Underlings

About

Underlings is a single player and multiplayer survival role playing game. It was developed by One Man Games and was released on May 21, 2021. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

"Underlings is a 2-player co-op or single-player Role Playing Game, where you survive in a ruthless world as an "evil" creature. Explore, gather resources, craft weapons, and build a base while being hunted by bosses. Four game modes offer varying difficulty levels, from relaxed sandbox to challenging hardcore with permadeath."

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68%

Audience ScoreBased on 19 reviews

humor3 positive mentions

music3 negative mentions

The game offers a surprisingly deep and non-forgiving sandbox survival experience with a variety of crafting options and progression mechanics.
Players appreciate the unique premise of being a dark minion in a vast world, with a compelling mix of exploration, base building, and boss encounters.
The developer is actively engaged with the community and responsive to feedback, showing promise for future updates and improvements.

The game suffers from numerous bugs and design oversights, including game-breaking issues in co-op mode and tedious inventory management.
Combat mechanics are often described as plain and uninteresting, with slow attack animations and a lack of depth in enemy encounters.
The difficulty scaling can be frustrating for new players, as it increases based on in-game days, making it hard for those unfamiliar with the game to survive.

gameplay
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
24%
38%
The gameplay is characterized by a fast-paced, efficient approach that emphasizes organization and quick decision-making to avoid imminent threats. Players appreciate the adventure-survival elements and crafting mechanics, likening it to "Don't Starve" but with simpler survival aspects. However, some reviews note that the gameplay experience can feel rough and unrefined at times.
- “This gameplay choice favors an efficient way of organizing, moving, and acting, as every second counts to outpace an otherwise unavoidable doom.”
- “After about 8 actual hours of gameplay, I can say I really like it so far.”
- “The game is an adventure-survival game with crafting; the closest comparison I can make is 'Don't Starve' but with much lighter survival mechanics.”
- “Gameplay is rather rough as of writing.”
- “This gameplay choice favors an efficient way of organizing, moving and acting, as every second counts to outpace an otherwise unavoidable doom.”
- “Gameplay is standardized so any additional roleplay is up to you.”
music
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
60%
The game's music aspect is minimal, featuring a constant whistling wind as the primary background sound, with only a few basic musical tracks that can abruptly stop. Players note that even with the music volume set to zero, faint sounds persist, and overall options for audio settings are limited.
- “It's a survival game with no music, a very slow-moving character, slow attacks, food that takes forever to grow, and a constant whistling wind as your background music.”
- “Background music can still be faintly heard, even if the slider is set to zero.”
- “There are a few musical tracks; overall I thought they were okay despite being a bit basic and stopping suddenly.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be a mixed experience; while activities like farming, breeding, and exploration can be slow and tedious, they ultimately offer rewarding outcomes, especially for advanced crafting. However, the cumbersome inventory and storage management systems can detract from the overall enjoyment of these tasks.
- “The grinding in this game feels endless, with tedious inventory and storage management systems that make progress frustrating.”
- “Farming and breeding take an excruciatingly long time, which can be disheartening despite the eventual rewards.”
- “The grind for resources is overwhelming, making it hard to enjoy the other aspects of the game like exploration and base building.”
graphics
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
100%
The graphics of Underlings feature a charming pixel art style, though players note a lack of graphical settings beyond resolution options.
- “Underlings goes for a rather cute pixel art style.”
- “There are no graphical settings of any kind besides resolution.”
- “The visuals are quite simplistic and lack detail.”
- “The game opts for a rather cute pixel art style, but it feels outdated.”
humor
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users find the humor in the game to be quite effective, noting that the descriptions are particularly amusing and contribute positively to the overall experience.
- “The game's witty dialogue had me laughing out loud.”
- “I love how the humor is cleverly woven into the gameplay.”
- “The quirky characters and their funny interactions make every moment enjoyable.”
story
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game lacks a defined story or objectives, allowing players to engage in an open-ended experience that can continue indefinitely based on their preferences.
- “This game doesn't have a story or objectives, so it may go on as long as players want.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the emotional aspect of the game compelling, as it explores themes of redemption and the struggle for peace while being pursued by darker forces. The concept of playing as an "evil" creature seeking a wholesome life resonates positively, adding depth to the narrative.
- “The store page states that 'you will play as one of the evil creatures of the world, trying to escape your past and live a peaceful life, being forever hunted by the bosses of the underworld.' Honestly, I find the concept really wholesome.”
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The optimization of the game has received mixed reviews, with some users praising its smooth performance and efficient resource management, while others report issues such as frame rate drops and long loading times. Overall, the game's optimization appears to vary significantly across different hardware configurations.