If you’re looking for something truly indie to take a looksy at this weekend, Demonborg Mining Co just crossed my radar and may well be worth sticking on the ol’ watchlist. Here’s a quick overview:
It might look like a cute little game about mining – and it is – but it’s also a game about the end of the world. You see, according to Ouch Giver Games, there are giant demonic robots living at the bottom of the ocean, just waiting to destroy the world.
It’s your job, as a drone pilot working for the eponymous Demonborg Mining Co, to dig into said giant demonic robots and then mine them for resources, all before the end times arrive and we all die horribly, I presume.
These robots are large and well-defended by automated drones, and so you’ll need to watch where you go. Along the way you’ll also need to grab whatever resources you can as you contend with the gravity dragging you down, and managing your fuel and hull strength is vital to your overall survival.
If you do manage to get to the bottom of the level and escape with your life, in true roguish style, you’re given some tactical upgrades to choose from before it’s on to the next robo-dig.
Each level is a downward burrow through giant machine parts, however, grabbing (and by “grabbing” I simply mean “running into”) fuel gives you more freedom to move around, which is done using your boost and helps you to pick up the most valuable resources.
You can also equip drones to assist you on your dive, and these little fellas offer supporting fire imbued with various traits (such as the ability to ricochet shots off of walls).
As you can see from the attached screenshots, this a stripped back game that relies on visual clarity in order to allow for quick decision making. The colour palette is bold and vibrant, and while I do like it, I think it does make the text harder to read at speed, which can break up the flow just a little.
This is only a quick news rather than a review or article because I’ve got a bunch of pre-agreed commitments already in place. That being so, I have only played about half an hour of Demonborg, yet I wanted to take a look because I was curious and because the whole point of Rogueliker is to shine a light on games that most people simply aren’t paying attention to.
What I discovered in my admittedly brief time with the game was a simple but effective mining-themed auto-shooter. In fact, I could see this one fitting nicely on mobile, and so I’ve got my fingers crossed that Ouch Giver Games can build up a bit more momentum and find a bigger audience for it.
