2016 · Fantasy
Tyrants of the Underdark
Players lead rival Drow houses vying for control of the Underdark by recruiting minions, deploying troops, and manipulating influence and power. The game combines deck-building—buying new minion cards from a central marketplace and shuffling them into a personal deck—with area control across a map of subterranean sites. Minions belong to distinct aspects that support different tactics: some excel at assassination, others at recruitment and promotion to an inner circle that scores end-game value. Players spend influence to acquire cards and power to place and move troops, perform actions on the board, and remove opposing forces; victory goes to the player with the most victory points from controlled sites, promoted minions, recruited cards, and successful eliminations.
- Players
- 2–4 best 4
- Playing time
- 60 min
- Age
- 14+
- Complexity
- 2.6 / 5
About the game
Expansions
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Where to buy it
Shop prices and second-hand copies, checked every day.
On Ludoya's tables
Full stats in Ludoya- 346
- Plays logged
- 406
- Players
- 1h 25m
- Average play
- 67
- In collections
- 24
- On wishlists
7.8/10
from 81 Ludoya reviews
Garfield8.0 #38 Entertaining area control game with deck building. [c] Theme: ★★★☆☆ <!-- size 7]Ok --> Gameplay: ★★★☆☆ <!-- size 7]Ok --> Interaction: ★★★★☆ <!-- size 7]A lot of combats --> Artwork: ★★☆☆☆ <!-- size 7]Cards good, board boring --> Luck: ★★☆☆☆ <!-- size 7]Not much --> Strategy: ★★★★☆ <!-- size 7]Different strategies possible --> Components: ★★★☆☆ <!-- size 7]Nothing special --> Play duration: ★★★☆☆ <!-- size 7]Good --> Easy to teach: ★★★☆☆ <!-- size 7]Ok --> Rules quality: ★★★★☆ <!-- size 7]Good --> Setup time: ★★★☆☆ <!-- size 7]Still ok --> No downtime: ★★★☆☆ <!-- size 7]Ok --> Replay value: ★★★☆☆ <!-- size 7]Average --> [/c]
No plays logged
Very interesting deckbuilding with Area Control and majorities mechanics. Many ways to play, deep strategies. Love it!
No plays logged
andycted7.0 Too long for what it is, but fun enough
First impressions · 1 play
Rules questions
Answered from the rulebook by Ludoya's rules assistant.
When do I have Presence at a site?
You have Presence at a site if you have a spy or troop there, or a troop in a space adjacent to it. Presence also extends to route spaces adjacent to a site or space where you have a troop (pp. 12, 24).
Does controlling a site mean I have to fill every troop space?
No. You control a site if you have more troops there than any other single color; white troops count when comparing troop numbers. Total control is stricter: every troop space must hold only your troops, and no enemy spies may be there (pp. 12–13).
Can I save Power or Influence for my next turn?
No. You can spend resources in any order during your turn, but any Power or Influence left over at the end of your turn is lost (pp. 9–10).
Do I have to pay the cost before a card ability after an arrow?
No. Paying an arrow cost is optional, and you can pay it at most once when you play that card; if you don’t pay, that ability does nothing. If a card contradicts the rules, follow the card (p. 11).
Where does a card go when I recruit it?
Put the recruited card in your discard pile, not your hand. If it came from the market, refill the market from the market deck (p. 15).
Does the game end as soon as someone deploys their last troop or the market deck runs out?
Those events trigger the end, but play through the rest of the current round before the game ends (p. 16).
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Game facts (players, playing time, age, credits) from BoardGameGeek.