowest reaches until that commoner meets their doom, then send the next unfortunate soul to retrieve their gear and plumb further into the caverns.
Use bombs to blow up walls and rocks to unearth secret passages, collect precious gold before the slimy Pilfers claim it, and rescue potential allies deep within the mine. Fight against the devious dungeon denizens all the way to the end of each level where room-filling bosses stand between the fearless miner and their objective.
Get creative with each new run, desperately scavenging ability-granting relics, potions with magical effects, treasure, and other items, hoping that the next run goes more smoothly than the last. Make the difficult choice to either hoard gold for the subsequent descent or spend the hard-earned cash on useful items or helpful upgrades.
Master the mines, then seek new challenges in the true roguelike Othermine, starting fresh without any upgrades, for nearly endless replayability. After five major content updates during Early Access, Thorium will continue to expand the mine’s operations with post-launch updates arriving on all platforms in the coming months.
