Originally published as an Advisory Hour Substack post on 2026-10-16. This first-party site copy preserves the text, localizes public supporting media, and connects the record to its project trail.
Original post
Insert coin.
JustDig! is an homage to the old arcade game Dig Dug. I still remember plopping a quarter into an arcade machine and seeing how far that twenty-five cents would take me. I wanted to play around with those mechanics again.
To be frank, though, I think the trailer might actually be more fun than the game. I haven’t quite decided. The video produced for this one is pretty phenomenal, and I encourage you to give it a play. It’s just below here (bottom of the article to be clear), and it’s pretty amusing.
The mechanics are straightforward. You’re a digger making tunnels through the dirt, with a pump for dealing with the critters chasing you. Face one, connect the pump, and keep inflating it until it pops like a balloon. Three puffs will do it. You can also dig beneath a rock and let it drop on whatever happens to be underneath.
Clear the critters, collect points, and move into the next wave. Keep going until you run out of lives. That’s the game loop.
One detail I like is that every attack gives you a warning. You get a moment to see what’s coming and decide whether to pump, turn a corner, or get out of the way.
Some of the stages borrow from other projects, so you might recognize a few locations. It seems to play reasonably well on a mobile device and on a computer.
If you get a pretty high score, let me know. I’ll try to beat it.
Otherwise, check out the video and give the game a try. I had some fun with this one, and I hope that comes through in both.
This is the second gamelab project to get it’s own trailer. This is now a “thing”. I can’t get over how much more polished my gamelab projects have grown over the year. It’s really something.
Connected work
- JustDig! Build Notes: Read how the arcade rules, sprites, and pump bot fit together.
- Play JustDig!: Dig tunnels, pump critters, and drop rocks.