Cave Digger: Riches Review

Share Review

Ever wondered what it would be like to be a cave digger mining for treasure in a small space? Well you can now, all thanks to developer MeKiwi with Cave Digger Riches on the PSVR. A game that is simple in nature, grab your pick axe, your mining hat and other mining tools and travel down the mining shaft to see if Cave Digger Riches is a worthwhile experience.

So let us start with the basics, Cave Digger has no story to the game. Hell it has no menu, pause button or even any explanation to what you need to do, or any sort of options menu. When you start a game, you will start in the middle of a saloon. It is in this saloon that players will be able to purchase tools and upgrades.

To start a run, you press the red button and the lift goes down, then grab your pick axe and start mining the rock, and collecting any gems, diamonds or whatever else may lie within the level, and chuck them into the shoot in the centre of the lift. You have a set amount of time on each level, around a couple of minute’s maybe, to mine as much as you possibly can. When the time runs out you go down another floor and its rinse and repeat. There are different areas to mine, so that you are not just mining the same looking wall. That said there are still a limited amount of looking floors to be mined.

After mining the 3-4 walls on each of the 3 levels you go down to, you head back up to the saloon, where you will see everything you have gotten from your times down the mine and will be able to purchase any upgrades. There are usually 3-4 tools that can be purchased. Some maybe a new tool, or an upgrade for one of the current tools you own. There is also an opportunity to buy a key.

There are two items that can be purchased that add a little mystery to the game. You see one of the items is a glove that requires 5 gems to bring it to full power. Not just that, but you can find some keys in the game that open a door on one of the floors that you can mine on. When you buy a new tool, there are times where some sort of instruction may appear on the first floor that you mine. There is also a check list in the saloon that you can work on completing as well. It is these little things that add to the game, making Cave Digger’s simple game-play loop more compelling.

Cave Digger supports PSVR move controllers, but does not support the dual shock controller. Movement as well is limited teleporting, and snap turning. I personally would have liked to have seen free rotation and have that smoother turning point. As for teleportation being the way you will move around the lift, I didn’t mind it. The small room for movement would more than likely had made free movement a little annoying in this case.

In terms of the visuals for the game there is not much really to say. They are of good quality for the sort of game it is, as well as the price that the game is set out. They seemed nice and sharp, with no jagged edges that at times I have seen on some PSVR games.

As for the sound, there are at times that music will play, and the sound of the pick axes and explosions going off are reasonably done. The thing is with this, is that I enjoyed playing the game while listening to my own personal playlist. It would maybe have been nice if there was more music naturally in the game, but I also think that is would have maybe took away from what the developers wanted. Either way playing your own music while chipping away is great.

Overall, I enjoyed the time that I spent playing this game. Its simple game-play loop, and with the added checklist to try and complete with each run, and some of the mysteries within the game… well I can happily say that I have every intention of returning to this. The only question is, is how long I will keep returning to it for. As much as I do enjoy this game, I think that once I manage to open the door, and get everything checked off the list. I just feel that it will be a game that is like The Long Journey Home; I will return less and less. For the price I would say it is worth a try for a game that should be a relaxing play while you want to think about what to play next, or what to do with your day.

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary Playstation 4 code was provided to Bonus Stage for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to press@4gn.co.uk.

Subscribe to our mailing list

Get the latest game reviews, news, features, and more straight to your inbox

Thank you for subscribing to Bonus Stage.

Something went wrong.

Cave Digger: Riches Review
  • Gameplay - 6/10
    6/10
  • Graphics - 6/10
    6/10
  • Sound - 6/10
    6/10
  • Replay Value - 6/10
    6/10
0/10
User Review
0/10 (0 votes)
0/10
Comments Rating 0/10 (0 reviews)
Overall
6/10

Summary

Ever wondered what it would be like to be a cave digger mining for treasure in a small space? Well you can now, all thanks to developer MeKiwi with Cave Digger Riches on the PSVR.


Share Review