Driller Rush

by serk
Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.67
Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.83
Innovation★★★★★★★★★★2.79
Theme★★★★★★★★★★3.69
Graphics★★★★★★★★★★3.47
Audio★★★★★★★★★★3.02
Humor★★★★★★★★★★2.57
Mood★★★★★★★★★★3.05
Coolness★★★★★★★★★★76%
The end is nigh! Drill down and escape beneath the surface. Survive as long as you can!

Use the LEFT and RIGHT ARROW keys to move. Collect the gems, but avoid the rocks and lava pools.

Comments29

gikdew
gikdew28 Apr 2014, 08:27
Lol this one is awesome, I was going to make something similar but I didn't know how to code it! Really fun!
gikdew
gikdew28 Apr 2014, 08:33
If you touch a rock you are lost! I ended up playing for a while!
Shire28 Apr 2014, 09:06
This game is so awesome!
Mincemeat28 Apr 2014, 09:25
One of my favorites I have played thus far. It's simple but really fun and addicting, great work, If i had this on my phone I'd definitely play it.
Dreii
Dreii28 Apr 2014, 09:31
Haha good fun! great job!
r0x0r
r0x0r28 Apr 2014, 09:44
A Linux build would be nice
Reinkout28 Apr 2014, 09:45
Very nice gameplay! Runs extremely smoothly.
Liens
Liens28 Apr 2014, 09:48
Mechanics feel solid. Although many times I hit a big pile of rocks and/or laval that made it impossible to continue. Rocks are a death sentence for sure. Also for some weird reason I kept trying to use the arrow keys left/right in the opposite to your settings. I don't know why but it felt unnatural, probably just preference though.
CustomPhase
CustomPhase28 Apr 2014, 09:55
Simple and fun game, although i think at the beginning it should be more forgiving, like letting you dig faster through rocks (cause if you hit rock - youre 100% wont be able to get out of it fast to continue). Also sometimes game spawns 2 rocks taking like 99% of the width of screen, so youre automatically screwed.
Chompson28 Apr 2014, 09:55
Great entry, the only thing that really irritates me would be that I couldn't find an option to invert the controls - it just would seem more natural for me if they went the other way. Still, very fun game.
Serkauthor28 Apr 2014, 10:05
@Liens: Yes, the generator is completely random. I'd have wanted to improve it so that all maps were beatable, but didn't have the time

Arrow keys: I had it inverted at some point, but it was confusing for me, and I changed it so that left meant left of screen and right meant right of screen. Preferences, I guess. If I upgrade it, I'll add it as an option.
Lerc28 Apr 2014, 10:29
Fun but a little tough. Luck plays too much of a component. A few slight tweaks could make it much more fun. A slight increase in the speed of Drilling though Rock. To reduce the luck requirement, either a fixed seed or a heuristic to ensure that there is at least _some_ quick path. Getting a couple of rocks spanning the full width kills you no matter how good you are.
SuperIzzo
SuperIzzo28 Apr 2014, 10:45
This is the best game I've rated so far. Gameplay is simple and fun, graphics are clean and the sound effects are awesome.
gigitrix
gigitrix28 Apr 2014, 12:31
Really enjoyed this one! The random generation can screw you over something rotten but that's part of the fun I guess.

Very satisfying gem sounds and great match to the theme. It just "feels" nice :)
Notch
Notch28 Apr 2014, 13:29
I frequently come across two rocks spanning the entire width of the level (as in the second screenshot you uploaded). That's pretty much always a death sentence with no way to avoid. Fun, though!
Serkauthor28 Apr 2014, 20:52
@Lerc: I wanted it a bit tough, but you are right that those things are actual issues I didn't have the time to fix, and the game would improve with more work there.

@Notch: Glad you liked it despite that issue!
MrBlade
MrBlade28 Apr 2014, 22:06
Solid game. Good graphics, nice sounds, good take on the theme. Game seems very polished and well done overall.
zanenga29 Apr 2014, 07:08
Good game! Preeeetty sure it'll come out on mobile right? Even the aspect ratio is already done, haha.
Serkauthor29 Apr 2014, 21:16
@zanenga: Thanks, and maybe, I just wanted to keep that option open, so that's why I made something that would be easy to port if I decide to.
Oddly Shaped Pixels
Oddly Shaped Pixels1 May 2014, 10:27
Pretty solid game, great execution. Its quite hard but really fun.
You should give the option to invert controls though, it's sometimes a bit confusing.
alexdantas
alexdantas2 May 2014, 02:17
One of the best entries I saw.
Id'd be hugely addictive if it wasn't for two things:

- The controls seem swapped; at least for me. I think you could at least turn that into an option, because frequently at the verge of death I'd press the opposite arrow without any apparent reason.
- Sometimes it's _impossible_ to avoid some rocks. Try to work on that and we got a glorious game
Make A Game
Make A Game3 May 2014, 01:01
A bit hard due to some unfair random generation, kind of like in the third image you submitted, though I enjoyed the funny context.

By the way, I also kept getting the directions mixed. The drill is moving down so when I wanted to steer right I kept pressing left.
BadPaul34
BadPaul3410 May 2014, 10:15
Fun and solid game. Good idea for a quick and impactful implementation ;) An easier level would have been nice!
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