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About Rockfall
A cave-digging puzzle in the spirit of Boulder Dash, drawn like the 8-bit version you might have played on an Amstrad or a Commodore. The dirt is what holds the boulders up, so every tunnel you dig can bring them down. Collect enough gems to open the exit, then get out through the mess you made. Twenty caves, A to T, each in its own colours, and a short bonus cave after every fourth one.
How to play
- Desktop: arrow keys or WASD to dig and move. Hold Shift with a direction to grab the cell next to you without stepping into it.
- Phone: a d-pad at the bottom left and a GRAB button at the bottom right.
- Push a boulder by walking into it sideways. It takes a moment to get it moving, and it never goes up or down.
- Stuck? Press Esc or ↺ to restart the cave for one life.
- Once you have reached cave E, I, M or Q, you can start your next run there.
What's in the caves
- Fireflies follow the walls on a fixed loop. Watch one lap and you know where it will be.
- Butterflies do the same the other way round. Drop a boulder on one and it turns into nine gems.
- Amoeba grows into everything. Wall it in and it turns to gems. Let it grow too big and it turns to stone.
- The magic wall turns falling rocks into gems, but only for a short while after the first one goes in.
- The expanding wall looks like brick and grows sideways into any gap next to it.
Tips
- Dig sideways, not upwards, or the boulders end up over your head.
- Learn grab. It lets you take a gem from under a stack and live.
- The time left when you reach the exit is added to your score.
FAQ
Is it free? Do I need an account? It's free, paid for by ads. No account: you only type a name if you want to post a score.
Does it work on a phone? It does, with a d-pad and a GRAB button, but it's easier with a keyboard.
Why did that boulder kill me? A resting boulder is safe. It's dangerous from the moment it starts to fall.
The exit did nothing. It only opens once you have enough gems. The screen flashes when it does.
More games like this
- Airshaft — the other mine game: a single-screen platformer with an air gauge and a collect-everything-then-leave loop.
- Castaway — turn-based, no reflexes at all, and the same pleasure of a plan that survives contact.
- Sonar — another dark cave, but you cannot see it until you ping it.
Or read Why one-button games are secretly the hardest — one of our write-ups on how these games are built and how to play them better.