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Gem Digger

Gem Digger

A classic digging action game. Tunnel through a cave of soft dirt to scoop up glittering gems, then slip out through the exit before the level clock runs out — all while heavy boulders hang overhead, ready to drop the moment you step out from under them. Dig boldly, but never let a falling rock land on you. Every level gives you a little less time, so dig fast and go as deep as you can.

How to play

Your little digger sits in a cave packed with brown dirt. Use the four arrow buttons at the bottom of the screen to move it — tap an arrow for a single step, or hold it down to keep moving. Pushing into dirt clears it and lets you through, opening up tunnels wherever you go.

More: full rules and tips

Scattered through the cave are cyan gems. Move onto a gem to collect it; a gem that drops onto your head counts too. The counter under the cave shows how many you have and how many you need — never every gem you can reach. Once you hit the target, the exit lights up green; step into it to finish the level. Each level has a clock: 100 seconds on level 1 and 2 seconds less on every level after. If it runs out, you lose a life and the level starts over.

The grey boulders are the danger. A boulder (or a gem) falls straight down whenever the square under it is empty, and rolls sideways off the top of another boulder, a gem or the wall when the square beside it and the one below that are both empty. You count as solid: a resting boulder can sit on your head without harm and only drops once you step away. A boulder that is already falling crushes you and costs a life. That makes one move deadly — stepping straight down out from under a boulder, because it drops into the square you just left and lands on you. Step sideways instead.

You can also push a single boulder sideways if the square on its far side is empty. You have three lives; losing one restarts the level and takes your score back to what it was when the level began. Scoring: 10 per gem, 100 × the level number for each exit you reach, 10 for every gem beyond the target, and 1 point for every 0.2 seconds left on the clock.

Tips & strategy

Read the ceiling before you dig. Every boulder above your tunnel is a rock that will drop the moment you leave the square beneath it, so plan your way out of that square before you step in: sideways is safe, straight down is not.

Approach boulders from the side. From the side you can tunnel past one, and if its far side is open you can shove it out of the way to open a passage or tip it into a shaft you have already dug — just not one you are about to walk under.

Watch the clock as well as the rocks. The time limit shrinks by 2 seconds every level, so in the later caves there is no time to wander. Leftover seconds score too, which means a short, clean route is worth more than a careful tour of the whole cave.

Grab the easy gems first and don't be greedy. The target is always smaller than the number of gems you can reach, so plan a loop that picks up the safe ones and heads for the exit. Spare gems are worth 10 each, but chasing one tucked under a stack of boulders is how good runs end early.