Mined Games is the main quest of Buried, and the achievement of the same name: “In Buried, be their pawn”, 75G, Silver. From the first seconds in Processing, Maxis asks for a structure that can power the tower above ground, and Richtofen tells Samuel to build an energy conduit instead and not let Maxis have it. Richtofen’s side builds a guillotine, Maxis’ side the gallows. The name plays on “mind games”.
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Before you start
Original difficulty
On any other setting, the quest items do not spawn.
Four players
The full quest needs four. Steps 1 to 5 of Richtofen’s side and 1 to 6 of Maxis’ side can be done solo; Maxis’ last step works with three players, Richtofen’s step 6 needs all four.
Pick a side
Building the guillotine or the gallows commits the game to that side. Some parts fit both.
One side at a time
As with Tower of Babble and High Maintenance, a finished side is locked on your profile until you finish the other one. You must be in the game from the lobby for a swap to count.
Useful tools
A Time Bomb, Vulture Aid for Richtofen, a Turbine and Subsurface Resonator for Maxis, and Galvaknuckles or a Bowie Knife for the signs.
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Richtofen’s side
Build the guillotine, beside the Saloon. Parts: the satellite dish upstairs in the Saloon near the fence, the spool of wire in a corner downstairs in the Gunsmith by the catacombs entrance, the crystal in the debris of the tunnels above the Saloon, and the antenna in one of the stables downstairs in the Barn.
Charge four red orbs with the Paralyzer: in the alley between the Saloon and the Candy Store, behind a rock left of the church entrance, in the tunnels above the town, and in the foliage before the mansion’s maze entrance.
Catch the lantern: a purple lantern floats from the Courthouse to the church or to the jail. Knock it down with a grenade and pick it up. Then kill at least ten Ghosts in the mansion to fill it, and place it on the symbol on the roof of the Gunsmith.
Read the code: the symbols above the lantern use a tic-tac-toe cipher. Decode only the first letter of each word: it names three of the five tunnel signs (Dry Gulcher Shaft, Lunger Undermines, Consumption Cross, Ground Biter Pits, Bone Orchard Vein). Hit those three with the Galvaknuckles or the Bowie Knife, in any order.
Guide the wisp: a wisp appears that only players with Vulture Aid can see. Walk through it within 15 seconds each time to move it along its path, from the tunnels to the Barn, the jail, the General Store and the Gunsmith, until it stops in front of the guillotine. Kill zombies next to it until orbs circle the crystal. Richtofen then asks for a Time Bomb.
Find the switch in the future: with four players around the guillotine, plant a Time Bomb on its bench and set it off. The game jumps to round infinity, in black and white, with near-invincible zombies. In 60 seconds, search the dead bodies of Misty, Marlton, Samuel and Russman for the switch, then place it on the guillotine once back in the present.
Pull the maze levers: four coloured levers (red, green, blue, yellow) hang on gates in the maze. All four must be pulled in the right order, found by trial and error; the right ones spark once all four are down.
Make a wish: use the fountain in front of the church and the mansion. Metal targets appear in four places (by the Candy Store and Courthouse, the mansion windows, inside the Saloon, by the jail), and every target must be shot before they vanish. The Paralyzer works on them.
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Maxis’ side
Build the gallows, next to the Courthouse entrance. Parts: the battery behind the church altar, the spool of wire in a corner downstairs in the Gunsmith, below Mule Kick, by the catacombs entrance, the antenna in a stable of the Barn, and the bulbs on boxes in the room above Leroy’s cell.
Destroy the four red orbs with the Subsurface Resonator, powered by a Turbine. They are in the same places as on Richtofen’s side.
Knock down the lantern with a grenade, as on the other side. It vanishes if you miss it for too long, or leave it on the ground.
Sugar rush: fill the lantern by killing zombies close to its holder with Leroy on Candy, the Trample Steam, the Subsurface Resonator, the Head Chopper or a Nuke. Then place it on the roof of the Gunsmith.
Decode the signs and hit the three tunnel signs, as on the other side, in order this time.
Escort the wisp, twice: plant a Time Bomb first, open the 1250-point couch between the tunnels and the Gunsmith, and have Leroy break the barrier between the General Store and the Candy Store. Follow the wisp from the tunnels through the jail, the Barn, the Gunsmith and the Saloon to the gallows, keeping zombies close to it all the way or it fades. Then set off the Time Bomb and do it again for a second wisp.
For whom the bells toll: nine bells hang in three places, three upstairs in the Candy Store, three on the top floor of the Barn, three on the ground floor of the Courthouse. A switchboard behind the secret bookcase in the mansion lights them one at a time; one player calls them out while the others ring each bell in time.
The final wish: use the fountain and shoot every target, exactly as on Richtofen’s side.
Either side, once finished, gives every player all the perks for the rest of the game and the Mined Games achievement. One step remains to end the story.
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The endgame
At the back of the Courthouse, on the ground floor, stands the Easter Egg Tracker: a box of lights, one row per player and one column each for Tower of Babble, High Maintenance and Mined Games. Orange means Maxis, blue means Richtofen.
Requirements
All four players have finished Tower of Babble, High Maintenance and Mined Games for the same side, and all three NAV Tables are built with the right Navcards.
The button
Open the tracker and press the button inside. It can be done in any game, including the one where Mined Games is finished.
The price
All Easter egg progress on the three maps is erased, so every side can be played again.
Maxis wins
The map turns orange, Maxis takes the Aether, announces that neither the Earth nor its people will survive, and throws Richtofen’s soul into a zombie. Every zombie’s eyes turn orange except his, and killing him drops a power-up. This is the canon ending.
Richtofen wins
Richtofen erases Maxis and takes over Samuel’s body, then struggles to control it. The players get a permanent Fire Sale and a Mule Kick that carries four weapons.
After the endgame, holding the use button at the tracker plays Samantha’s Desire on Maxis’ side or Richtofen’s Delight on Richtofen’s. Above ground, the Pylon spews orange or blue flares.