Successful Solo Area Control in Tyrants of the Underdark
Take control of various sites and manage allies in the quest for power as a Drow house in Tyrants of the Underdark.
The benefit to having so many unplayed games is that I always forget which ones don’t have an unofficial solo variant… So when I looked up Tyrants of the Underdark again, I discovered a way to play solo that was recently released! I was excited to see how area control could play out solo, as it’s often a difficult mechanic to simulate. To the Underdark!
Game Overview
Game Name: Tyrants of the Underdark
Publication Year: 2016
Designers: Peter Lee, Rodney Thompson & Andrew Veen
Artists: Many (57 Credited)
Publisher: Gale Force Nine, LLC
Solo Mode: Unofficial Solo Variant
A deck provides the basis for the Drow house’s allies and agents, which can be augmented by market purchases. The core element is area control of cities and sites, which begin with neutral control markers. With spies and troops, influence evolves in a constant back-and-forth battle.
First Play
April 23, 2022
Complexity
3
Latest Play
April 23, 2022
Expansions
1
Setup Time
5 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
2
Play Time
50 Minutes
High Score
100
Game Area
32" x 30"
Low Score
74
Claiming Control
The majority of the map consists of neutral troops at the start. These present challenges to claiming total control over the sites, along with finding routes to cities.
It all started quietly enough, with my single troop in Eryndlyn and the solo opponent at another site.
Note, too, that moving around the board often involves adjacency along the pathways. With neutral troops to block the way, it isn’t possible to travel everywhere.
Troops are limited, and don’t typically return from the map. Except for the sneaky spies… More on them later!
A Purposeful Market
Not unsurprisingly, the basic starting deck includes a mixture of power to affect the board and influence to purchase more cards in the market. Lots of options!
This market also forms the basis for the solo opponent, which is one of the reasons why I enjoy this variant a lot.
A set number of cards are discarded, but then the solo opponent follows a set of actions depending on what’s left in the market. Simple to follow, with a little bit of agency.
I felt like I had a decent chance to partially impact what happened, although it wasn’t entirely predictable.
Solo Area Control
One mechanism I often steer clear of in solo is area control, mainly because it’s hard to do well. Decisions are best left to a logical human player most of the time.
Fortunately, this solo variant was amazing! It took me a little time to understand the hierarchy and choices, but it felt pretty natural. Look at that final board state!
At no point did I feel like I was running away with the lead. Total control was a constant struggle for victory points.
Nowhere was entirely safe, either, courtesy of the random way a spy might enter the picture and threaten it all!
The Power of a Spy
While I focused on dominating and controlling the sites within my grasp, I was powerless to send troops into some of the major cities. Tsenvilyq was right out.
Ah, but not quite! I had the chance to place a spy, who was a terrible menace. Although the solo opponent occupied all of the troop spots, the spy prevented total control.
Any of the 3 major sites under total control provides a small influence boost, plus ongoing victory points.
Well-played, if I may say so! This spy stuck it out and was probably a big part of why I could sneak by with the win.
Finding a Needle in a Haystack… Twice
This unofficial solo variant didn’t come out until last year, and I had no idea that this would even make it to my table to play solo! Although it’s not something I do that often, games I know aren’t solo-friendly still make it onto my research list here and there. I always hope to find a solo variant out there, and it’s certainly possible. Look at this one!
Locating the game itself is actually more of a challenge. The version I have is from 2016 and features these lovely shield and spy miniatures. My husband hunted down a copy at one point when it was a little on the pricey side. It worked out!
Keep in mind that there is a newer version that came out in late 2021 or early 2022. This has a slightly different name as Tyrants of the Underdark: Board Game. It’s exactly the same game, even with the expansion included! But it uses cardboard tokens instead of the miniatures for a more affordable price point and smaller box.
All this is to say that it’s worthwhile to carefully research a new game, since other versions might come out and actually be within a good price range. Multiplayer games that sit around without a solo mode might also be worth looking into every now and then. You never know what you’ll find! Unofficial solo variants come out all the time, after all.
The Araumycos Battles
I reset everything pretty quickly for a rematch! Not that I was trying to find a fault with the solo variant, but I was curious how it would play out. Too similar?
Goodness, not at all! The central city, Araumycos, was the most valuable and I quickly took total control of it.
But the solo opponent wasn’t impressed. We fought back and forth, even while I fanned out my troops to find other sites to control. So many difficult decisions and situations.
My deck was also quite different as I tried out some other options and explored some new cards I hadn’t seen before.
Dragons to the Rescue
Each play involves a market deck that combines a pair of 40-card faction decks. I used the recommended Drow and Dragon options, which were pretty awesome!
Some faction decks sound like they’re not as well-suited to solo, yet even without the added variety, I saw all sorts of combinations and different strategies.
Dragons dominated my deck during both of my plays. Come on… Dragons?! I definitely needed all the art. Ha!
I may have been a little too aggressive at times, yet I learned the importance of spies along the way.
Session Overview
Play Number: 1 and 2
Solo Mode: Unofficial Solo Variant
Play Details: Easy Difficulty Level
Outcome: 74-71 and 100-111 (1 Win and 1 Loss)
My lone victory happened due to the way the solo opponent rushed to put out troops at the wrong time. Not like I was an expert at all! Save for my awesome use of spies. Ha ha! This was quite challenging without feeling like too much. Such a fun experience! I truly felt like I was playing against a logical opponent, which isn’t always the case with area control games. Definitely recommended!
%
1 Play
Affordability
Price & Value
7
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
10
Originality
Design & Theme
9
Quality
Components & Rules
9
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
9
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
7
+ Pros (Positives)
- Building a deck is fun, yet is also augmented by promoting cards to remove them for more victory points.
- The area control mechanics are fairly simple and straightforward with interesting decisions around total control.
- All of the artwork is beautiful and excellent, bringing in some small story elements about the board state.
- Play time goes pretty quickly with very little downtime, with the end game triggering before gameplay drags on.
- Variety with the possible faction decks adds a lot of possibilities to what might happen with the market.
- Many strategies feel viable with the way victory points and control are split among many different elements.
– Cons (Negatives)
- Although designed to be a closer matchup, the solo mode doesn’t use the entire map and leaves out a lot of sites.
- There are some instances where decisions for the solo opponent aren’t clear, although they’re easy to resolve.
- The box insert is useful but just barely holds all of the components, while a lot of empty space is wasted.
- Not all of the faction decks are great to use solo, leading to slightly less variety than the multiplayer game.
Victory Conditions
Score the Most Points
- Overall Goal Progress 100%
Goals and Milestones
Score at least 100 points.
Win at least 1 game at the easy difficulty level.
Continue the Conversation
Have you ever played Tyrants of the Underdark? Are there any other multiplayer games you discovered an excellent solo variant for? I was so excited while I was playing! This was a pretty simple solo opponent to run and I had a chance to focus on all of my choices. Definitely planning to get this one back to the table again. Such a great discovery!
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