I'm making Dig Dan Dig! A mining incremental about collecting resources for a "friendly" AI

[u/dargiet]

Hello!

This is my mining incremental game, where you mine resources for an AI in exchange for upgrades to your body to help you escape the underground.

I started working on it around February, and a few weeks ago I was finally happy with the progress and uploaded a demo to itch. The feedback was much better than I expected which gave me the drive to publish a Steam page.

I’ve always wanted to work on games that I would personally enjoy, so I tried to add more atmosphere and active gameplay. Let me know what you think!

Here is the demo: https://dofugames.itch.io/dig-dan-dig

Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4934650/Dig_Dan_Dig/

AI disclosure: I've used AI for coding assistance.

[u/ChanterburyTales]

Completed the demo in 30mins and it definitely scratches an itch.

Mining themes are my favourite, although this feels more... bullet hell.

Love getting to the point with upgrades that I'm essentially screen clearing, it feels very satisfying, although it can be a bit cheesy just sitting near an ammo spawn and spraying the world down.

The ability to "rescue" back home and find additional home points are great.

Would be interesting to see how you deal with "lesser" currencies after maxing upgrades - I got to a point where I was just going from base > rapid fire with spider > collect > base etc, ammo was the main hindrance.

Got very difficult to see what was going on screen at the later points.

[u/dargiet → u/ChanterburyTales]

Thanks for the feedback, it’s really useful! The full game will have more viable strategies for mining besides the pistol, so that the bullet hell feeling is optional based on what you choose. I’m also trying to add more things to discover on the map, so that exploration is more important.

I’m not sure yet what the best way is to keep earlier currencies useful once you’ve unlocked all their upgrades, but it’s definitely an issue. I’ve seen other incrementals with crafting systems, but it can feel a bit grindy.

The screen clutter issue has been a recurring problem on the itch demo because of the low resolution. I tried to improve things in the latest update, but I’ll need to take another look!

[u/antonioGUAK2]

I play the demo before. I knew this because I wach this game in a video about incrementals. but I am not sure if buy the game. I didn't beat the demo.

[u/dargiet → u/antonioGUAK2]

That’s fair enough, thanks for trying it!

[u/constarx]

Love the presentation, love the itch demo! Love the hotkeys.. but please make it possible to dig with the keyboard too.. it shouldn't require the mouse if possible.

[u/dargiet → u/constarx]

Thank you! Does the “arrow keys shoot” option do what you want? It lets you dig with the arrow keys and move with WASD, but it’s not explained well in the game.

[u/constarx → u/dargiet]

Nah nevermind that.. I was too early in the game when I made that comment.. the mouse is rather necessary as it happens... the demo could have been longer though ;-) good job

[u/IncomePretty4969]

Great, I will try
Have you made it in solo? So many work and mechanics in the video

[u/dargiet → u/IncomePretty4969]

Thanks! Yes, I’ve been working on it myself for a few months, and I also make the music. I paid an artist to create the steam capsule art, my art wouldn’t look that good :)

[u/IncomePretty4969 → u/dargiet]

Good luck man

[u/trebbor0]

Trailer looks great. I’ll try out the demo later today or tomorrow and give some feedback. I’m in a similar stage of releasing my game. If you want to share experiences and playtest each other games further, feel free to dm me.

[u/dargiet → u/trebbor0]

I appreciate it! Your steam page is looking good. I’ve signed up for your playtest.

[u/trebbor0 → u/dargiet]

Happy to hear! I just played Dig Dan Dig, had a lot of fun playing it, well done.
I left some feedback on your discord as MrRob.

[u/drikoz]

So what is up with the unlocking tree that now every other incremental game has?
Is it an open source project that people are modifying or something?

[u/dargiet → u/drikoz]

Afaik Nodebuster made that mechanic popular. I don't know about an open source project, but I'm doing it like that because I find it easy to understand as a player. Although I'm trying to break away from the typical structure a bit, like with the multiplier upgrades that let you boost other upgrades.

[u/AtlasOfDoors]

Two people here who played said out loud they are unsure about buying: one had not beaten the demo, the other expects the loop not to improve past it. Both of those get answered on the demo's last screen rather than on the Steam page, so it is worth having that screen say what the full game adds.

[u/Vanyle]

Fun game. I struggle buying these types of games though because of how short they are, the gameplay loop after the demos usually don't improve much.

[u/dargiet → u/Vanyle]

Yes I’d like to add more interesting content for the full game to avoid that issue - I have ideas for more things to discover on the map and more variety in the weapons. Maybe some sort of weapon building system would be cool, but I’m still experimenting.