Image Courtesy of DrPhibesThis review continues my series of detailed reviews that attempt to be part review, part resource for anyone not totally familiar with the game. For this reason I expect readers to skip to the sections that are of most interest.
If you liked the review please thumb the top of the article so others have a better chance of seeing it and I know you stopped by. If you appreciate the time taken to write and the depth of analysis, please consider thumbing the bottom as it tells me I've helped you in some way. Thanks for reading.
Summary
Game Type - Euro Game
Play Time: 60-90 Minutes
Number of Players: 2-5
Mechanics - Route/Network Building
Difficulty - Pick-up & Play (Can be learned in under 30 minutes)
Components - Good
Release - 2006
Designer <PERSON> -( Black Fleet, Keyflower, Prosperity)
Overview
On the Underground was a relatively low-key release when it first came out, mainly on account of being released by a small publisher ( JKLM Games), which I believe is 'no more'. For that reason I think it has gone under the radar in the 9 years since its release but the game is now available via Rio Grande Games.
On the Underground is a network building game that uses a train theme as its thematic and structural backdrop. Now this isn't exactly cutting new ground and perhaps that is largely why so many gamers may not have come across its path either.
But unlike many network games that focus more on the 'pick up and deliver' mechanic ( and its relatives), here the focus is a little different. That is because most pick up and deliver games allow for multiple goods to be picked up and delivered at any one time. Here though the target is a singular passenger which will use the best network(s) available at the time.
The next obvious comparison is a styled game and again On the Underground does require network building...but it's about more than that.
In truth this design blends the two together to create something a little different and unique and that's why I wanted to cover it in a review.
Let's jump on the UK Loop network and see where this one is taking us...
The Components
From a component standpoint, I am looking at the original JKLMedition. On the Underground is now being published by Rio Grande Games, so there may be some differences.
Board – The board is an extended 8-section folding design that depicts the UK Underground or Tube network. 299
Many of the station or platform names will be well familiar to people and it would even look cool hanging on a wall.
The artwork is clean and does what all network games should do...make it clear where the potential connections are and how they connect to destinations.
In addition to station/platform locations, the board also includes key locations marked with icons and the outer routes connect to red endpoints which serve as Terminals. Both the inner stations and end terminals are central to the play and scoring of the game.
Of note is the network itself and rather than being uniform, many sections of the Underground feature varying space for train lines. Like any good network game, some sections are more open and then there are pretty critical chokepoints that the players will want to try and dominate.
One corner also features a key, which helps to summarise the scoring aspects of the game and the rules for passenger movement.
It's also worth noting that the board features letters and numbers around the edges to serve as grid co-ordinates. These are then listed on each of the Destination Cards to help find them quickly.
It's also worth pointing out that some stations feature a golden circle and others a white circle. This is to help differentiate the Express stations compared to the regular stations and this is important to the gameplay, which I will outline shortly.
Image Taken by <PERSON>
Passenger and Destination Pieces - Nice chunky wooden pieces represent both the central Passenger within the game and the Destination Markers.
These are deliberately neutral in colour so the rail pieces can stand out. The fact that these pieces are stood upright is enough to make sure they are noticed by those playing.
Image Courtesy of <PERSON> Tokens - The game then offers up a variety of wooden discs or tokens to represent Branches/Junctions, Connection Stations and Scoring Markers.
All of these features are actually stickers that have to be applied to both sides of a single disc. It takes a little time but really it isn't a big deal. Not compared to anyway.
Image Courtesy of <PERSON>
Rail/Track - Rail or track pieces come in an amazing 11 different colours. This is to accommodate the varying number of players and these pieces come in a total of 20 or 15. This is because each player will receive track in two colours to represent their two lines that they can build. 872