How to play Digger
Digger is a remake of the 1983 CGA classic. A little drilling machine tunnels through a field of dirt collecting emeralds, while Nobbins come in from the top corner and hunt it through the tunnels it has dug.
Collect every emerald — or kill every monster — to clear the level. Bags of gold are both your best weapon and the quickest way to get flattened.
Rules
- Hold a direction to dig. Digger only stops, and only turns, at the middle of a tile.
- Each emerald is worth 25. Collect 8 in quick succession for a 250 bonus; the pips in the corner show your run.
- A bag of gold wobbles, then falls, when the dirt beneath it is dug away. A fall of two or more tiles bursts it into gold worth 500; one tile and it just lands. Monsters eat loose gold if they reach it first.
- Anything under a falling bag is crushed — monsters (250 points) and you alike. Bags can be pushed sideways, but never lifted or dug into from below.
- Nobbins can only use tunnels that already exist. After a while they turn into Hobbins, which dig their own, move faster and eat emeralds.
- Your fireball kills a monster for 250, stops at dirt and bags, and takes a moment to recharge. The gauge in the corner shows when it is ready.
- Once the last monster of a level has come out, a cherry appears at the entrance. Eat it and for a few seconds the monsters flee and can be eaten: 200, 400, 800 and doubling.
- You start with 3 lives and earn another every 20,000 points. Eight layouts repeat with faster, more numerous monsters.
Controls
- Hold arrows / WASD
- Dig in that direction (let go to stop at the next tile)
- Space / F
- Fire
- Touch
- Hold the on-screen pad to dig, tap the red button to fire
- P / Esc
- Pause
- Enter / Space
- Start
Tips
- Dig a vertical shaft first, then undercut the bag from the side so it drops two tiles and bursts.
- Never stop under a bag you have just undermined. Keep moving and the wobble gives you time.
- Monsters follow your tunnels, so a bag perched above a tunnel junction is a trap waiting to be sprung.
- Killing every monster ends the level even with emeralds left — useful once the Hobbins start winning.
- The fireball goes where Digger faces, so turn towards a Nobbin before it reaches you.
About Digger
Digger was written by Rob Sleath and published by Windmill Software in 1983 for the IBM PC. It needed a CGA card and ran at the speed of the original PC — on anything faster it was unplayable until fans fixed it years later — and it borrowed its idea from Mr. Do! and Dig Dug: dig, collect, and drop something heavy on whatever chases you. The PC-speaker music is the game’s second most famous feature.
This remake is an original version inspired by it: fifteen by ten tiles, Nobbins and Hobbins, bags that burst into gold after a long enough fall, the fireball and the bonus cherry, drawn in our paper-and-ink style with touch controls for phones.
Questions
Is this the original Digger?
No. It is an original browser remake inspired by Windmill Software’s 1983 PC game — nothing to install and no emulator needed.
How do I break a bag of gold?
It has to fall at least two tiles. Dig a shaft beneath it so there is open space below, then dig away the dirt it rests on from the side and get out of the way.
What is the difference between a Nobbin and a Hobbin?
Nobbins can only follow tunnels that already exist. After a while they turn into Hobbins, which dig their own tunnels, move faster and eat emeralds.
How does a level end?
Collect every emerald, or kill every monster the level has to offer. Either one finishes it.