izigame.me

As a fan of Void Scrappers, I decided to check out this mining shmup from developer 8BitSkull.

A bit like Super Motherload, the story plays out in text conversations as you carve new mineshafts and collect gems, but unlike in that game, you don't have to ascend to the surface to complete a run. Let alone periodically to refuel and repair. Instead, the fuel supply and hull integrity of your ship needs to last until you reach your objective. Otherwise, it's a failed run, though you get to keep the collected gems to use extending your craft's range, adding armor to its hull, or upgrading the guns.

Yep, you blast your way through a variety of different types of rock strata using a gatling gun, which is helpful also against enemies who appear in increasing numbers as the game goes on and you clear more levels which are represented by grid squares in the game's overworld map.

Depending on the character you choose, there is a recharging special ability, though I have a tough time imagining playing the game without my chosen character's ability of a boost that carves through rock like butter and makes it much easier to reach the objective within one tank of gas (and some pickups along the way).

While I was still reserving judgment a bit, two hours in, at the four hour mark I realized that not only is this game addictive, it's pretty fun. The upgrade system does an admirable job of keeping the player right on the edge of the mining craft being powerful enough to reach the end of the longer levels, without making this feel a dawdle trivialized by these improvements.

I could easily walk away, now, and be satisfied with the experience, but I'm still enjoying myself and will keep going to try and clear the rest of the levels. One of the things that I appreciated about Void Scrappers was that, unlike a lot of the "forever games" in the genre, it had an attainable ending. And this looks to be similar in that respect.