SteamWorld Dig
Year: 2013
Rating: E10+
Time Played: 366 minutes / 6.10 hours
I was loosely aware of the SteamWorld games, having picked up several for free over the years on various platforms like the Epic Games Store. Fittingly enough, the first game from the series I ended up playing was SteamWorld Dig via Steam on my SteamDeck. This robot western Metroidvania was limited in its scope, but executed its exploration aspect well. I always appreciate games that are short but not too short, and this one certainly scratched that itch. Still, it retains the visual feel of a game that came out over a decade ago.
The base gameplay loop in SteamWorld Dig revolves around finding gems to pay for upgrades to your mining equipment, which allows you to find more gems and dig deeper into the ground. One thing I learned early on was to dig in a way that allowed me to go back up if I needed to. Far too often, I’d just dig straight down with no way to re-trace my steps if I missed something without expending additional resources. There were little puzzle side-rooms scattered through the underground that would reward me with various abilities to be upgraded, which really progressed the story. I appreciated the limited ability to teleport to and from the surface, especially when I could control it. This made it easier to get back to sections that had slightly more difficult platforming requirements that ate up all my hearts.
My only real qualm with this game is how it looks. Everything controls fine, but it feels like a flash game from the mid-2000s that was just ported to Steam. There’s also not a ton of depth once the drill and rocket punch are unlocked, as they make many challenges much easier. Still, I picked this game up for free, so who am I to complain about some entertainment that didn’t cost me anything?
A visually dated game that’s still fun to kill a few hours with, I give SteamWorld Dig 3.5 stars out of 5.
1/2
