Game Review: Dig as far as you can in Tiny Miners

When I last did a review that included miners and plenty of digging was a year ago with "Dig a Way" (you can read the review here) which was an amazing game and I enjoyed every second of it. Although Tiny Miners is not as challenging in terms of plot and gameplay, I still thought it looked interesting and based on my previous experience I felt it was worth giving a try. And I am glad I did because Tiny Miners is a very enjoyable and fun little game albeit not very exciting.

Gameplay

In Tiny Miners you take on the role of a young miner and dig your way out while trying to collect as many treasures as possible and avoid obstacles that cost you life points. The only actions you need to perform are swiping to move left or right. Your goal is to collect the most precious treasures among the many different types that there are, e.g. coins, pearls, diamonds, resources that are necessary for building tools to help you dig deeper and more.

There is a map on the main menu that shows you which level you’re on the number of stars you were rewarded to each level you played. As usual, a perfect score rewards you with 3 stars. As you advance your character also levels up and if you do well in a level you are given bonus time to collect more items. There are also some goals set that when completed are giving to rewards.

The more levels you unlock the more surprises good and bad will start appearing. Hazards will increase so you will have to be extra careful with your movements but also greater treasures such as Chests that have plenty of rewards in them. You will even come across dinosaur bones’ which in itself is a very exciting addition and I never get bored of it neither in cartoons or games.

To build tools you have to collect enough ingredients (plastic, wood logs, candles and more) and then experiment with them to see what tool you'll end up with. There are levels that will need specific tools to be unlocked so if you don’t have the necessary ingredients you’ll need to replay your previous level to collect them. Experimentation could take some time to complete but you have the option to speed up the process by spending a diamond. Creating new tools will seem confusing at first but you will be given clear instructions to help you do everything accordingly. Later on you’ll be able to do it quite easily, although I admit I wish it didn’t have that many steps as I prefer the levels themselves more than crafting.

With your new tools you can drill through obstacles without losing life points, simply by swiping down. While digging you will also come across vials of various colors and each has a different ability. The red vials can be used to revive you so that you can continue from the last point instead of starting over, and the blue vials can activate a Superdrill, which as you can tell by its name, is a very powerful tool against obstacles.

The game is wonderful and quite addicting but my only complaint is how heavy it is in the items department and how many action you need to perform to create what the game asks of you. It gets confusing after some point and it diminishes the interest to play more. However, I understand that there are players who enjoy these features and if you’re one of them, then you will enjoy Tiny Miners immensely.

In-app Purchases

Tiny Miners suffers from a lot of IAPs and it is the kind of game that eventually makes you consider purchasing because of how hard it will be to collect certain things. That’s not say you can’t enjoy the game for free or that you will reach a point where you’ll have to pay to continue, but as the levels get harder you will lose life points a lot easier and although by trying harder you’ll make it, everything leads you to purchasing items and as you know if you follow my reviews, I’m not a big fan of this type of IAPs. In the shop you will find diamond, coins, and chest bundles full of gears and items.

Graphics & Sounds

Visually the game is very appealing with bright smooth colors and lovable characters. The designs are very detailed and I fell in love with all the collectibles because of their colors. I never thought I’d find plastic and wood so cute! The BG music is cheerful and fitting to the game’s atmosphere.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Tiny Miners is an enjoyable game, challenging and addictive. I didn’t like much the tool crafting part of it, but the gameplay and levels are very intriguing and fun to play. You will easily find yourself fixated on it and will go level after level non-stop once you get the grip of it. it is certainly a game that you will play for a long time without getting bored despite the frustrating moments of game-over that are a normal outcome in most games. If you give it a try, let us know your thoughts and impressions in the comments below.

Download Tiny Miners for iOS devices here.

Tiny Miners screenshots (above) and trailer (below)