Rock Digger is the debut game from indie developer Rockin’ Games. Start as a humble rock and evolve into an unstoppable mining golem! We checked out the demo from Steam Next Fest, and here’s what we found.

Rock’n’Roll

After crash-landing on an alien planet, you’ll dig for resources, solve ancient puzzles, and uncover hidden secrets. Rock Digger has a sense of humor, prompting you to move despite being an insensate rock. Thankfully, a well-time lightning bolt give you both life and legs! Following the tunnels readily available to you also leads you to arms and a mysterious, inexhaustible supply of pickaxes. From there, you just dig through the rock, grab your minimap, and get rolling. As you delve ever deeper, your map will alert you to spatial puzzles and places of interest hidden within the earth, giving you a little something extra to play with.

As you progress in Rock Digger, you’ll discover countless upgrades and powerful abilities. Various ores are hidden throughout the rock that you can absorb. Bring those ores back to an alchemy platform, and you can spend them to increase your pickaxe strength, among other things. After a while, though, you will run out of powers you can purchase. To progress, you must delve deeper, coaxed by a mysterious voice. The demo only has three layers to explore, but more mysterious worlds and lost alien technologies will be available on the full release.

Rock Digger is a game focused entirely on mining, allowing you to take your time without the pressure of a timer. There are no enemies to defend against, and nothing awaits you at the surface, so you can explore at your leisure. The graphics resemble a classic arcade game, making it feel nostalgic somehow. It’s pretty relaxing, in its way, so if you’re interested in a mining adventure, I recommend you check out the demo for yourself.