Indie Game (IG) under Review: Miner Dig Deep
Developed by: Robir (James, Brendan, and Will Ribaux)
System: Xbox 360
Version: ?
Genre: Action & Adventure
Cost: 200 Microsoft Points ($2.50)
Download Style: Full Game/Trial Game
Download Size: 9.54 Mb
Learning Curve: 1-5 Minutes
Overall Rating: 9/10
Main Features:
- Players 1
- HDTV 720p Support
- Custom Soundtracks
Other Features:
- Randomly generated mine & resources
- Randomly generated surface trees & grass
- Purchase & upgrade a number of items to dig deeper!
- Dig too much in one area and Earthquakes occur, causing cave-ins!
- Ability to Save/Load
Puzzling:
- Why can’t Teleporter’s go down as well as up?
Rating:
Violence - 1/3
Sex - 0/3
Mature Content - 0/3

INDIE GAMES INTRO:

Please Note: Unless otherwise specified, I have bought and played all aspects of the games I review.

Downloading Indie Games:
1. Turn on Xbox 360 and sign into XBOX Live.
2. Navigate to: Game Marketplace=>Explore Game Content=>Indie Games
3. Look around and download games!

Important Indie Game Reminders:
1. They are NOT rated by Microsoft or the ESRB.
2. They can only be played while connected to Xbox Live.
3. They can only be played for four or eight minutes before the trial ends (depending upon release
date).
4. Some features may be locked in the trial mode.

REVIEW INTRO:

Miner Dig Deep is an addictive casual game where the player tries to expand their mine to find riches in the depths below.

GRAPHICS: 8/10

Some of the graphics look like they could be made in Microsoft’s Paint, but the game fits this way. The game’s main focus is on game play, and when addicted, nothing else matters.



This area of the surface is the only "above ground" area the player will see.



The elevators help reach the depths and make traveling easier. The blue teleporter is also helpful in doing this.



Use ladders where you can or you might get stuck!



There are many different ways to dig through a mine and ladders will help the player move around.

MUSIC: 8/10

There are two music variations. The first music variation plays when the player is on the world’s surface. The second play’s on the title screen and while in the mine. While they are nothing special, they do not grate on the ears. They flow with the overall feel of the game, and the fact that there is little variance is lost amid the game play. The character sounds, grab hook, drill, pick, and other items do not get annoying either.

STORY: 9/10

You are a miner trying to become rich by digging the deepest mine. A story that sets the background for the entire game, and culminates in an amazing ending with a careful choice to make.

GAMEPLAY & FEATURES: 9/10

Miner Dig Deep involves exploring a very big mine to collect and sell resources at the shop on the surface. While doing so, it is important to never get stuck. Always make sure that there is a route back to the surface. Otherwise the player must be rescued and the collected resources are lost. Selling resources awards the player with money to buy or upgrade items. Some items such as elevators and ladders help the player explore the mine and create easy routes to travel around.

Every time a new game or new mine is started, the surface is randomized. The grass, the background trees, and the foreground trees are all placed differently which helps give it a fresher feel. The mine is periodically randomized to keep resources (and boulders) available to be mined. Why mine these resources? Because the Miner needs to explore the depths and to do so they must have their equipment upgraded. Upgrading equipment is the element that will keep people coming back for more. Just wondering how much better the experience will be if the drill, grab hook, or any other item is upgraded one more time is a blast. Getting the last upgrade ends the reason to play, which means its time to start a new mine.

One element that adds to the mining experience is the occasional Earthquake. Some people may go through a mine without ever having an Earthquake, while some will have many. An Earthquake occurs when too much of the mine is dug away in one area. This leads to cave-ins. Another element is the addition of Teleporters at certain depths within the mines. These Teleporters quickly take the player back to the surface and are very useful.

The only problem I have with the game is that Teleporters take the player up, but not back down. This leads the player to have to use elevators to go down more than 1000 M! They are like the elevator rides from Mass Effect. Amazing at first, but they quickly become tedious. There should be Teleporters on the surface that activate once the player reaches a certain depth. For example, when the player reaches 250 M, Teleporter 1 activates. They now have the ability to use Teleporter 1 on the surface. This could be done for all of the Teleporters.

I recently spoke to the Robir Team about the above problem and they had this to say:

"The team definitely considered the idea of having Teleporters go both ways, however we felt it made the game too simple after a point. If you can Teleport up and down then it makes the space between the Teleporters useless. Players building a slow inefficient mine are punished by having to constantly navigate a messy mine to hit the bottom. If you could just skip to a certain point in the mine after reaching it then players would just messily dig down and not have to worry about the consequences. The idea of an increasing challenge and time taken to travel also gave purpose to getting new items."

I will let you make up your own mind about it.

OVERALL: 9/10

The game has an infinite number of randomly generated mines and surface types. For only 200 Microsoft Points ($2.50), this game will keep you coming back for more. Even if mining does not interest you, you should try this. I was skeptical at first. However, after I bought the game, I played for three hours straight!

Other Games by Robir (James, Brendan, and Will Ribaux) (as of 8/26/09):

- None

For more full reviews, visit the ExL Studios Website .

For quick reviews, visit the ExL Studios Blog .

Just what the others said: A wonderful game! I love wasting time with this... (^ ^)

What can I say about this game that hasn't been said before? You have to play it, to understand why it is so addicting. No matter how little you pay for it, it will be the most fun you had in a very long time with a game. It's just that good!

Miner Dig Deep is a cult hit on the Xbox 360 Indie platform. You dig minerals in order to return to the surface and purchase better equipment. It's simple and addicting and one of the best buys on the Indie games platform.

Miner Dig Deep is just a great example of a simple concept that is fun and rewarding. These's no real sense of danger... but you still want to get farther and improve your abilities. Sometimes it's nice to just play something that I don't need to think critically about, but isn't just yet another Gauntlet-style FPS.

Miner Dig Deep fills that void on the 360 with style.

Absolutely AWESOME!!

This game is sooo addictive, At first I thought there was not much to it but at the end of the 8 minute trial I was totally hooked and have been playing for about 3 hours straight

I love this game just because it allows me to just relax and dig. It has some extremely tense situations especially when you run out of light and need to dig your way up (rock can kill you and you loose your loot, so its very stressful).

For $2.50 its amazing. Can't wait to finish my finals and play it some more!

Its a simple buy yet very addictive concept. It did however get a bit too much of 'grind' after a while.

I enjoy this game a lot. Totally overlooked it when it came out but after playing it I find it a nice little bit of entertainment.

digging for things can be quite addictive as simple as the concept is and there is always a sense that the next shiny thing could be just a few feet away.

the only real niggles I have are the death penalty which seems a little harsh in contrast to the rest of the game being decidedly casual in nature, and the art is a little too simplistic but that could be put down to personal taste.

If I had reviewed it when it came out I probably would have given it a nine but in light of the generally rising qaulity of community games I think this deserves an 8 overall.

As simple as it can seem, the game mechanics are well developed and it's fun to explore the mine, always taking care of your kerosene level to ensure you can go back to the surface.

I highly recommend it to everyone, it's a fresh concept of game with a good gameplay.

To be sincere I didn't finish the game, in my opinion it gets a little repetitive towards the end (once you get the drill, the gameplay becomes too easy), but anyway the game is real fun.

This is probably the best $2.50 you will ever spend!!

This game is so much fun and also addicting. Starting out it is pretty basic but as you get deeper the more hooked you get. I find myself playing this game more than some of the games that I payed $60 for and it seems never ending!

There is not much of a sound track (2-3 "songs") and sound effects are basic but the animation isn't bad and the gameplay is easy to learn and master.

If you want some cheap entertainment, this is a great thing to get!!

This is easily the best Community game I've downloaded yet. My wife and I have both spent hours playing this game, there's just so much to do here!

The premise is fairly simple. You dig through the ground looking for various ores that you can sell up on the surface. The further down you go, the more valuable the ores. With the money you earn, you can purchase items like elevator shafts, larger lamps, ladders, etc to aid in your digging. The game keeps you hooked by holding out more powerful items for you to buy.

There are a few challenges along the way. There are rocks scattered throughout the ground - be careful when digging, lest one of these fall on you. You want to make sure that you don't dig yourself too deep where you can't get out. There are also pits and caveins to look out for. You never actually die in this game, but you can lose all the ores that you've worked so hard to accumulate on a particular trip.

If you're looking for a game that's simple, cheap, and lots of fun, then you cannot go wrong with this game.

This game is refreshing. I keep finding myself going back to this game everytime I turn my system on! Its simple, but thats good.

You will never find a better value than this game for 200 msp.

Start out on the surface with only a weak pickaxe and a lantern that burns out quickly. Nearby are a store for buying mining equipment and a place to save. Enter the mine, and start to dig up cheap ores. The tunnels you dig are permanent, and will remain as you dug them as long as you play in that mine. Once you've bought some cool gear you can dig deeper and deeper and much deeper, finding more valuable ores and new twists (which the game explains well) along the way.

All the digging takes place in a mine three screens wide and a crazy large number of screens deep. The graphics are simple 2d, and very pleasant to me. The music and sound effects sound really nice, but then get worse later on when you're pretty much forced to use the loud, grating drills. But this is my only complaint.

I have already been all the way down on three save files, and I don't want to stop! This is, to me, community games' first bona fide adventure game. If there were more games this good, Community Games' reputation would skyrocket.

This game is surprisingly good, the controls are awesome and you become one with the little miner.
I normally hate collecting games, but this is different. It's pretty hard, but in a good way.

Pretty addictive little gem. The controls work well and later in the game it can be a long while between saves, but I love it.

A Laborius task has never been so fun!!

You play the little miner dude, and have to find your fortune. To do this you need to keep an eye on your kerosene lamp oil levels (which give you radial light so you can spot resources) you need to make sure you don't dig underneath Rocks or they'll squish you, and like all situations when you dig yourself a hole, make sure you can get out of it again!

For 200 MS Points, this is a bargain of a game, it has nice gameplay, a pleasent score however be-warned it can lead to obsession, you'll be thinking "just another minute on this game, I need to upgrade my lamp" then eight hours later it's time for work.

Probably the best £1.70 game in the world.



I say probably, because there are bound to be some great downloadable games on the PC that are just as good, but not many I’m sure, because Miner Dig Deep is the rarest of gems in this day and age of online and multiplayer gaming. It is a simple single player game that will suck you in and keep you playing till the end.

The official description of the game is as follows - Dig and expand your mine to find greater treasures from the depths. Build the deepest mine so you can make your fortune in rare gems and metals from the earth below. It doesn’t really make you want to play the game does it?

So let’s expand on that a little. Your little miner dude has to make his fortune digging for precious ore. You start the game outside a shop in the open air with a pleasant guitar track playing as back ground music. You can go in and buy new items to help you with the mining. The problem being you can’t afford much apart from the oil to keep your lamp burning. But the items available in the shop (ladders, lifts etc.) hint at the task ahead.

On the way to the mine entrance you pass a tent in which you can save your game as often as you come to the surface. Once in the mine the music changes to a slightly more oppressive tune that fits well with being under ground. One of the first things you come across is a piece of a Blueprint, you will need to collect all of these so that new equipment becomes available in the shop. Digging is easy, just hold the x button, but don’t get too carried away with the mining, because if you don’t have a ladder or can’t get back up you’ll have to be rescued and you will lose all the ore you have mined.

The other way you lose the ore you have been toiling for, is if a rock falls on you. Don’t panic you won’t die, but it is a real bummer to waist all that hard work, so make sure you have plenty of oil in your lamp so you can see what you are doing. Tip; digging blind is very dangerous.

When you start to get deeper into the mine you soon find that you need a better lamp that will last longer, it sees further too. Also as you descend you’ll find new more valuable ore, the little cheer from your miner every time you find something new is quite gratifying. When looking for ore be careful not to dig out the mine too extensively though as you may cause a cave in.

You soon discover that your bag doesn’t hold very much, so you’ll have to save up for a better one. This is the basic mechanic of the game, the deeper you go, the more rewards you get. With bigger and better equipment available and more valuable gems and ore to find. These rewards a timed to perfection, just as you start to think that the game may get boring you find something new, a drill, a barrier to break though or a teleporter for example.

The mine goes down a long way, but the pace of the game is just right. It keeps you wanting to look just a little further. After all, there is something in all of us that wants to know what is round the corner and the makers of this game have tapped into that human trait perfectly.

I found the guitar music soundtrack to be a breath of fresh air and the game play a joy. If this doesn’t become one of the best selling Xbox Live Community Games, there is no justice in the world.

Keep digging, there is a reward.