Bite-sized Review:
Forgotten Mines

By Chris Picone, 14 August 2024

Forgotten Mines is a very small-scale turn-based tactical game.  It's a tough game played on a series of small maps that keeps the combat very tight. It's also features roguelike progression and meta-progression and a huge array of characters and other unlocks, suitable for a range of playstyles.

Aesthetics

The devs have taken a very minimalistic approach with Forgotten Mines, but it's very accessible, easy to read and make sense of, and all the tiles, characters, and monsters look great. Interestingly, the levels are set on very small square maps, which are often further hemmed in by water features. Much of the map is also typically taken up by (mineable) rock obstacles, so you're always trying to manoeuvre around very tight spaces, which means you're constantly in the thick of the action. The scenery changes as you progress through the game and likewise you'll face a range of goblins, orcs, and undead.

Gameplay

You get to select three characters from a fairly vast range of classes and sub-classes, and you will need to ensure there is some synergy to survive.  A tank, healer, and ranged strategy seems to be best - you will always be outnumbered in Forgotten Mines, and you don't heal between levels, so you need a way to effectively soak and heal damage. A ranged attacker (whether an archer or mage) is also handy to try to knock out some of your opponents from relative safety. You typically only start each game with minimal equipment and abilities or attacks - one or two - but every action you take provides experience points which eventually lead to level-ups which might make you stronger or give you new abilities.  There's no time to stuff around - you only get eight rounds to both beat all enemies and also to do as much looting as you can. Well, you can take longer if you like, but after the eight round waves of enemy reinforcements appear and can get overwhelming very quickly.  Loot comes in the form of chests which can be unlocked with a key or bashed open and there are also rocks which double up as both obstacles to hide behind (and obstruct movement) but which can be bashed to reveal gold, silver, or diamonds as loot.  Shops occasionally appear between levels and you can spend your gold and silver here to buy better equipment for your run.  Diamonds are spent in the main menu between games for permanent upgrades such as new characters or talismans that provide you with hefty bonuses. These are very few and far between though, and where the game's already challenging the boss levels are very tough indeed, so progression can be very slow. 

Verdict

Forgotten Mines shines in its sheer tightness of scale. It makes for an interesting, unrelenting challenge.  Although it can be picked up and dropped on short notice, I think it'll be too hard for most casual gamers to enjoy, but it certainly serves for those of us up for a challenge. 

Links: 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2238630/Forgotten_Mines/