Fourteen years ago, Image & Form established the SteamWorld universe with the release of SteamWorld Tower Defense, but it wasn’t until the release of SteamWorld Dig a few years later that the series truly made its mark. I took a journey back to Tumbleton and El Machino to see if SteamWorld Dig and SteamWorld Dig 2 have stood the test of time.
Spoiler Warning: Looking back on these two games so many years after release, we delve into some major plot points and spoilers.
From the day that Rusty first strode into town after receiving a deed from his uncle for the local mine, SteamWorld Dig stood out in large part thank to its simplicity and purity of concept. Armed with nothing but a red scarf and a pickaxe, Rusty starts digging in the mine to find out what happened to his uncle, and to rediscover secrets that were buried long ago. The core gameplay loop is to dig in the mine, find ore, return to town, sell the ore, and upgrade your equipment. What makes it so fondly looked upon is the game design, the characters, and the writing. At no point is there a feeling that no progress is being made, with every strike of the pickaxe taking you forward – well, downward.
Rusty may be on the quieter side, but Tumbleton’s inhabitants, from Dot the merchant to her inventor dad Hank ‘Cranky’ McCrank, and the bartender Lola, are never short on witty remarks. As Tumbleton’s economy flourishes, all thanks to Rusty’s relentless mining, new Steambots arrive with more upgrades in hand for you to use. The mine’s map is a marvellous design, pushing you to delve deeper, but also guiding you to upgrades through its environmental design, tucking the metroidvania format behind an individualistic veneer. Beyond the main mineshaft, there are forgotten rooms brimming with extra upgrades and challenges that aid Rusty on his journey to uncover the mine’s ultimate secret. These rooms, with their standalone puzzles, strike the right balance of challenge without causing frustration. As you play, you grow attached to Rusty, and the conclusion of SteamWorld Dig delivers an emotional blow, setting up SteamWorld Dig 2 as an ideal follow-up.
The sequel see you step into the boots of Dorothy, who is on a mission to unravel the mystery of Rusty’s disappearance. Her quest leads her to the vibrant yet endangered town of El Machino, which is plagued by relentless earthquakes. SteamWorld Dig 2 expands upon its predecessor with larger mines, a host of new enemies with new attacks, and a Cog system that enhances your tools’ abilities. While the ability to purchase items such as dynamite and teleporters is absent, there is an improved distribution of transport tubes allowing you to get back to the surface regularly to sell ore and purchase upgrades.
SteamWorld Dig 2 not only broadens the range of player activities but also delves deeper into series themes. In the first game, the Shiners are humans that have been driven mad due to the effects of moon juice, and living underground. They’ll lob dynamite and acid as soon as Rusty gets near them. Rusty deals with them by killing them to remove the threat. In SteamWorld Dig 2, the Shiners are given more depth outside of the mindless people they appear to be in the first game. Partway through the game we find a Shiner village where the inhabitants have some intelligence, though have been affected by moon juice. That is everyone except Rosie, who is trying to keep her people safe from the outside world, and does not drink moon juice.
We see that the way the Steambots have dealt with Shiners in the past, causing the Shiners to be scared and act angrily towards them. Initially, Rosie appears to put past conflicts aside to collaborate with Dot, but it is later revealed that she was manipulating Dot from the beginning. Although depicted as a villain, Rosie’s motives are somewhat relatable. She created a machine to protect her people from the dangers of the mines and, in her eyes, the Steambots, considering the resulting earthquakes on the surface a necessary sacrifice. SteamWorld Dig 2 conveys that division, hatred, and violence will only lead to destruction and loss for all – something that is taken quite literally when Rosie’s actions cause the planet to blow up, all stemming from that fear for her people’s safety, previously harmed and killed by Steambots, including Rusty.
SteamWorld Dig 1 & 2 definitely hold up as games worth playing today, and are a great entry point to the SteamWorld universe. Of the two main characters, Dot has more of a personality, but that would be down to the fact she is present through both games. The gameplay loop is solid, the puzzles are fun to work out, and the vibe is generally chilled out.