Summary
- Manage resources in game efficiently to reach treasure quicker.
- Prioritize battery recharge, health, lamps, and dynamite.
- Upgrade shovel first, then focus on inventory and battery.
Yes, A Game About Digging A Hole, is in fact, a game about digging a hole. However, it’s also a game about managing your resources to ensure that you reach the fabled treasure deep under your garden as soon as possible.
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As soon as you find your first stones, and up until you’re hundreds of meters down finding diamonds, you’ll constantly be making money in A Game About Digging A Hole, and one of its biggest challenges is knowing how to spend it. There are various categories and upgrades to spend this money on, but which should you be prioritizing the most?
6
Reusable Upgrades
Battery Recharge And Health
While most of the upgrades in A Game About Digging A Hole are centered around the shovel that enables you to get so far underground, there are two stats you’ll also need to keep track of: your health and your battery.
If you take a particularly nasty fall, you’re going to lose health, and your battery is constantly draining every time you use your shovel or jetpack. If either runs out, you’re going to pass out and lose all the ore from your latest trip and need to buy a full battery charge and a dose of healing. Instead, heal and recharge your battery every time you resurface, since it’ll be cheaper than being forced to.
5
Consumables
Lamps And Dynamite
There are two consumables that will both be invaluable the deeper into your hole you get: lamps, and dynamite. You won’t need dynamite until you’re quite far down, but as soon as your man-made cave starts to get dark you’ll want to invest in lamps.
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You can technically get through the entire game without lamps, but if you can’t see anything, the game will be infinitely harder than it needs to be. For dynamite, while it’s mostly optional, getting rid of large rocks and lava-rocks (which deal damage upon contact), can save you a lot of time, and they’re often hiding useful treasure.
4
Jetpack
Battery-Powered Lifeline
Since there’s no climbing in A Game About Digging A Hole and your jump ability is relatively underpowered as well, the jetpack upgrade is going to be necessary as soon as you get deep enough to need it.
If you don’t get the jetpack and get too deep, the only way of getting back up will be forcibly using up all your battery and respawning at the top, but in doing so you’ll lose all of your recent progress. Once you’ve unlocked the jetpack, it becomes the least important category to upgrade, since each subsequent upgrade after unlocking it simply isn’t as useful as the other main categories. It’s recommended to upgrade this category once it becomes easily affordable, after you’ve budgeted for the more important categories.
3
Inventory
Deep Pockets
At the start of A Game About Digging A Hole, you’ll only be able to carry a measly three ores before needing to resurface and sell them back in your shed. This makes upgrading your inventory one of the more important categories to upgrade in the early-game.
Up until the mid-game, regularly upgrading your inventory is an efficient tactic since it will save you the battery power from constantly going up and down your hole. It also ensures that you get a good stack of cash after you complete each trip. However, after this point, you’ll be focused on other goals compared to filling your pockets, and the amount of space you have will be more than enough. At this point, you’ll want to treat your inventory like the jetpack upgrade and only upgrade it once it’s easily affordable.
2
Battery
Keep Your Shovel In One Piece
Compared to most real-world mining operations, your shovel is pretty sustainable using a rechargable battery. However, the device is pretty dangerous, and you’ll be warned early-on that if you let the battery completely deplete it’ll explode. This explosion will make you lose all your ore and need to fork out the funds for a full charge and heal, so you’ll want to avoid it at all cost.
This is why upgrading the battery category should be one of your highest priorities. Not only will digging deplete your battery, but so will the jetpack, so managing your battery life so you can get back up safely can often be a chore. Having the security of a hefty battery life will make filling your inventory and getting back safely a simple and relatively risk-free task.
1
Shovel
Keep On Digging
For A Game About Digging A Hole, you’ll want the best tool for digging possible, so upgrading your shovel should be the category you’re always looking to upgrade first. You might groan at the start of the game upon seeing just how little your shovel digs with each click, but by the time your shovel is fully upgraded, the dirt will practically be melting away between you and your goal.
The best practice for upgrading your shovel is for it to be your top priority until you are having trouble with one of the other categories, and once that category has been upgraded, you can go back to leveling up your shovel. Having the best shovel possible makes progression a lot smoother and enjoyable, so as soon as you can afford it, get your shovel to the next stage until it’s maxxed out.
Adventure
Exploration
Crafting
- Released
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February 7, 2025
- Developer(s)
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Cyberwave
- Publisher(s)
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Drillhounds, rokaplay Bou·tique
- PC Release Date
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February 7, 2025