Underminer

Underminer gives you a small, upgradeable drilling machine and an entire earth to descend through, gathering minerals to fund better gear as you push deeper toward a short story conclusion. It's free, it's charming, and it's openly inspired by Motherload — a genre this review series has covered several times this year through paid entries like Ad Fundum and DigDigDrill. What Underminer offers instead is a completely free, more modest take on the same formula, and this review's sample is warm toward the result while being unusually specific about its rough edges.

Genuine charm at zero cost

The most consistent theme in this review's positive sample is simple disbelief that something this enjoyable costs nothing. "Started played after watching RCE's playthrough. Honestly, I don't know why it's free. It's not the greatest game ever but it's very enjoyable. I wish they had more of it," one reviewer writes. Another frames the value proposition plainly: "In a paid game, I'd want more variety in maps, missions, and upgrades. For the grand price of Free, however, this is a couple of hours of solid fun." A third draws the genre comparison directly and favorably: "A nice little game that reminds me of Motherload, but it's a bit more modern and easier. After about 3 hours you are already through." One reviewer specifically identifies the game's likely origins, describing it as "a short, fun little exploration/mining student project game," a framing that helps explain both its charm and its rough edges.

The control complaint nearly every critical reviewer shares

Set against that goodwill, the negative sample converges with real consistency on how the game actually handles. "It's free and it has some nice ideas, but the controls are so clunky the game is close to unplayable. Alas..." one reviewer writes. Another is more specific about the missing options: "Free game but there is no option for tank controls on keyboard. This felt very weird to control." A third reports the same frustration on controller: "Playing this game with a SteamInput controller is a painful experience. Holding buttons doesn't work, and the joystick causes the drill to rotate in confusion." Even a largely satisfied reviewer flags the same gap: "Controls are a little meh for keyboard and they can't be rebinded." That's a specific, reproducible complaint distinct from difficulty or content criticism — the game's basic input handling appears to be a genuine weak point across multiple control schemes.

A serious, apparently unresolved bug

The most concerning complaint in this review's sample is concrete and documented. "I cannot recommend the game. There is a bug that stops you progressing in the game story quite early, I would say. If you are lucky you may not encounter it, but the bug has been in the game for over half a year," one reviewer writes, linking a specific community bug report as evidence. Another describes what sounds like the same category of failure independently: "I really want to rate this game well, but i just cant. I cant progress the story the game just crashes... it seems that this is just placeholder text so i can imagine some variables being set wrong." This review checked the game's partner-events feed directly for any indication this issue had been addressed and found only a single update-notes post from shortly after the January 2024 launch, with no further documented patches since — meaning this review cannot confirm the reported progression-blocking bug was ever resolved, and treats it as a real, current risk for prospective players rather than a historical footnote.

A forced repeat tutorial and thin writing

Beyond controls and the progression bug, a few smaller but consistently repeated complaints round out the picture. "I open the game and see a Tutorial button, so I click it to see how the game works. I finish said Tutorial and click New Game to get into the game proper; it actually seems fun! I immediately get sent into the Tutorial again without a Skip option," one reviewer writes, describing a genuinely odd structural flaw that multiple other reviewers confirm independently. On writing, one reviewer sums up a common sentiment bluntly: "This game has hilariously bad dialogue and bad story writing," while several others describe simply tuning the narrative out entirely to focus on the mining itself.

No achievements, and a light but plausible support history

Underminer tracks zero Steam achievements, consistent with its modest, student-project scope. Its partner-events feed is similarly light — just two posts across the game's entire lifetime, one immediate post-launch update and a later mention in an unrelated promotional bundle listing. Given the game's likely origins as a small, free student project rather than a commercially sustained release, that light cadence reads as reasonable scope rather than an abandoned promise; no reviewer in this sample alleges the developer owed more ongoing support than a free project of this kind typically receives. It does mean, however, that known bugs like the one described above appear to have gone without a dedicated fix.

Final verdict

Underminer delivers a genuinely charming, free take on the Motherload formula that earns real goodwill simply by costing nothing and delivering a few solid hours of digging. Its consistently reported control friction and, more seriously, an apparently unresolved story-progression-blocking bug are real concerns worth knowing about going in — try it for the price of free, but don't be surprised if the controls frustrate you or a specific bug interrupts your run before the credits.