{"id":427065,"date":"2026-02-15T13:29:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T13:29:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/427065\/"},"modified":"2026-02-15T13:29:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T13:29:11","slug":"a-game-about-digging-a-hole-reader-review-readers-feature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/427065\/","title":{"rendered":"A Game About Digging A Hole reader review &#8211; Reader&#8217;s Feature"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"646\" height=\"363\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/SEI_284956695-0729.jpg\" class=\"article-image wp-image-26888659\" alt=\"A Game About Digging A Hole screenshot of digging a hole in a garden\" decoding=\"sync\"\/><br \/>\n\t\tA Game About Digging A Hole \u2013 not a misleading title (rokaplay select)<\/p>\n<p>With the game now available on consoles, a reader gives their verdict on <a data-ico=\"hyperlink-article\" href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/indie-games\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">indie hit<\/a> A Game About Digging A Hole, which does exactly what it says on the tin.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019re on a sunny, suburban street. A van draws up. An unidentified someone jumps out of the van and nails a notice to a public noticeboard. The van and the unidentified someone drive off. Close in on the noticeboard and the newly attached notice. It\u2019s a brightly coloured advert. The advert reads:<\/p>\n<p>House For Sale. Only 10,000 $. With Gold Treasure In the Garden! Buy Now &amp; Get Rich!<\/p>\n<p>This is how A Game About Digging A Hole begins. Played in first person view, what you see first is the back garden of the house that you\u2019ve bought and a box containing a Super Mega Digger 3000 Ultimate 2.0 Detector Set. This battery powered tool is the primary component of a game that\u2019s played out in two locations. Your back garden and your garage. Unfortunately, you can\u2019t enter the main part of the house that\u2019s now yours, or at least I never managed to.<\/p>\n<p>Go into the garage and you\u2019ll find a workbench and a computer. The computer allows you to sell the ore\/items that you obtain and by selling ore you accumulate funds. The workbench is where you spend the funds that you\u2019ve accumulated. The workbench offers upgrades for your shovel, the aforementioned Super Mega Digger 3000.<\/p>\n<p>Upgrades are also available for your inventory, battery and you can buy a jetpack which will become an essential item later on. Charge can be bought for your battery on the workbench screen and you can replenish your personal <a data-ico=\"hyperlink-article\" href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/health-news\/\" data-track=\"inline-tag-auto-link_article\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">health<\/a> there too. Dynamite and lamps are useful extras for when you want to take your digging to new depths.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\tExpert, exclusive gaming analysis\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Sign up to the <a data-ico=\"hyperlink-article\" href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/newsletters\/game-central\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">GameCentral newsletter<\/a> for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning.<\/p>\n<p>Exit the garage, stroll into your sunlit back garden and you\u2019ll see an X on the grass. X marks the spot, or so they say. In actuality you can begin your treasure hunt anywhere, so long as it\u2019s on the back lawn.<\/p>\n<p>On the <a data-ico=\"hyperlink-article\" href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/playstation-5\/\" data-track=\"inline-tag-auto-link_article\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">PlayStation 5<\/a>, digging involves pulling the right trigger of the joypad. Do this and your battery powered shovel takes a single bite out of the ground. While your back lawn steadily gets taken away chunk by chunk, various ores are uncovered. At first, you\u2019ll find stones and coal. When you uncover these items they\u2019re sucked straight into your inventory, which quickly fills up because at the start of the game your inventory is small.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Once your inventory is full you can keep digging but any ores that you uncover will be destroyed, so it\u2019s best to turn those unearthed items into money so that you can buy upgrades and recharge your shovel battery. Without an upgrade the shovel battery\u2019s charge soon runs out.<\/p>\n<p>Initially this game seems repetitive. Do a bit of digging. Fill up your small inventory with stones, coal, iron, etc. Nip back into the garage. Sell what you\u2019ve extracted from the ground on the computer. Spend your earnings on upgrading your equipment if you\u2019ve earnt enough, then go back outside and carry on digging.<\/p>\n<p>However, the steps that I\u2019ve just described become compulsive, or at least they did for me, due to pressing questions inside my head. How deep can I actually go? How powerful are those $100 sticks of dynamite? Where did the previous owners of this house put that buried treasure?<\/p>\n<p>Your current depth is shown on the left side of the screen. Anticipation serves as a magnet, drawing you downwards. What will you uncover next and how much cash are you going to receive for selling it?<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"363\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/SEI_284956693-b064.jpg\" class=\"article-image wp-image-26888660\" alt=\"A Game About Digging A Hole screenshot of digging a hole in a garden\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"\/><br \/>\n\t\tLook up! (rokaplay select)<\/p>\n<p>When I earned $100 I bought some dynamite and put it to good use. The ground dropped further. I dug, and I dug, and then I dug some more. I got so involved with digging, with the race to earn money and to reach new depths, that I virtually ignored changes around me. That cheery birdsong had gone, replaced by eerie low notes that unsettled and brought no comfort at all. Before I knew what I\u2019d done I\u2019d placed myself in\u2026darkness.<\/p>\n<p>Turning around I saw only more darkness. I tried looking up. Darkness. Where was that nice blue sky? Who stole away the heavens when I wasn\u2019t looking? Sensible miners stock up on $25 lamps before they get trigger-happy with their battery powered shovels. When you\u2019re disorientated and many metres below the ground a light source can really alleviate attacks of panic and claustrophobia.<\/p>\n<p>I won\u2019t spoil what happens when you keep on digging. I will say that at depth minerals become more precious. Your Super Mega Digger 3000 has extra sensors that appear when you\u2019re close to certain objects of interest. Subterranean structures wait to be discovered, and near the end of the game you realise that you\u2019re not alone in the pit of your own making. A bestial grunt sent a shiver of fear through me. Time to make use of that jetpack and escape back up to the surface.<\/p>\n<p>A Game About Digging a Hole is short and probably doesn\u2019t have much replay value once you\u2019ve learnt its secrets. But for the money, about the same price as a film rental, A Game About Digging A Hole is well worth a few hours of your time. Just remember, however deep you dig your hole, make sure you can get out of it again.<\/p>\n<p>By reader Michael Veal (<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/msv858\" rel=\"nofollow\">@msv858<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"363\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/SEI_284956689-157e.jpg\" class=\"article-image wp-image-26888662\" alt=\"A Game About Digging A Hole screenshot of digging a hole in a garden\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"\/><br \/>\n\t\tA very deep game (rokaplay select)<\/p>\n<p>The reader\u2019s features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.<\/p>\n<p>You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot.<\/p>\n<p>Just contact us at <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2026\/02\/15\/a-game-digging-a-hole-reader-review-readers-feature-26888623\/mailto:gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">gamecentral@metro.co.uk<\/a> or use our <a data-ico=\"hyperlink-article\" href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/submit-stuff\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Submit Stuff page<\/a> and you won\u2019t need to send an email.<\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\">Arrow<br \/>\nMORE: <a data-ico=\"hyperlink-article\" href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2026\/02\/15\/god-war-trilogy-remake-a-bad-idea-makes-worry-franchise-readers-feature-26888485\/?ico=more_text_links\" class=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">God Of War Trilogy Remake is a bad idea and makes me worry for the franchise &#8211; Reader\u2019s Feature<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\">Arrow<br \/>\nMORE: <a data-ico=\"hyperlink-article\" href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2026\/02\/14\/bought-a-wii-u-instead-a-ps4-xbox-never-regretted-readers-feature-26888261\/?ico=more_text_links\" class=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">I bought a Wii U instead of a PS4 or Xbox and I never regretted it &#8211; Reader&#8217;s Feature<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\">Arrow<br \/>\nMORE: <a data-ico=\"hyperlink-article\" href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2026\/02\/14\/sony-valve-fall-love-making-video-games-readers-feature-26886900\/?ico=more_text_links\" class=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Why did Sony and Valve fall out of love with making video games? &#8211; Reader\u2019s Feature<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"metro-button share-bar-comments\" data-vars-position=\"bottom\" href=\"#metro-comments-container\"><br \/>\n\t\t\tComment now<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\tComments<br \/>\n\t\t<\/a><a data-ico=\"hyperlink-article\" class=\"metro-button share-bar-preferred-source\" data-vars-position=\"bottom\" href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/metro.co.uk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\tAdd Metro as a Preferred Source on Google<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\tAdd as preferred source<br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\tGameCentral<\/p>\n<p>Sign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Game About Digging A Hole \u2013 not a misleading title (rokaplay select) With the game now available&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":427066,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[96,205,59,85062,127,37682,86,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-427065","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-gaming","10":"tag-gb","11":"tag-indie-games","12":"tag-playstation-5","13":"tag-readers-feature","14":"tag-technology","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=427065"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427065\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/427066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=427065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=427065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=427065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}