Creating a "clicker" must be a game designer's nightmare. How do you expand upon and improve a genre where the main action is tapping on a screen to increase a number? It's a conundrum.
The maker of CivMiner made, in my mind, the very best clicker in years when it released CivCrafter this April, so I was really impressed to see it would be returning to take another crack at the genre.
And while CivMiner sadly isn't as progressive as the studio's previous release, it's still a solid attempt, and a great example of innovation within a form.
Can you dig it?CivMiner starts you on the surface of a blocky world, and from there you dig down. Create a rectangle of six squares and you'll move one layer further down. The further you dig, the more fun things you'll find.
Gems for example. Gems will let you upgrade your digging apparatus so you can dig through extremely tough blocks, that usually take multiple prods to break, in a single tap.
There are little boosts you can pick up along the way too, like sticks of explosives that clear several layers of blocks at once, or a drill that doesn't stop drilling a block until it breaks.
After a few minutes you'll start to develop your own special tapping technique so you move through the layers faster. Using the stone you dig out, you can build statues that improve your digging ability too.
You might also find Oil, which is shared with your other Clan mates and is used for bragging rights over other Clans. If you search for Pocket Gamer (PGX) in the game you can join ours.
Mining craftAside from Oil you'll also find Artefacts which go into a nice little collection, and Gold which can be sent over to help your people in CivCrafter once you've hooked up your two identities in the separate games.
Occasionally you'll run up against boss creatures too. There's load to do here, basically.
However, one of the most exciting things that can occur is finding a new stone.
CivMiner instils an excitement for geology by very, very rarely throwing an undiscovered stone type in your direction, and letting you name it for the rest of the world to see.
I found one, named it PocketGamerStone, and you can go find it for yourself right now.
CivMiner is good then. Solid. And Naquatic continues to be one of the most exciting developers on mobile, even if it's still working within this almost exhausted genre.
The clicking's all fine, and the clan stuff is okay but could be expanded upon.
It's the collection of trinkets and that sense of progress that keep you coming back. Plus the fact you might have a tangible effect on the geology of this digital world.