The Mines

Overview

The Mines is a game about miners digging through a vast cavern seeking the legendary Crystal. The first player to exit the mines with the Crystal wins the game. The game has two distinct phases. In the first phase, the Crystal has not yet been found, and all players must search quickly to be the first miner to find the Crystal. Once the Crystal is discovered, players must try to exit the mines with the Crystal, whether or not they found it first. Exiting the mines involves conflict, and it will be a lucky miner who can escape the mines with the Crystal without encountering other angry miners!

Development

I created The Mines in four weeks as a part of my final game development class at the University of Arizona. I liked the original prototype enough to create a fully featured professional prototype of the final game.

Playtesing

The game has been played tested by a wide number of players and designers over the last year.

Setup

Take the stack of chamber tiles and create two stacks of tile, one with the Crystal Chamber and one

without. There should be roughly 15 chambers per player

(i.e., 3 players, 45 chambers).

The two stacks should then be shuffled. Arrange the first stack of chamber tiles that do not contain the Crystal Chamber onto the play surface facing down. Evenly distribute the entrance/exit pieces at the top of the mines.

Once placed, take the second stack of tiles containing the Crystal Chamber and arrange them after the chambers under the entrance/exit pieces. The first tiles should be between the entrance/exit pieces and the newly placed Crystal tiles.

Elements

Chambers

Chambers are represented by hexagons bordered with dots denoting the strength of each wall of a particular chamber. Chambers also have card icons that represent the number of cards that a player can pull from the card stack.

The Crystal Chamber is a special chamber. When a player discovers this chamber, they may take a Crystal Card and if they exit the mines with this card, they win the game.

Pieces

Pieces are essential for tracking the progress of gameplay. Player pieces represent the players on the board.

Play starts and ends from Entrance/Exit tiles.

Path Pieces show the path a player has carved through the chambers. Placed during the mining process. Traversed using movement cards.

Crystal Cards

A Crystal Card is given to the first player who discovers the Crystal. These cards are comprised of the following classes of item cards, but with one special trait. They are not discarded after use; rather, they return to a player’s hand. They can only be lost in combat.

Item Cards

Item Cards are the items that players can use or receive during their turn. There are no dice or passive

movement abilities within this game. The only way a player can do anything is by playing a card. The strength of a card is denoted by how many icons it has in the upper left.

Action Cards

Action cards allow players to mine or attack other players. Action cards are denoted with a circle. The number of circles indicates the power of the action, whether it be mining or attacking. Combo cards can increase the effectiveness of action cards.

Movement Cards

Movement cards allow players to move along previously laid path pieces on the board. Movement cards are indicated with a triangle, the number of which indicates how many path pieces can be traversed using that card.

Combo Cards

Combo cards allow a player to play more than one action or movement card on their turn. Combo cards are denoted with a square, the number of which shows how many additional cards may be played. Combos do not allow a player to play additional combo cards, only movement, action, and non-combo crystal cards.

Turn Overview

On a player’s turn, they may only play one card. If this card is a combo card, the additional cards denoted by the combo card may be played; otherwise, a player’s turn is over. Since players have no cards at the start of the game, the first chamber they move to from an entrance tile is automatically discovered.

Mining

Mining is accomplished by using Action cards. During their turn, a player may play an action card of equal or greater strength on a wall of the chamber that their player piece is in. Once a card of sufficient strength is played, the player takes the following actions:

1. Flip over a chamber hex on the other side of the wall that has been destroyed.

2. Move the player piece into the newly revealed chamber.

3. Place a path piece to connect the old chamber to the new one.

4. Collect the number of equipment cards indicated by the icons in the chamber.

Movement

Movement is accomplished by using movement cards. Movement is only possible along path pieces. If there are no path pieces, a player must use Action cards to mine a new route. Unlike mining, moving along a path does not end a player’s turn. Movement cards can be used with combo cards to make an escape, move into a different chamber to start the mining process, or challenge another player in another chamber. A player may use paths laid by others.

Combat

When a player enters a chamber occupied by another player, combat may occur. The entering player is called the Attacker, and the player in the chamber is called the Defender. Upon entering, an attacker may choose to attack or pass through. If fighting, both the attacker and defender immediately, and secretly, pick the cards they wish to use in the fight. After a count of 3, both players reveal their cards. The player with the higher action score wins the fight. The loser is knocked out for one turn. If the loser had the Crystal Card, it immediately goes into the victor’s hand. If not, the winning player may pull a card at random from the loser’s hand.

If a player mines into a chamber with another player, combat does NOT ensue, as the mining player’s turn is over. They could be attacked by the player in the chamber, or the player in the chamber could flee.

Special Rules

Passive Mining

To mine previously discovered chambers, a player must forgo playing any cards on their turn and place their player token on its back. On the following turn, they may pull the number of cards indicated by the chamber and continue their turn normally. However, passive mining allows another player to rob the mining player without any need for combat. If robbed, the knockout rules still apply, and the player is down for another turn. The player would now need to skip one turn entirely before continuing.

Instruction Booklet

Shop

When a shop chamber is encountered, a player pulls five cards from the deck, facing up. The player who discovered the shop may now use the icons on their card as currency to purchase as many of the cards from the shop as they would like (i.e. two flashlight cards [2 icons] for a shovel [2 icons]). Once done, the shop closes.

Other players can use the shop by passively mining it on their turn.

Discovering the Crystal

When a player mines into the chamber containing the Crystal, that player pulls a Crystal Card. This Crystal Card gives the player with it an advantage. All other players immediately pull two cards as compensation. Every time the Crystal Card switches hands, all players without the Crystal Card pull two cards. The first player to leave the mines through any exit with the Crystal wins the game!

Game Pieces

Chamber
Mine Piece

Pull the number of cards indicated by the treasure when flipped

Wall strenghts are shown on the edges of the chamber