SPOILER: Survey to those who have beaten several Mines

1. How many mines have you completed, state their names.

Old, Collapsed, Haunted, Derelict, Spooky, Exhausted, Twisted, Frightening, Immense

2. What have you found inside of them? Enemies, traps section, 'spot the difference' puzzle, steam puzzle, mirrors puzzle etc.

Enemies, skull puzzles, mirror puzzles, twins puzzles, steam puzzles, mining spots, treasure, secrets, brother Stakh and death.

3. How big/long did you feel the mines were? Too big, too short, just right, etc. Different mines have different size so state which one you are talking about.

Just about right, progressively. Loved to wander around, and it never got boring.

4. What kind of items have you found inside?   

All kind of goodies, from speaker horns and ores to blueprints, figurines and valuable artifacts.  

5. Have you found secrets in the mines? If so, how many of them? The secret is indicated by special sound and message in the log - "secret found".   

According to the achievement progress - 11/30. Although sometimes it says "secret found" and sometimes it is not (on the same condition), so i'm not sure if it works right.       

6. If you have found a secret, what do you think about them - is it a good addition or too much of a gimmick?   

Not sure about the addition, they felt the same as the secrets i've encountered on the other locations. "Yay, i'm so smart!" when i find one and "Duuuh, i'm so dumb..." when i check the achievement progress.       

7. What about gems? Have you found them all? How hard were they?   

Cleared in the Old and Collapsed, missing some in the others. Sometimes i just forget to check, gem reward is too meh to bother.       

8. Hidden consumable items - were they useful? How many of them have you found? How many blueprints/figurines?   

Obviously they were useful, found quite a bunch, never counted though.       

9. How hard were the enemies in your mines?   

Most of those were skeletons and muscards, who are just walking exp. Met golems at the end, but at the moment they were as weak as the others. Snake hands in the early mines though did some serious damage. Personally i would like more enemies, but i don't think i would find much support for this thought.       

10. How hard was traps section?   

Freaking afraid of this part. Died twice - didn't register two objects as skulls in the first case and derped a little in the second one. Had to recheck the numbers of skulls a few times before making a step. Largest one in the immense was very stressful - in a good way. :)       

11. Did you figure it out before or after trying to press plates by hero and reading hints?    

Before. Didn't want to touch the pressure plate at all.       

12. Did you figure it out on your own, or asked friends for help?   

On my own.       

13. How hard was 'spot the difference' puzzle? Easy enough, hard enough, too hard, just right?   

Just right, a little too hard at the last mine (couldn't spot the instruments on the furnace even while switching the aligned images, got help from an ally).       

14. How hard was steam puzzle? Did you figure it out on your own, or asked friends for help?   

Was derping around for like an hour before an ally told me that steam can be dissipated if you come inside the cloud. After that, things went smoothly.       

15. How do you find steam puzzle comparing with beacon puzzle from the dungeons?   

Like it more than the beacon puzzle. Feels more organized and less annoying.       

16. How hard was mirrors puzzle? Easy enough, hard enough, too hard, just right?   

Ok at the beginning, hard enough with the five elements, gave up an used the camera to record the sequence with the seven elements - sequences contain mirrored duplicates and sometimes hard to find, i've managed to win without camera only once, when there were no twins.       

17. What was the overall feel of the mines? How do they fit with the rest of the game? What was you first impression when you explored them? Did they felt like TT1 adventures? How do they compate to caves and dungeons?   

Loved them slightly more than the dungeons and way more than the caves and anomalies. They were fun and the puzzles were nice and steady. The idea of a renewable source of ores and crystals was great. Would love to explore more mines.       

18. How do you find Stakhanoff's story and the mines' setting in general?   

It was curious, would like to keep more notes in journal though. I had only one story note in the quest entry, and since you get the rest from the stones - you will forget at least half at the conclusion (it was about 35 days between moment i've entered the old mine and the end of the quest).       

19. What do you think about the conclusion of the mines quest?   

The ending was good. I think i've encountered a bug, though.    

20. State any other things you have found interesting in the mines, not mentioned specifically above.   

If there were something else, i would probably miss it since i'm not very observant when it comes to the secrets and easter eggs. It was cute yet menacing location type, liked it a lot.

1. How many mines have you completed, state their names.

All of them, Old, Collapsed, Haunted, Derelict, Spooky, Exhausted, Twisted, Frightened, Immense

What have you found inside of them? Enemies, traps section, 'spot the difference' puzzle, steam puzzle, mirrors puzzle etc. - All of the above

How big/long did you feel the mines were? Too big, too short, just right, etc. Different mines have different size so state which one you are talking about. - They increase in size, just like caves or dungeons. The smaller ones could be slightly bigger.

What kind of items have you found inside? - I thought mines were not as generous as dungeons in terms of items. Also, items seemed to be somewhat "mine theme based" (hammers, ores, crystals, badges etc). I would have liked to find a few more manuals, potions or carpets. The items were okay, but not a main reason why I would visit the mines.

Have you found secrets in the mines? If so, how many of them? The secret is indicated by special sound and message in the log - "secret found". - None. I still don't really understand secrets (doing okayish in dungeons now, but that's about it), especially in new location types. I did not even try to look this time.

If you have found a secret, what do you think about them - is it a good addition or too much of a gimmick? - See above

What about gems? Have you found them all? How hard were they? - I only pick them up when I spot them straight away. "More than half" in all locations, but no more. So they must be fairly well hidden, I think I get better results at dungeons and caves without really looking for them.

Hidden consumable items - were they useful? How many of them have you found? How many blueprints/figurines? - I never understand this question, does it refer to items or secrets or something else? I got a couple of blueprints and figurines in the final chests of each mines.

How hard were the enemies in your mines? - Not hard, but I did not play most of the mines until late in the game. I had a lot of muscards and golems several times, worms, I think dendrogs, but no (snake hands) which I thought was too bad (haven't seen them since A6). Generally I'd like to see more of the harder type enemies, so more worms, golems, ghosts, hands.

How hard was traps section? - Easy. Hero died once in the beginning due to miscounting, never again after that.

Did you figure it out before or after trying to press plates by hero and reading hints? - I saw a hint by another player here or on CC so I already knew what should be done. But I think I would have found the respective hint (highest number of skulls means death, or whatever it says) sufficient.

Did you figure it out on your own, or asked friends for help? - See above

How hard was 'spot the difference' puzzle? - Easy enough, hard enough, too hard, just right?You kind of learn by doing more of them. E.g. I did not see that train tracks could be missing for quite a while, but saw it eventually. I did not realize at all that those scattered pickaxes mattered. I was stuck with 2 very large STD's because of those and ended up copypasting the entire area into one picture to have other players look at it. This went "too far" for me timewise, I only did it this time to complete the quest. The largest STD's were too large/time consuming for me.

How hard was steam puzzle? Did you figure it out on your own, or asked friends for help? - Steam puzzle was the reason why I didn't continue mines for a long time once I was stuck with steam puzzles in most of them. I just didn't have the interest/nerve/time to figure it out by myself. For me, there would have to be more of a "walk through" in terms of hints (or even better, an instructional speech bubble when you approach/turn elements at the first puzzle you encounter) in order to enjoy figuring it out, the way it is now just frustrated me. Eventually I asked another player, who had to show a lot of patience until it clicked for me. After that, I found the steam puzzles very easy and much enjoyed solving them. It's the "what does this puzzle want from me" that I did not enjoy at all because for me the puzzle doesn't tell me enough.

How do you find steam puzzle comparing with beacon puzzle from the dungeons? - Slightly easier (I do not find beacons difficult) and more fun. I brought hero to uncover everything and made a sketch, left, and then solved them on paper later on while not on computer. I found that nice for a change.

How hard was mirrors puzzle? Easy enough, hard enough, too hard, just right? - I found this hard and didn't enjoy it at all. The main reason why I tried hard to get it right the first time was to not have to do it again. I especially didn't enjoy when there were 4 or more in a row of them. I found some objects hard to see in the mirror due to size and color scheme, while I usually do not struggle with "eyesight issues". So for me, it would have been more enjoyable if maybe the mirror was enlarged for seeing the objects. The having to remember part is good, the hard to see what mirror is showing is not.

What was the overall feel of the mines? How do they fit with the rest of the game? What was you first impression when you explored them? Did they felt like TT1 adventures? How do they compate to caves and dungeons? - My first impression was that I was a bit disappointed about them being another underground location. I am getting a bit tired of those (how about going up in the air? onto trees, into the sky? or onto water? or into multistory buildings?) and the respective dominating colors (dark, grey, brownish, etc). While I am not so interested in locations with a ton of characters (Karfaree, Thornsville), I would have liked to meet a couple of characters here (but not too many!).

How do you find Stakhanoff's story and the mines' setting in general? - I thought his dialogues were written okay and easy to read. I enjoyed bumping into him the first time, and thought it was too bad that there was no further interaction until all mines were solved and I met him inside the vault. Then the narrative which I thought sounded interesting (him being jelous, manipulating tunnels, puzzles etc) kind of went by fast in retrospect, and I am wondering if this could be integrated more into the actual mines (so uncovering the story mine by mine instead of just having him tell it in one go at the end?).

What do you think about the conclusion of the mines quest? - It went by a bit fast, I thought there would be more after opening the vault than just a chest and a conversation. Especially the becoming co-owner bit, 1-2 sentences seemed rushed (and I am not a lover of lengthy conversations!). Since I am so terrible with secrets, I always kinda want an advisor who comes along to locations and drops a few more hints (like teaching me how to look for secrets more), Stak seemed like he could be the right guy for that? While I am starting to lose track of all the different characters, this is one I would like to bump into or interact with again throughout the game.

State any other things you have found interesting in the mines, not mentioned specifically above. - The mining of ores and crystal aspect - the game is becoming too time consuming with its many aspects/location types for me, so I doubt I would go back for mining, even though I use crystals a lot for improving gear. For me, a) the output would have to be at least a bit better, and b) I don't like walking hero through the entire location for several mining spots, especially in the big mines. If mining spots were located in the entrance room and then unlocked by progressing through the location, this would save some time?

All of them

all of these

Some mines were a tad too long but I enjoyed the different puzzles so it wasn't an issue

Normal items dropped from enemies.  Found other hidden items and a few secrets

Found arithometer, figure of enlightenment, blueprints

I like them

Found a lot but don't think I have found them all in any of the mines.  I think they were more hidden than in other places

Only found 1 figurine that wasn't a secret and a couple of blueprints

Not particularly

I found this the hardest part and managed to get killed a couple of time

First mine I didn't the right one by accident, not sure what it was all about so then tried another plate and was killed but this was before there were any hints.  Chatted with alliance and realised what I was supposed to do but still failed on a couple of occasions

See above

Quite tricky a couple of times but I enjoyed them

I figured it out on my own but got some tips on how to do it better from friends

Easier than the beacon puzzle because I could go back to the start which you can't do with the beacon puzzle

Concept was easier enough but I found the pictures quite hard to see, very dull and once it got beyond 5 items difficult to hold in my mind

I like them

Played TT1 too long ago to remember!  I liked having the extra locations

I enjoyed the story

I found the ending a bit weak.  Not sure that I gained much from completing the quest.  Haven't made much use of the mines except when I was waiting for the troops to arrive

Had a key which I still haven't found so presumably a chest is not yet opened.

Is the steam/pipes puzzle something you made yourself or something that already existed ? Like, garden is nurikabe, apocalypse is hitori, pyramid is tower of hanoi. If so, what is it called ?

Well then I encourage you to make more puzzles yourself if you planned to add more, as it could motivate some people to play tt2 if some puzzles are available only there unlike other puzzles that are already available elsewhere and without isometry, lag, with possibility to mark cells etc, even I stopped playing those for those reasons since I don't care about virtual rewards.

I think the steam puzzle was and is genius and I like it.  I had to figure out what to do but once I got the logistics I enjoy beating them :-).