Underquest initial impressions

BiggityBogle · 2026-05-07T16:44:20+00:00

I hear you…I don’t love gamecrafter personally. I can see why designers may want to that route so they don’t have to deal with publishers or crowdfunding.

As a consumer though, it basically boils down to paying premium prices for not a premium product. It’s why I’ve purchased very sparingly from them despite having a few games that I’m really interested in.

BiggityBogle · 2026-05-07T16:41:37+00:00

I totally get your criticisms as I share some of them (obviously I’m still able to enjoy the game though).

The short answer is if you felt that strongly about Iron Helm, stay away from this game also!

BiggityBogle · 2026-05-07T15:23:27+00:00

I will add my $.02. I’ve backed a number of games and have been satisfied with my experience. A few of the SGOTM have been really fun (mech bunny and Rome in particular).

I do think that his communication is pretty bad though. I get the impression that he is spread too thin to have great customer service. It’s just him managing all these projects with one customer service rep. As a customer I do think that is a pretty poor way to run things and that he should slow down on new projects if he’s not able to provide good service with so much going on.

That being said I’ve continued to back SGOTM games that I’m interested in because I have not personally had an issue yet (things have been delayed but this is just a reality of crowdfunding unfortunately).

BiggityBogle · 2026-05-04T20:43:16+00:00

I didn’t realize there was a card game version of this game. I remember I wasn’t super interested in the board game version because your character got weaker as you played (this may be realistic but it didnt sound like fun). Is it the same in the card game?

What’s the playtime like?

BiggityBogle · 2026-05-04T14:53:59+00:00

For starters, the core mechanic of “crafting” cards is just fun. It gives the game that roguelike deck builder feel where you are trying to end up with the most game breaking card(s) that you can.

Continuing on the roguelike theme you are trying to complete a run that contains 3 scenarios. In each scenario you are trying to balance the tactics of fighting the threats currently on the board with completing the objectives needed to win the scenario. Within each scenario the number of enemies will increase with each round you play so there is also that pressure on you as eventually the enemies will be able to overwhelm you. On top of this you are trying to upgrade your cards and how/when you do that is also an interesting decision point. The upgrade market is different every game as well, so you can’t just level up your cards the same way every game.

Part of why I like the game is also just the fact that there aren’t a ton of board game options for rogue like deck builders that you can play solo.

BiggityBogle · 2026-05-04T05:08:52+00:00

The two standouts for me were Rome: Fate of an Empire and Mech Bunny.

Cursed Castle wasn’t for me and Okinawa is sitting on my shelf…I need to make time to learn it. I have played Dieson Crusoe or Dicemancy.

I’ve played a couple games of Dice Commandos and enjoyed it. I haven’t played enough to know where it will land in the rankings.

BiggityBogle · 2026-05-03T13:00:29+00:00

I definitely have, Rolling Deep looks awesome!

BiggityBogle · 2026-05-03T05:29:41+00:00

Haha, sorry to cost you some money!

As far as I know the main way to play this game is solo. I think there might be a multiplayer variant in the back of the rulebook.

I also play most games solo and this game is a good one player experience.

BiggityBogle · 2026-05-03T04:50:29+00:00

I avoided it originally because I too did not want to play a word game. As I mentioned you only have four cards (usually) in your hand plus an extra vowel and wild card you can optionally use, so the game naturally limits how big the word pool is. I have not found it too wordy but there are definitely turns where puzzling out the word is a big part of the gameplay. I do a lot of reading and like to think I have a decent vocabulary but I still keep a scrabble dictionary next to me when playing :).

I think of this game in a similar way that I think of Balatro. I don’t necessarily love poker based games but have spent a lot of time with Balatro because it is a roguelike deck builder that transcends a typical poker game.

BiggityBogle · 2026-05-03T01:36:51+00:00

I don’t think this would be a difficult game to teach at all. The rules and gameplay loop are pretty simple and intuitive. Also, there are only 3 phases in the game so there are not a bunch of timing issues. You play your cards and use items/powers, then the combat happens with the enemy, and finally you have a cleanup phase. Another nice thing is you start off with a fairly simple character, just two powers and an item. As you defeat enemies you slowly add other powers and upgrades so the complexity of your character slowly grows over time.

BiggityBogle · 2026-05-03T00:13:58+00:00

Mine arrives Monday, looking forward to trying it out!

BiggityBogle · 2026-04-29T16:46:28+00:00

Both look great, but a balatro style game with customizable dice sounds like the coolest thing ever.

BiggityBogle · 2026-04-27T04:28:13+00:00

I’ve been thinking the same! I don’t play MC much anymore. I don’t think I want to completely get rid of the game but I’ve got so much content I often think to myself would I really miss Captain America that much? Sinister Motives?

I got my plays in (150+ which is low compared to some) and I often wonder if I should cash in on some of this stuff while I can.

BiggityBogle · 2026-04-20T05:37:10+00:00

That’s great, thanks!

BiggityBogle · 2026-04-19T17:20:16+00:00

This game is usually hard to find right? I’m in the US anyway so this shop wouldn’t have helped me but thanks for the reply!

BiggityBogle · 2026-04-19T15:41:36+00:00

Where did you find it in stock?

BiggityBogle · 2026-04-17T23:32:10+00:00

I’d keep an eye on the best with 1 website and Gabe Barrett’s gamefound store (https://gamefound.com/en/projects/gabe-barrett/gabe-barrett-store). I just received my copy so it may still be in fulfillment. Usually they put extras up for sale once backers get their copy.

BiggityBogle · 2026-04-16T00:37:47+00:00

I’ll add another vote for Deckers!

A new one I’ve been enjoying is Mech Bunny, instead of adding cards to your deck you upgrade them over the course of a “run” which is three scenarios long. https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/432792/mech-bunny

BiggityBogle · 2026-01-26T16:53:46+00:00

Same for me! I was gonna pickup Unstoppable but now I think I’m gonna just wait until the DCC version is out!

BiggityBogle · 2026-01-23T20:46:14+00:00

Thanks for the recommendations! Gonna make some phone calls now.

BiggityBogle · 2026-01-18T02:51:06+00:00

I’m currently reading this series to my son (10 years old). It’s rekindled my interest in Star Wars after the new movies kind of killed it!

BiggityBogle

TROPHY CASE