I finally went and picked up a new game for my Nintendo Switch to play during the holidays. Since I would be traveling for a couple of hours by boat I decided a new game to accompany me was in order. I didn't want something grand so I went browsing over on r/NintendoSwitch when a post mentioning that SteamWorld Dig was on sale popped up.
I had heard about the several Steamworld games that exist but I never tried any of them myself. At the quaint price tag of $2 I decided the time was ripe.
SteamWorld Dig is an indie game about a robot who goes digging. We play as Rusty as he visits his uncles old mining town. On the way to the town we fall into the mine where we find Rustys uncle dead. We pick up his old pickaxe and start digging to uncover the secrets of the mine.
This is basically a 2D game where the goal is to dig deep into the mines while upgrading your gear. As you dig you'll stumble upon new types of blocks that gets harder to dig through the lower you get. The same goes for enemies.
The game is rather simple so there's not much more to say really.
I've played the game for about two hours at this point and in a game like this that's quite enough to get an opinion of the game. The game progresses rather fast, at least in this stage of the game.
I love colorful and cartoony so I immediately take a liking to the games art style. I can't say for sure but all of the assets seem handdrawn and that's something I quite like. The design artist did a great job on this game.
Gameplay wise it's quite simple. The game is mostly about exploration and digging with a side of combat every now and then. The exploration is quite simple. You go into the mines and you press the dig button while standing next to the block you want to dig. If you want to dig straight down you just press down on the movement stick.
One thing I learned early on is that you can dig yourself into a problem. See, when you dig you sometimes dig up ore. Ore can be taken to the surface and sold for profits which in turn can be used to buy resources or upgrade your gear. To do that you have to, well, get to the surface. I managed to dig myself into a hole that I didn't manage to get out of. I had to self-destruct and lose all of my new found ore in the process. This means you actually gotta be a bit smart about your digging. One thing I didn't expect but also one thing I like.
I love games where you get to buy and unlock upgrades. Upgrades give a nice sense of progression and a feeling that you are indeed getting stronger and better as you progress the game. This game has a lot of upgrades. You can either find them in the mine or buy them from the different kinds of vendors in the town above.
I mentioned that you gotta get to the surface to sell your ore. When you do this you eventually level up. The money you earn is basically your experience in this game. As you level up you unlock new upgrades and items at the vendors and at certain milestones you even unlock new vendors with even better gear and upgrades!
The upgrades are quite basic. Increased mining power to break blocks faster, increased health, increased fuel storage for your lantern and so on. Upgrades that make your life easier.
Some upgrades are found in the mines as mentioned. These include things like spring boots which can give you a high jump at the cost of some steam. These would have helped me escape the mines in the self-destruct scenario I mentioned earlier. You also get the ability to wall jump, throw dynamite and do a falcon punch. All of which can be further enhances by the vendors in town.
SteamWorld Dig is set in a time after humans have vanished from the earth. The world of the humans is referred to as the Old World and get get to hear a bit of it when talking to the different NPCs and vendors. The lore isn't really that deep and follows in the footsteps of so many games before it. Humans fucked up and eradicated themselves. We dug to deepily and to greedily.
As we dig into the mines we eventually dig deep enough to reach this Old World and that is where I currently am. I've explored a little bit of it and found what I suspect is remnants of humanity. Nukes, trash and grumpy old men that want to fight.
I've been having a lot of fun with this game the few hours I've played it. My holidays are soon to be over so I'll have to finish up the game at a later time. It will probably turn into a pillow game to play before falling asleep. I'm excited to see what secrets the Old World and beyond will hold.
If you're interested this game is on sale in different online stores for basically nothing. Here's the Steam Link for those on PC and the Nintendo Switch Link. All of you Xbox and PlayStation nerds can find your own links!
Rusty out!
All images in this post are screenshots taken by me.
