HellDigger – A Cozy Idle Game by sangheli
Dig Down to the Depths of Hell (Literally)
Welcome to the world’s least OSHA-compliant construction company!
In this idle digging game, you’ll hire demons and overworked mortals to shovel their way through layers of dirt, rock, and ancient secrets—all in pursuit of shiny crystals and a one-way ticket to the center of the Earth.
Efficiency is optional. Madness is guaranteed.
How to play:
- hire workers,
- grab excavators,
- catch hellish demons,
- dig-dig-dig your way to the center of the Earth and claim all the treasures!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plcVRvoCY3Y
| itch.io | https://sangheli.itch.io/ld57helldiggeridle |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/helldigger-idle |
Ratings
| Given | 89🗳️ | 28🗨️ |
It would be nice if there were some kind of thing i could do while idle, maybe a clicker or something, but overall good job.
Oh, also it would've been nice if I could reroll the shop or refresh the shop to buy even more items. I was so flush with cash, I just bought everything and I still couldnt spend it all fast enough by the later levels.
Fun game!
Other than that, the mechanic worked as intended.
My biggest gripe was when a bar went fast enough that it was solid it felt like any additional units or using a joker didn't actually help to increase the speed at all. I'm assuming everything is capped at some point for speed unless I'm missing something.
The lack of audio and the AI art are kind of sticking points with me too but I understand some things are just in the territory with the time crunch.
Don't get me wrong, I had fun with it though! I really like the concept of a stage/wave based idle game and it has potential!
(I also just want to say after playing through all the stages I personally think it fits in with the depths theme more than you're getting credit for.)
For some reason I was never making enough money to buy a joker card (other than the first round), I'm not sure if I was doing something wrong. nice work!
It is clear you used AI art throughout(not throwing shade or anything), it feels cohesive. It does show you did have a clear direction in mind while you picked your assets, and it is clear they follow a specific design. The gameplay here is engaging, and this comes from someone that usually grows bored of most idle games, I did play all the end here and don't regret mining the core of earth itself for my demonic overlords!
Loved it! Hope you continue with this!
Some basic sounds would do this a huge service, I kept thinking that something's broken on my end - because a game that looks this polished visually _has to_ have sounds! Heh.
I also like how the different machines are used in different levels, like a driller does no good when excavating lava!
I do wish the money was more useful: I didn't have enough early on to buy jokers and after a few missions I could easily buy all of the jokers, which didn't do much to help anyway. Maybe buying some permanent unlocks or something? But then I worry I'd buy the wrong ones and screw everything up 😅
But I understand that making SO many levels, setting all the art up, and all the AI and stuff is massively time consuming 😮 Nicely done, I really like idle/incremental games and I really liked this one too :D
One small thing though, I think it would be better if managing units didn't stop the game. A system like purchasing in adventure capitalist, if that makes sense...
I see you mentioned that due to time sound could not be added, I had the same issue, so I break it down to the less sounds I need and use pitch to gain more from them.
The video you made helps, but I tutorial level would be nicer.