Ground Divers! is an interesting specimen, albeit one that looks much better than it ends up playing. On one hand, being a spectator and plotting out mining paths may be an adult's dream of a nuanced Dig Dug. On the other hand, the grindiness of replaying levels and creating gacha-esque weapons with random perks can detract from a strategic experience. The world of Ground Divers! is a charming (but desolate) one, sure, but I want so much more from this game. Should you take the plunge and try your hand at Ground Divers!, I recommend playing in short bursts to avoid burning out on the grind.
The world is a desolate wasteland with little energy sources. As part of a mining team called Studio Tsuruhashi, you’re tasked with directing a bunny-shaped mining frame mech to explore the depths of the world, dig up crystals and find rare matter. This is the crux of Ground Divers!, out now on the Nintendo Switch. If you were a fan of Dig Dug, this game is an interesting complement rather than a spiritual sequel to the classic digging title we may have spent many coins on growing up. Ground Divers! advertises itself as a roguelike meets strategy digging game, and I’m inclined to slightly agree with that definition. The core gameplay loop involves you piloting a bunny-shaped mech named Tsuruhashi tasked with digging through randomly generated underground maps full of trinkets, enemies, and other hazards. But, you’re not explicitly moving Tsuruhashi; instead, you’re selecting spots on the map for your mech to dig, occasionally fighting enemies that Tsuruhashi encounters along the way.
The strategy of Ground Divers! exists in how you choose to customize Tsuruhashi and dig through each level’s randomly generated stages. Progressing through the seven levels (each with several stages) is a quick affair, mostly thanks to each stage’s time limit. It is entirely possible to blindly complete levels by seeking out the ending and never encountering an enemy, saving a UFO creature, and finding hidden items. Upon completing a run, you can use the materials and resources that you acquired to make new weapons for Tsuruhashi or customize your mech or your room. Sure, there isn’t a ton to customize in-game, but I appreciate the option of changing my mech’s color and changing the furniture in my room.
I’m confident that Ground Divers! has a level of appeal for multiple audiences, not just strategy fans. I occasionally felt like I was playing a digging minigame at times, or at least a more strategic yet spectator-centric version of Dig Dig (since I wasn’t doing the digging). But, I’ll admit that Ground Divers!‘ charm will give it a boost for younger audiences. This is assuming that they’re able to get through the game’s initial tutorial.
Upon beginning Ground Divers!, I was presented with a pretty dang thorough tutorial. As much as I hate information overload and unnecessary information, I will admit that the tutorial was comprehensive in what I needed to know to make my way through each level. My only complaint, if you will, is that I expected more mechanics to emerge in later levels, but that was not the case. Later levels simply featured harder enemies and blocks that took a bit longer to drill through. I realize now that this tutorial could have been broken up into smaller bunches (rather be its own world: The Land of Beginnings) where mechanics and advanced tactics would be introduced to the player in a progressive fashion. In doing so, I would have a greater incentive to replay the earlier levels (more on replayability in a bit, I promise), or at least plan to do so.
Calling Ground Divers! a roguelite (or even roguelite-adjacent) would be an overestimation of what should be classified as a roguelite game. As much as the levels and tile placements are unique, you can expect each run to play out the same. Admittedly, I ended up becoming somewhat bored with my digging, and if I felt that I was too weak to face off against enemies, I simply avoided enemies as I made my way down to the end of each stage. If I was to consider Ground Divers! a roguelite, I would need much more variety in-game. For instance, level design has room for variety beyond what exists in the form of “healing” and “poison” tiles. I would have loved levels with additional restrictions on movement and/or rules on how many Pits can be created, or items that allowed me to spend more time digging without being penalized.
After completing the tutorial, I took a gander in the first level: The Secret Bamboo Springs, which was comprised of three small stages. To my surprise, completing this level was a breeze. Off I went, placing pins on the map for Tsuruhashi to dig and create pits to upgrade my weapons and increase my health. Enemies were easy, and it seemed like I had a handle on the resource management process: As I dug, I acquired AP to use on upgrades or Tsuruhashi’s special move that helped me clear blocks in a quicker fashion. Rinse and repeat, right? It was seamless progression until…it wasn’t. My first expedition gave me enough points to unlock the next world. I speedran through that level, too, avoiding enemies and just digging myself downward toward the goal. After two successful expeditions, I had amassed enough points to unlock the remaining levels. But, after trying out the remaining levels on Normal difficulty and struggling with some portions, I realized that I wasn’t ready for end-game content.
This is where the nuance of Ground Divers! emerges: With the bonus materials and currency you obtain from each successful run, you can spend those resources on crafting weapons for Tsuruhashi. The catch is, beyond the required materials, you can spend a near infinite amount of currency on these weapons’ creation, increasing their star level and unlocking a random set of perks. For those of you who play Destiny 2, this weapon crafting system should feel familiar (and in some cases, grindy beyond get out). I appreciate the fact that weapons’ random perks add variety (and lend credit toward the roguelite themes, sure), but grinding for resources needed to make weapons over and over again is not fun. Yes, you could argue that Ground Divers! rewards players for replaying levels and being strategic in resource management, both in-game and in the menus. However, I would feel less disappointed if there was more gameplay variety rather than weapon perk/map layout variety. After spending 20 minutes playing a more difficult level, I began to feel bored with spectating the digging process.
This is not to say that Ground Divers! lacks charm. In fact, I love the character and mech designs (made by Shigeto Koyama and Kakeru Kakemaru, no less!). Characters like Anne, Dorothy, and Kakeru contribute to the game’s lighthearted dialogue. And, fun fact, you can customize which character you want to cheer you on while you dig! For DBZ fans, you should be pleased to know that Hironobu Kageyama contributed to the game’s theme, too. All in all, a lot of work has been done to make the ambiance and design of Ground Divers to be visually and audibly appealing. I want more from this universe (like more characters and mechs!!), and I hope that Arc System Works fleshes out this universe with more content.
Ground Divers! is an interesting specimen, albeit one that looks much better than it ends up playing. On one hand, being a spectator and plotting out mining paths may be an adult’s dream of a nuanced Dig Dug. On the other hand, the grindiness of replaying levels and creating gacha-esque weapons with random perks can detract from a strategic experience. The world of Ground Divers! is a charming (but desolate) one, sure, but I want so much more from this game. Should you take the plunge and try your hand at Ground Divers!, I recommend playing in short bursts to avoid burning out on the grind.
