Life Underground is a minecraft survival map that begins underground and ends underground – unless of course you break the rules and run around in the skyline for a bit. The map is suitable for up to three players, though like all minecraft maps it is probably best played in solitude.
There are three ‘jobs’ assigned in the map. ‘Farmer’ ‘Miner’ or ‘Builder’. If you’re playing with three players, you’ll each presumably take one role. If you’re playing alone you have to do the job of three wo/men.
You are provided at the outset with a ‘starting cave’ which is a very charming little space with a clock and a waterfall. One of the map’s achievements is renovating your personal cave, and if so desired, uploading a picture of your renovations to the official thread.
In addition to cave renovation, there is an element of exploration. You punch through the first sand wall to discover a tunnel with other sand doors marked with mangled signs. (And when I say mangled signs, I mean all the professions spelled in reverse. The farmer is greeted with a room full of grass and a tree. The miner is confronted with a coal vein and the builder gets… this rather charming starting area containing all the ovens and anvils one could ever need.
The first cave of exploration contains a bunch of dwarves who are probably best left inside the original cave until they’ve grown enough to be useful.
I like that one of the tips the map maker gives prospective players is ‘wear a pumpkin on your head’ – because nothing improves matters more than a limited FOV.
Life Underground is the microcosm of minecraft in a small, neat and ordered game. There are enough hidden chests to make things interesting, and to me, as a player who values creative challenges over ‘growing twenty wheat’ style challenges, the cave redecoration project is a nice change of pace.
Wordpuncher’s Rating: 6/10. A fun survival map suitable for a few friends, or perhaps a family game. Some nice twists, but overall is a little limited in scope.