Unveiling 'Unearth', the Next Big Hit from Brotherwise Games
All sits still since the cataclysm. The five regions lie in ruin, your people scattered in the wind, your homelands lost in both form and lore. Your histories, like those buried cities that were once pinnacles of peace and prosperity, have withered and eroded. You have forgotten who you were, but you are marked with a burning desire that reminds you of who you are now. You are a delver, and it is your passion and your duty to Unearth your past. Reclaim what was lost, rebuild what was broken, remember where you came from.
As a child of the 80's, I grew up during some of the early stages of video gaming. I put many hours into diving down green drain pipes, jumping wall to wall and throwing shurikens, kicking crocodiles in the teeth, fighting one-eyed flying monsters with a bow and arrow, and being an all-around Bad Dude. But then there were the real bad dudes, those big baddies at the end of the level who tried and often succeeded in putting an end to all of the butt kicking you've been doing. The Boss Monsters. And it is that nostalgic love and relationship with video games meshed up with my new passion for board and card games that got me first aware of Brotherwise Games.
But this review isn't about the Boss Monster series that put Brotherwise on the map. Instead, it's about their new project, Unearth. Where Boss Monster had you hoarding treasures to tempt heroes seeking glory to uncover your dungeon and meet their death, Unearth has a dying people who only treasure the chance to uncover the glory of their buried past. The two games are really incomparable, and it needs to be stated clearly that your like or dislike of the Boss Monster series should have no bearing on your opinions of Unearth. Brotherwise Games and Matthew Ransom and Jason Harner have made something completely different here from the style to the mechanics to the tone, and it is a compliment and a testament to their creativity and diversity as a games studio.
Unearth is a 2-4 player dice rolling/placement game that pits you against other players to recover Ruins, gather Stones, and build Wonders. To bring your tribe glory, you want to be the one with the most points at the conclusion of the game. Your tribe of delvers is each represented by a different die from the color you have chosen to represent you, and this is even charmingly conveyed in the art with the delver's tools taking on the shapes of the various dice types. Each tribe consists of one d4 die, three d6 dice, and one d8 die (a total pool of 5 dice). There are multiple ways to accumulate points in Unearth. High rolls might result in players being able to claim an entire Ruin while low rolls can help players claim Stones which can be utilized in gaining one of three types of Wonders.
The game contains four different types of Stones: red, blue, yellow, and black. In the initial set up, all of these stones are placed inside of their cloth bag. Other components in the game consist of a mini-deck of Delver cards that are used to provide actions and options to players, a deck of Tarot-sized Ruin cards of which players will compete to win, Tarot-sized End of Age cards of which only one will be chosen and placed on the bottom of the Ruins deck, a Tarot-sized Named Wonders deck which provide interesting options for extra points or effects should they be claimed, and a stack of both Lesser Wonder and Greater Wonder tokens.
In the beginning, each player is dealt two Delver Cards facedown, the Ruin deck is shuffled and one card each gets dealt facedown to everyone, then a number of the Ruin cards get removed and placed back in the box (depending on player count). The End of Age deck is then shuffled, and one card is randomly selected and placed on the bottom of the Ruin deck. A number of Ruin cards are then revealed (depending on player count) and placed face up in the center of the table. Each Ruin card has an amount of Stones that get placed on them (signified by the icon in the bottom right corner). Players will randomly pull Stones from the cloth bag and place the required number on each Ruin. The Named Wonders deck is then shuffled and one card for every player is placed face up on the table plus two additional cards. Their respective tokens are also placed upon them. Any unused Named Wonders and tokens go back into the box. Lastly, the Lesser Wonder and Greater Wonder tokens are shuffled around and stacked face down on top of their corresponding cards. Everyone chooses their color dice, takes a player reference card, and then rolls to see who goes first.
On your turn, you have two separate phases. The first is optional. On the first phase, the Delver Phase, you may play any number of Delver Cards from your hand. Delver cards are resolved immediately in the order they are played, and then they are discarded. The second phase is the required Excavation Phase. Here, you simply choose one die from your available pool, state the die type and which Ruin you plan to roll it on, and then roll the die. Once rolled, that die is placed on the Ruin Card you chose in the center of the table. If you rolled a 3 or less, you are allowed to claim one of the Stones that are on the card. Claimed Stones are immediately placed in front of you and cannot be moved once placed. If there are no Stones on the Ruin, then simply draw one from the cloth bag at random. If your die roll was a 4 or higher, nothing happens yet until all dice on a Ruin rolled by yourself and/or other players exceed the amount listed on the Ruin card in the top left. Once that occurs, that Ruin is claimed by the player with the highest individual die result and is added face up to their collection. All players then gather up their respective dice and add them back to their pool.
Play continues like this in a clockwise motion. When Ruins are collected, a new Ruin card is drawn and new Stones are placed upon it. As players collect Stones, they will place them on the table in an effort to complete a Hexagonal formation with one opening in the middle where they will place a Wonder token. There are Lesser Wonders which are achieved if a player completes a Hexagon consisting of various colored Stones. There are Greater Wonders which are achieved if a player completes a Hexagon with all the same color Stones. Then there are Named Wonders which were placed face up in the beginning of the game. Named Wonders have specific conditions that must be met for a player to acquire their tokens, and Named Wonders provide a variety of benefits once received usually depicted on the card. Some Named Wonders may require that you have 3 Stones of a particular color and any combination of additional Stones, some may require that you have 3 pairs of different colored Stones. There are a variety of combinations required and effects represented by these cards. The combination you need to gain that card's token will be on the card and whoever completes the criteria first can grab one of these rather than a Greater or Lesser Wonder.
Once the Ruin deck is depleted, the End of Age card is revealed, and any immediate text on that card is followed. Then play winds down until every last ruin is claimed. Once that occurs, players tally up their points. Point values are awarded for a variety of things. Named Wonders, Greater Wonders, and Lesser Wonders can all have point values, and if you managed to claim 3 or more of these Wonders, you automatically score 5 points. You also receive 5 points for every set of Ruin cards you collect of the five possible colors. Aside from this, the bulk of points will generally come from collecting multiple cards of the same Ruin type. Each player reference card has a chart on the back that will help you total up your overall points.
Unearth is a fantastic game. From a two player perspective up to the maximum limit of four, it grants a great experience with fun, interaction, and fast and fluid turns. The variety of the die types in your pool provide a chance at strategic playing and planning. The Delver cards provide a little extra cushion to manipulate things. The luck element, as in any die rolling game, is certainly a factor, but the game rewards both high and low rolls fairly well. The mechanics that are in place even allow those who don't get to claim the Ruin card when the value is met to draw from the Delver deck which helps to keep all players along the same level of equality with at least that chance to catch up and take the lead. The gameplay is simple enough to teach and learn quickly, but it allots for deep strategy and competition.
WYLD Gaming gives Unearth TWO HOOVES UP, and it takes a spot in our MANE Collection as a go-to dice placement game. Unearth launches in August of this year, but you can preorder it now through July 16th to receive $5 off, some extra exclusives included, and free and early domestic shipping! Preorders can be made on Brotherwise's website via http://www.brotherwisegames.com/unearth/ . We hope you'll get a chance to delve in and check this one out for yourself!
Please note, WYLD Gaming was provided this game for review purposes but was not otherwise compensated in any manner, nor were their words, results, or review judgement influenced in any way by anyone outside of the author's own opinions and perspective. If you've enjoyed this review, we encourage you to share it with others to help WYLD Gaming get similar opportunities in the future while also helping the game being reviewed get more attention for their product. Thank you!