Imperial Miners Review: Just Keep Digging

Milla, Chris, and Zee discuss their thoughts on this new quick-playing game, set in the Imperial Settlers line of games.
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[@eliumeldritch]

I'll wait till they come out with the dice version: Imperial Dwarves Diggy Diggy Roll

[@bagookster]

I’ve had the chance to play. Straight up solitaire. The imperial settlers art/world drew me in, but it didn’t matter that 3 other people were at the table.

[@amunt3r]

Exactly. What's the point?

[@OutOTW]

​@@amunt3rso it's good for solo gamers

[@amunt3r]

@@OutOTW I doubt anyone will realise it's essentially a solo experience. It's not promoted as such.

[@winnie666]

@@amunt3ryeah, beacuse board gamers are really dumb, and won’t realise what obvious.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Played a few games tonight. Super light, does the job but I don't think it will stand the test of time. It's entirely a solo game with no reason at all to play it multiplayer. The solo mode score board is also pretty insane on the difficulty level as much of the ability to do well will depend entirely on what cards you get synergy wise.

[@Dusty20042008]

How would you compare this to empires of the north?

[@MattCarnall]

greetings from Poland, great review!

[@nevesfabio77]

Greetings from brazil

[@Punkve1987]

Reminds me more of In the Hall of the Mountain King than Imperial Settlers, which is a good thing as I am not a fan of the latter.

[@Boneidolmatt]

I’m a big Empires of the North fan and this looks like a great addition to the universe. I was intrigued when it was announced but this video has convinced me! It retains the charming artwork of the other games in this world, and looks like there’s some fun decisions whilst still being short and snappy - I’ll be grabbing this one for sure 😊

[@Slyfox1775]

I love super mother load ! Great job at creating a dig dug in board game .

[@TinyTactician]

This game is pretty good for a quick solo game to pull out and try and beat your score. I'm looking forward to any expansions that can add more variability, and player engagement though. A strong 6.5/10 from me. It just needs that little extra push a good expansion might add to make this polished.

[@andymcguire237]

The game is meh. The event deck is completely random and it's very possible that you'll reveal Immediate Effect events in the first round that effect nobody and some that benefit 1 lucky player in the 2nd or 3rd rounds, etc. Very random and I wish they had implemented a system where you build an event deck during set up. Other complaints are 100% solitaire and hard to strategize around cards in hand vs. cards that may or may not be drawn later (faction-based strategies). May benefit from a bunch of house rules.

[@jonmann2643]

Played last night with friends - it’s a cool game with everyone trying to squeeze veeps out of their engine and has v little downtime, new gamer friendly, but it falls short of its prequels for me as the player interactions are gone, no draft even. Also the impies curse of luck of the draw weighs heavily on consistency and the ability to synergise between mine faction cards. Very much a beat your top score experience but you need a little luck and you can do it with friends, if they don’t reach for a different game with more interactions 😩

[@jacobjslee]

I haven't written it off yet, but the solo type play might be too much for me to overlook. I suspect an expansion would address the interaction component and ramp it up. That might be enough to draw me in.

[@frankdetank9126]

🥓🥓🥓

[@oskarhelde6009]

Thanks for a great review. Keep up the good work! 🙃

[@JonReid01]

Snap into an earth worm

[@KristoVaher]

So the trend is even-shorter, which is a shame. I don't think it's needed. Final ratings are also low enough that this won't topple the superior 51st State.

[@amunt3r]

I don't think it's comparable to 51st State. It's in the same 'universe' as Imperial Settlers, but that's where the similarity ends.

[@dominikstrehl4917]

Thanks for the great review. I think I got a good insight of how the game plays. I just don't really get it. Why would I meet with four other people to then simultaneously play four solo games? I sometimes like solo games. But why multiplayer solitaire? It's the same as meeting with a friend and then each of us playing chess against an engine. Why would you do that?

[@puzonzenon3702]

At the end you compare how well you did your part. And you still sit at the same table, enjoy the same thing, you can discuss afterwards, talk during the game. When people goes to the cinema together, they are not interacting with each other, but still enjoys doing the same thing together.

[@dominikstrehl4917]

@@puzonzenon3702 Thanks for the response. I see your point and guess you're right. That's probably what many people like about these kind of games. Maybe that is why I would almost always prefer to play an (interactive) board game with friends than going to the cinema. 😂

[@TheLimestoneCowboy]

I was hoping for more mining focused theme & mechanisms, this just seems like a generic thematic euro idk 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@amunt3r]

I guess it's the vertical stacking of card actions that suggests mining. It's hard to dig deeper, but that's where the best rewards are?

[@amunt3r]

Four player solitaire. What's the point of inviting people around so we can spend 30 or 60 minutes staring at our own sheets? When my choices don't affect anyone else? Fun gaming needs interaction and tough choices and intrigue. Even Splendor can be very quiet and introspective, and that has much more scope for player interaction (reserving cards, racing to an objective / points total). This game: 10 rounds, done - who won?

[@DTChrisYi]

I've invited friends over to watch a movie. There wasn't too much interaction there either, but we had a great time.

[@amunt3r]

@@DTChrisYi Sure, but that's a different thing entirely to board games. A bit like the difference between playing poker and having a solitaire competition. Poker is a battle of wits and resolve. Solitaire can involve skill, but would it be an interesting and engaging evening? Not even close. 90% of the fun of board games, for me at least, is the interpersonal *interaction* that a game enables. Ideally, a game like this should have some tension as people approach a goal towards the end, like Splendor does, for instance. BTW, if I invited my friends over to sit in a darkened room and watch a movie for two hours, they'd think I'd lost my mind. We *are* going to see Bladerunner at the Concert Hall, tho, with the score being performed live by an orchestra. An event rather than a screening.

[@smoogums89]

Some people enjoy racing and building a cool engine. Not every game needs to be Brass Birmingham.

[@JerzyMuller]

" Fun gaming needs interaction and tough choices and intrigue" No they do not. You do need that from a game and this game (and a bunch of others) are not for you. It's fine, people have different tastes :)

[@amunt3r]

@@smoogums89 Where's the race in this game?