Dig Master: Idle Mining RPG

■ How deep can you get before the light runs out?

A mining action RPG about one miner, one pickaxe, and the long way down.

Tap a block to dig it. That is the whole control scheme. But your lantern is burning fuel every second you spend down there, and as it dims your view of the world closes in until you cannot see your own feet. Ore and coal burn as fuel, so the only way to keep the light alive is to keep digging.

Turn back, or push one layer deeper? You will face that question again and again, in the dark.

■ Ore only counts once it is home

Everything you mine is hauled back as crafting material. But:

- Smash the Core Crystal and clear the stage, and you keep all of it
- Fall before you get there, and half of it stays in the pit

One greedy swing can cost you half a day's haul. The pull of "just one more block" against the sense to walk away with what you have - that tug of war is the spine of the game.

■ Five mines, 27 kinds of block

- Green Shaft (52m deep)
- Frozen Cavern (66m)
- Magma Depths (80m)
- Ancient Ruins (92m)
- The Abyss (110m)

Each mine has its own sky, its own soundtrack, and its own seams. Copper turns up only in the Green Shaft, sapphire in the Frozen Cavern, ruby in the Magma Depths, mythril at the bottom of the Abyss. Choosing where to go based on what you need to craft is the strategy - and that choice lives in the loadout screen.

Eleven ores from coal to diamond and mythril. Creeping lava, TNT with a lit fuse, sealed treasure chests, and the Core Crystal waiting at the very bottom.

■ Craft your gear from what you dig

Pickaxe (mining speed), Lantern (fuel and light), Boots (speed and landing), Armor (max hearts). Each goes to Lv5, paid for in gold and ore. Recipes show have/need side by side and highlight only what you are missing, so you always know where to dig next.

■ Your mole

Adopt a mole and it trots along behind you, taking a bite out of nearby blocks as you work - sometimes finishing off the stubborn rock you already softened.

It grows by digging beside you, and you can speed that up by feeding it ore. Raised to Lv5 it reaches four tiles out every 2.2 seconds.

■ Miners who work while you are away

Hire Hori, Nomi and Saguri, and they keep working the seams while the app is closed - up to eight hours' worth. Each favours different ore, and each produces more as you train them.

Open the game again and a single "welcome back" hands you the haul plus your daily login bonus. The bonus runs on a seven day cycle, with diamonds waiting on day seven.

■ Things to collect

- Block codex: 27 entries, filled in as you dig
- Treasures: 12 relics unearthed from chests, from a plain coin to a legendary pickaxe
- Achievements: 13
- Three missions per stage, up to three stars each

■ Also

- Japanese / English, switchable at any time
- All music and sound effects generated in real time; every mine has its own key and tempo
- Playable offline
- One-handed portrait controls

The light does not last. Please know when to turn back.