Strata

Dig a world that remembers you

A mining game where you can dig in any direction, not just down. You start on the surface with a weak drill, a small lamp and room for twelve units of ore. Below you is a world 200 columns wide and 1,400 metres deep. Dig out ore, bring it up, sell it, buy better gear and go further. The best finds are usually off to the side, not straight down, so the real question is how far you can get before your fuel, cargo or hull runs out.

The goal: five Seals

Each layer of rock hides a Seal inside a hard vault. You know how deep each one is, but not where it is sideways, so you have to hunt for it.

With all five, the Core Vault at 1,330 metres opens. What's inside has to be carried all the way back to the surface by hand. That takes more than one sitting.

How to play

Strata needs a keyboard, so play it on a computer.

• A / D to walk, W or Space to jump (or fly, once you have a jetpack).
• Arrow keys to dig in that direction.
• E to use a station or the elevator, S to sell at the surface, 1–6 to buy upgrades.

Ore sells for 12 credits a unit, and artifacts from buried ruins for 65. If your hull breaks underground you're pulled back up, but you lose half your cargo. There's a station every 100 metres down the main shaft: once you've reached one, you can drop straight to it next time.

Upgrades

Drill, cargo, fuel, light, jetpack and hull. A good order: cargo first, so each trip earns more, then the first jetpack tier, which changes the game more than anything else. Then drill and fuel as the rock gets harder. Leave hull until you start seeing lava.

What can kill you

• Lava burns through your hull. Digging into it from below ends a lot of good runs.
• Gas pockets drain your fuel when you break into them.
• Gravel falls when you dig out what's under it.
• Water doesn't hurt, but it slows you to about half speed.

A new world every week

Everyone digs the same world, and a new one starts every Monday at 00:00 UTC. Same caves, same Seals, same lucky ore vein next to the shaft, so the leaderboard is a fair race. When the world changes, the boards reset, but your achievements stay with you.

Questions

Is it free?

Yes, paid for by ads. No download and no account.

Does it save my progress?

Yes. Your credits, upgrades, stations and Seals are saved for the current week's world, so you can close the tab and come back.

Does it work on a phone?

Not really, it needs a keyboard. On a phone, try Tether or Overstack.

More games like this

• Castaway — the other long game here: walk instead of dig, and the compass lies to you.
• Sonar — also underground, also dark, but you have no drill and something is listening.
• Driftbreak — momentum and gravity, above ground for once.

Or read How we generate a mine that's fair for everybody — why everyone digs the same world each week, and how 280,000 tiles fit inside a single number.