Glancing at the screenshots of its Steam page might cause the average person to write off Dig or Die as a Terraria clone. Yet while there are a few mild similarities in its visuals and mining through the earth is a core mechanic, you only need to look at its gameplay to realise it’s a very different beast. Rather than traversing the land, killing everything in sight and building up your base Minecraft style, the monsters come to you. You build up a base during the day, see to your supplies, and hold off increasing waves of enemies until you die or find a way to escape.
The entire framework for the player vs enemy dynamic is about as rogue-light as it gets and even ties heavily into the base defence focus. You need to cater to a few specific needs within your base, from securing it against the hordes to maintaining supply lines, but it never attempts to hold you back. There are no ‘X days until you are overwhelmed’ warning, and how long you can hold out is defined purely by your skill and ability to plan ahead. While you cannot simply hold back the hordes with a well-placed door or a few torches, you’re offered no shortage of weapons or means to overwhelm the ever-growing hordes of foes. If Minecraft emphasises survival, Dig or Die promotes surthrival, with you conquering the land and carving out a small portion of it for yourself.
The sheer variety of ways in which you can approach obstacles and counter possible threats is matched only by the types of enemies you face. You can run into everything from quadruped squid monsters the size of a building to man-sized killer bats, and tailoring your defences to combat a single style of foe can often leave you open to being blindsided by another monster. Yet, this gives it a Dwarf Fortress appeal of “Okay, I died to that, but what if I do this instead?”, which keeps you coming back for more.
The true drawback of Dig or Die is that it can be very easily overwhelming for new players, and you can often approach it with the wrong mentality. It’s easy to become frustrated at how the physics engine can throw some nasty surprises your way or the destructible environments can work against you. What’s more, enemies can seem more like unrewarding annoyances over true challenges early on, until you truly get into the swing of things. It all amounts to an odd difficulty curve which can very easily drive away players.
Ultimately, Dig or Die is a very rewarding game, but it will ultimately appeal to those who approach it with the right mindset. It’s worth keeping an eye on, but be sure to watch some gameplay before making up your mind.
DIG OR DIE / DEVELOPER & PUBLISHER: GADDY GAMES / PLATFORM: PC / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
