There are some games that stick with you long after you have finished them, leaving a lasting impact. There are others that you cannot stop thinking about when you’re not playing them, because you are totally engrossed. And then there are mindless games, ones that you can switch off from and just play without thinking too much.
Mining Mechs falls into the latter category, but it is a brilliant little palate cleanser, even if it does stick around a bit longer than it should.
Mining Mechs gives you everything you need from the very start. You have a basic mining vehicle, and are told to dig for your fortunes. Beneath you is a large 2D plane with various ores, mineshafts and other bits of treasure to dig for and collect. The further you dig, the more valuable the commodities are that you can find.
Vehicles can be upgraded, and newer, better ones can be bought with your earnings, and a shop sells items that can aid you on your descent. But really, that’s all there is to it.
There is little in the way of plot for Mining Mechs. A strange noise has been recorded at a depth of 100m, so to investigate it you must dig down to that depth. Once you get there, it disappears, or rather you must keep digging to 200m. Then 300m, and so on. It’s not exactly engaging stuff, but neither is the rest of the game. Mining Mechs is just the sort of gaming experience you need when you are looking to jump on for 30 mins, do some digging and not worry about having to remember buttons, plot and tactics.
But after that short introduction, you are left to your own devices. You can choose whether to collect resources and make your fortune, or follow the objectives and explore the mysteries deep below.
Occasionally, you will get a side quest that is slightly more skill-based, like collecting a certain amount of a specific resource. Here, you need to be a bit more selective over what ores you collect, as opposed to just filling your digger up with anything before returning to the surface to sell it. That is about as tactical as Mining Mechs gets, and it is all the better for it.
New mechs can be acquired when you have the funds, but each time you do so, you need to spend even more money levelling them up. Each mech can be upgraded, with the more expensive ones having more upgrade slots, but a brand-new mech always starts at the basic level. The upfront cost is only half the story.
And these upgrades really matter too. Drill power is absolutely essential for carving down and through minerals; you can really feel the improvements when trying a level one mech again. Likewise, too for the other upgrades: Flight speed, inventory size and dirt storage.
Flight speed may seem an odd one but each mech comes equipped with a propeller or two to allow them to fly back up to the surface. Whether that’s to empty all the dirt you’ve accrued or to sell your loot, the propeller makes it easy to return.
Easy, but not the quickest method. Particularly when you get down to depths of 400m+. Neither is returning to those depths from the surface. There is an item that can instantly teleport you back to the surface, but this is on a five-minute cooldown when used, so isn’t exactly a solution.
Teleporters also cost money, but that shouldn’t be something you are short of after a couple of hours. One underrated method is to use the old mineshafts. Early on you are shown an empty mineshaft and told if you can build a pipeline to it, you get a constant source of income. The more mineshafts you have, the bigger the income.
The pipeline can’t zigzag all over though. You have one pipe extending down, with offshoots left and right to where the mineshafts are. Considering this pipe could be needed to go all the way to the bottom, how about using this as your central shaft?
A word too on the soundtrack. It’s some good synthwave that sometimes doesn’t quite fit with the more relaxing nature of Mining Mechs, but is still solid nonetheless. One of two of the songs however feature sound effects from the old PlayStation 1 Tekken games. I don’t know the relevance, if any, but I like it.
However, Mining Mechs on Xbox is unfortunately missing the co-op multiplayer from the PC version. That is not a dealbreaker, but it would be fun playing through with a friend or two, alleviating some of the moments where it begins to drag.
But mostly, Mining Mechs works very well, especially if you’re looking for a game you can pretty much play on autopilot. The pixel art is pretty enough, the soundtrack doesn’t grate and gameplay-wise it requires very little thinking. It can start to drag – it will take around eight hours of nothing but digging to complete – but it doesn’t need to all be done at once.
Unless you are that keen to find out what is at the bottom?
Mining Mechs: A Retro-Inspired Digging Adventure – https://www.thexboxhub.com/mining-mechs-a-retro-inspired-digging-adventure/
By Mining Mechs on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/mining-mechs/9MWTM128M0DZ
