Off the AppStore: Dig deep with Cos Miner

• Here's a perfect opportunity to dig in space!
• Mine deep to the core to collect minerals for upgrades and survival
• Invest in your base to keep the meteors away

Welcome to Off The AppStore, a weekly feature with a twist. Namely, that while these - as with all the games we cover here - are games that you can play on your phone, they're ones that operate outside of the realms of the big two ways to play: The Google Play Store and the Apple AppStore.

That means that there might be a bit of work required in downloading alternative AppStores or APKs, or that the games can simply be played in your phone browser. We'll make sure to detail that for each game though. Anyway, read on to find a new game or experience to play Off The AppStore.

If I haven't said it before, I'll say it now: Motherlode needs to come back. It appeared as a small flash game about a mining spaceship on a far-off planet where your only goal was to mine deeper and deeper. There's also capitalistic greed and literal demonic horrors, but that's beside the point. The undeniable fact is that many of us have a subconscious and primal urge to dig for who knows what reason. Before the market became flooded (or more aptly, buried) in mining and digging games, we had the simplicity of Motherlode. However, there is hope that its spirit perseveres thanks to Scripa Games and Cos Miner.

You have won the lottery, as the company will be quick to phrase it, since you've gotten the job of space mining. You'll be equipped with all the latest in jetpack and drilling technology, but there's always room for improvement. The dig site is rich in minerals, just waiting to be unearthed and processed. You'll have your own base with a spaceship nearby should an extraction be required. The base even comes equipped with a laser cannon to deal with the constant meteor showers, so there's nothing to worry about. All you need to do is keep digging and hauling up everything you find.

Thanks to the jetpack, you'll have free and floaty movement to navigate the holes you'll be digging into the ground. The drill may be handheld, but it's powerful and will easily break through most rocks without any issues. Just remember to deposit all the minerals you collect back at your base for processing so that you can dive back in and mine and collect even more. The meteor turret is automated, but meteors can get persistent. Don't worry, though, you'll have access to an upgrade station where you can put some of the collected materials to use to upgrade everything from the turret to your inventory.

Cos Miner is a 2D space-mining game about digging deep, gathering minerals, and upgrading your equipment so that you can dig deeper and gather more minerals. It's not quite Motherlode, but it has similar energy, and we're grateful for it. So, grab your jetpack and hand drill and get to mining, cos!

Cos Miner is available to download and play from its itch.io page!