A week or so ago, my friends Jamie, Shadey and I completed a playthrough of Keep Digging. Developed by the indie company Wild Dog, Keep Digging is a light, laid-back game that we used as a sort of stopgap between some of the longer, more involved games we usually play. The premise is simple: you dig with a shovel (which can later be upgraded to a pickaxe) and collect resources. The deeper you go, the more valuable the resources become. These can then be exchanged for in-game money, which is used to buy upgrades that help you dig even deeper.
Among other things, you’ll uncover fossils at different depths. These can be assembled on the surface to build a dinosaur. It’s a little random, but that’s part of the game’s charm. You can also find chimpanzee skins and emotes, which add to the sense of randomness.
At certain stages, there are small open caverns which we explored together. One of them resembled a cathedral, complete with stained-glass windows and a chimpanzee statue. The developers did a great job with the lighting effects, something all of us commented on while exploring the area. To me, it showed that while Keep Digging is a small and simple game, it still contains touches of high-quality detail and pride. It made me want to… well… keep digging deeper to see what was next.
There’s a bit of a sandbox element to Keep Digging. Since our playthrough, I’ve seen other players spend time experimenting and doing interesting things. For me, though, it’s always going to be the kind of game you play with a friend or two to chill for a few hours and see what’s at the end.
I don’t think this is the sort of game people will invest huge amounts of time in, at least, that’s how it felt for me. Having reached the end, unlocked all the achievements, and assembled the dinosaur, I’ve happily added Keep Digging to my list of completed games. At only around 5.5 hours of play, it’s definitely a quick win, but still a satisfying one.
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