Beneath the Mountain

About

"Beneath the Mountain" is a first-person puzzle-adventure game set in a mysterious abandoned mine. Players uncover the secrets of the mine by solving intricate puzzles and discovering hidden stories of its past. The game features a rich atmosphere, immersive soundtrack, and an intriguing narrative that will keep players engaged till the end.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

68%

Audience ScoreBased on 330 reviews

gameplay26 positive mentions

optimization22 negative mentions

The game has excellent replayability with various tech upgrades and unit combinations.
The artwork and theme are well-executed, providing a charming dwarven atmosphere.
The developer is responsive and actively working on improvements and updates.

The game suffers from significant performance issues, especially in late-game scenarios with many units on screen.
Pathfinding and unit control are problematic, often leading to units getting stuck or not responding correctly.
There is a lack of a tutorial and clear objectives, making it difficult for new players to understand the gameplay mechanics.

optimization
68 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
4%
63%
32%
The game's optimization is a significant concern, particularly in the mid to late game where players report severe frame rate drops and performance issues, even on high-end systems. While some users have experienced smooth gameplay, many others highlight the need for further optimization and bug fixes to enhance overall performance. Developers are actively addressing these issues with regular updates, indicating potential for improvement in future releases.
- “It has a ton of potential, is a mostly complete game already, and the issues it has are simply quality of life and some optimization issues.”
- “A few optimization updates and I can see myself sinking dozens if not hundreds of hours into this game.”
- “Update: as of the time of writing, the developer has been publishing new playtest builds almost daily, and regular updates to the game almost weekly to fix performance, bugs, and add content in the form of new buildings and talents.”
- “There is a huge issue with the performance/frame rate drops.”
- “Games performance is god-awful; I have a pretty beefy system and still dropped down to 2fps at times. The game seems very repetitive.”
- “Quite poor performance, especially in late-game big fights; the AI of your units tends to get stuck, which is annoying, especially with engineers, and overall feels clunky.”
gameplay
54 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
48%
46%
6%
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with some praising its fun core mechanics, engaging defensive strategies, and replay value, particularly for fans of dungeon keeper-style games. However, criticisms include a tedious gameplay loop, confusing mechanics, and a lack of content, suggesting that while the foundation is solid, there are significant areas needing improvement as the game progresses through early access. Overall, the game offers a blend of RTS and tactical elements, but players are eager for enhancements to elevate the experience.
- “The visuals are explosive, the gameplay is amazing with incredible replay value (as it should be for an RTS!).”
- “The core gameplay loop is fun and the art style has a lot of warm and gold tones which contrast well against the darkness of the mountain.”
- “To shed some more light on what I believe to be a neat game mechanic: there's research upgrades in true RTS style in most buildings that allow progression, but the developer has also included a runesmithing system which functions like a talent tree and allows you to personalize your playthrough each time by selecting certain runes.”
- “Pathing, camera, and gameplay loop are boring.”
- “That takes away a lot of strategic gameplay and dumbs it right down.”
- “Game mechanics are confusing and the interface is byzantine.”
graphics
34 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
41%
50%
9%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising the art style, unit details, and overall aesthetic, particularly for dwarf fans. However, issues such as lag at high creature counts and a need for cosmetic polish detract from the experience, leading to some frustration among players. While the lighting and dark themes align with the cave-dwelling setting, there are calls for improved performance and customization options.
- “As a dwarf fan, I think the art style of the game is absolutely magnificent, and I get real mountain home dwarf civilization vibes from it.”
- “The visuals are explosive, the gameplay is amazing with incredible replay value (as it should be for an RTS!).”
- “The core gameplay loop is fun, and the art style has a lot of warm and gold tones which contrast well against the darkness of the mountain.”
- “It could do with some fine cosmetic polish and customization, such as pretty graphics!”
- “Combat is bad, and graphics are poor.”
- “A few NVIDIA GPU users run into a strange but non-gamebreaking graphical glitch from time to time.”
replayability
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
55%
27%
18%
The game exhibits a mixed reception regarding replayability. While many players appreciate the variety of play styles, upgradeable techs, and the rune system that encourage experimentation and learning from mistakes, some feel that the lack of distinct features leads to diminished replay value after initial playthroughs. Overall, it seems that the potential for replayability is high for those who enjoy exploring different strategies, but some players may find it limited after a short duration.
- “It's got tons of play styles to experiment with: different buffs and abilities to buildings, units, traps, etc. I also think the game has pretty good replay value with the different settings available.”
- “This system promotes replayability (alongside the randomized map), since each playthrough you can try out a new combination of runes and see how that goes.”
- “It's fun for the first 3 hours but has really no replay value as there aren't any features that make any game different from the next.”
- “Fun game but completed in two hours with no replayability.”
- “The game itself has a lot of replayability due to the various techs you can upgrade and try to synergize.”
stability
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
86%
The game's stability is marred by numerous bugs, including problematic textures, pathing issues, and frequent unit glitches, particularly in late-game scenarios. Players have reported frame rate drops and visual glitches on NVIDIA cards, though the tutorial is noted to be bug-free. While these issues detract from the experience, there is optimism that ongoing development could address these concerns and enhance the game's potential.
- “The tutorial is finished and bug-free in terms of the quest area.”
- “Locked content (coming soon), bugs and glitches, loads of missing tooltips, only 1 game mode/map mode which gets old quickly.”
- “Be noted that frame rate is an issue at the time of writing, especially in the mid to late game and NVIDIA cards will experience some visual glitches.”
- “This has so much potential, it's just fairly buggy and is missing some quality of life features, but hopefully if the development continues it becomes something great.”
story
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
40%
30%
The story aspect of the game is criticized for being underdeveloped and lacking depth, with many areas feeling like mere placeholders for grinding rather than meaningful content. Reviewers suggest that the game would benefit from a more engaging narrative or progressive unlocks to enhance the overall experience. Comparisons to other titles highlight a significant gap in atmosphere and storytelling quality.
- “The tutorial is good but needs to be fleshed out with either a story-driven narrative or progressive unlocks.”
- “Except Dungeon Keeper was clean and innovative and had boatloads of atmosphere and a story.”
- “Story or uniqueness.”
- “End of story, the latter two are just wasting the little map space there is; the first is just for a little bit of XP grinding, not much though, and there is no further point to them.”
- “Tutorial is good but needs to be fleshed out with either a story-driven narrative or progressive unlocks.”
- “Except Dungeon Keeper was clean and innovative and had boatloads of atmosphere and a story, whereas this, at this point in its development, has bugs, runs slowly, has a less than stellar interface, and has a bad tutorial.”
grinding
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding mechanics to be tedious and lacking purpose, with some areas feeling like a waste of map space and offering minimal experience points. The training grounds system disrupts gameplay flow, necessitating cumbersome reassignment of warriors, which adds to the overall frustration. However, there is optimism that these issues can be resolved to enhance the gaming experience.
- “Regarding the training grounds, the system that recalls warriors during combat disrupts the flow, requiring tedious reassignment to specific groups post-intervention.”
- “Darkness is extremely annoying and tedious, still an issue.”
- “End of story, the latter two are just wasting the little map space there is; the first is just for a little bit of XP grinding, not much though, and there is no further point to them.”
atmosphere
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
75%
The atmosphere of the game is noted to be fun and challenging, with potential for improvement despite some minor jank. However, the overall experience is hindered by bugs, slow performance, and a subpar interface, which detracts from the immersive qualities that players expect.
- “Game has potential - minor jank but it's fun, challenging and atmospheric”
- “This game lacks the immersive atmosphere that I was hoping for, making it feel empty and uninspired.”
- “The overall ambiance is disappointing; it fails to draw you into the world and feels lifeless.”
- “While the concept is interesting, the atmosphere is flat and doesn't engage the player as it should.”
music
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The music in the game has been criticized for being overwhelming and unpleasant, particularly during defeat, which some players describe as "ear rape." Additionally, the overall game design choices detract from the experience, further diminishing the impact of the music.
- “There are poor game design decisions, like workers charging and leading the attack. When you lose, the music is overwhelming and unpleasant, and there is a limited amount of buildings and units you can get.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is highlighted by its ironic lack of a tutorial, which players find amusing given the necessity of understanding gameplay mechanics for survival. This oversight adds a layer of comedic frustration that resonates with users.
- “It’s a game that you need to know what to do to survive, but hilariously didn’t launch with a tutorial.”