Review of Miner Dig Deep

There sure seems to be a lot of mining games out these days. You know the drill, dig deep into the earth, find some minerals, use those minerals to make a better pickaxe, then use the better pickaxe to mine better minerals. The same rules apply to Miner Dig Deep. So then, how does it stand out from the rest? Miner Dig Deep reminds me a lot like a simplified Terraria. Of course Terraria came out a couple years after Miner Dig Deep, but I'm sure some of you can easily see the resemblance.

At the start of the game you begin with a pickaxe, a lantern, a bag, and a really big mining helmet. With those items equipped you then begin your descent into the earth. On your way down you look for minerals that you will be able to sell back at the shop. One key feature is that of the lantern. The lantern will help you see what minerals are in the dirt. The longer you stay down in the caves the smaller the light from the lantern gets. This adds a timed element to your spelunking. Once your light is up you won't be able to tell where the minerals are and whether or not it is safe to keep digging. When you get back to the surface the shop is available for you to buy and sell. The shop sells a variety of equipment including ladders, elevators, pickaxes, inventory bags, bigger lanterns, and a few other items. After you get better stuff you can go down deeper to find even better treasure. Along the way there are blueprints to be found. These will unlock better gear in the shop. Dying isn't too painful in game, the main penalty is that you will lose all minerals that are currently in your inventory.

I did not get as far as I possibly could in the game. I think I got to the very bottom of the world (about 500-600 depth I believe) but I didn't have the best equipment. Honestly I got a little bored towards the end and lost interest in finishing with the greatest things. It took me something like two and a half hours to get where I currently am. The game for the most part was enjoyable. Finding good minerals was always fun, and there's a few extra tools like the grappling winch and a power drill too give you a hand. The main issue I had was the fact that you had to climb up and down to get to where you were currently mining and the surface. This process took up several minutes, and since your going up and down so much it really eats into how much of the mining your actually doing. Eventually you can buy elevators that help you get around a little faster. Towards the end of my playing session I did find a teleporter that instantly brings you back to the surface. This helped some but it was still a pain to get back down.

Graphics are well done. I enjoyed the surface area and wish I could have maybe explored it a little more. Seeing the green grass and large trees was a little more exciting than looking at the brown dirt that surrounds the rest of the world (although that is probably all they would see if they were 500 feet below ground.) The background music isn't anything special. One of the soundtracks was actually quite annoying. Of course if it's that bad you could always turn it down.

I'm sure several people will enjoy Miner Dig Deep more than me. It is by no means a bad game, it's just not my favorite type of game. If your interested the game sells for 80 microsoft points.

I give Miner Dig Deep a 3/4.