El Subsuelo

A solitaire 30~45 minutes worker placement game.

Metal is neither a thing nor an organism,
but a body without organs.
Deleuze and Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus

The late 80's and early 90's were one of the most fertile periods for extreme metal. Thrash Metal matured into Death and Black Metal and both of them exploded into a plethora of subgenres. Contrary to what many believe, this explosion didn't happen only in Norway, Florida or any other bastion of big name scenes, but all around the globe. At the end of 1994 Mexico suffered its worst crisis in recent history, ravaging the economy and leaving millions in poverty. Under such circumstances, scenes can only survive on the shoulders of passionate individuals.

How does it play?

 In El subsuelo you operate a small store/bar by the same name. With help from volunteers, you'll sign small bands, run gigs and gather resources, with the aim of organizing a festival to showcase local talent. The game is meant to offer a decent strategic challenge, with an austere early game that might shift into a more flexible end game.

What do I need to play?

• You need to print the boards and cards files. The game is meant to be easy to assemble, so card backs are not strictly necessary.
• You'll need at least 17 tokens* to play, but around 50 and some coins are recommended(see rulebook for details).

*use spare festival cards as trackers for food, beer and money.

What's the recommended soundtrack?

Here's a link to my favorite 90's album from each of the sixteen bands featured on the game. Peruse at your own leisure.

• Argentum - Ad Interitum Funebrarum
• Avzhia - Dark Emperors
• Cenotaph - Epic Rites: 9 Epic Tales and Death Rites
• Dark Half - Reborn
• Funereal Moon - Beneath the Cursed Light of a Spectral Moon
• Mortuary - Blackened Images
• Pactum - Ficción, Lujuria y Blasfemia
• Sargatanas - The Enlightenment
• Semefo - Lærvarium
• Shamash - Eternal As Time
• Shub Niggurath - The Kinglike Celebration (Final Aeon On Earth)
• Tenebrarum - Alta Magia
• The Chasm - From the Lost Years...
• The Zephyr - Impure & Divine
• Under Moonlight Sadness - After the Cosmic Gate
• Xibalba Itzaes - Ah Dzam Poop Ek

With Argetum, Shamash, Cenotaph, The Chasm, Tenebrarum and Xibalba Itzaes being my favorites.

 X is not strictly Doom/Black/... Metal and also features a bit of Death/Thrash/...?

I know, I know. Some latitude had to be taken for gameplay reasons. Besides, a strong suit of the Mexican scene back then was their willingness to jump outside genre conventions.

Is there a digital implementation?

Yes, there's a semi automated implementation you can use in playingcards.io (it's free and runs on your browser). You just need to download the el-subsuelo-1-1.pcio file, create a room in playingcards.io and load it.