Collect all these stones! by Xahon

[raw]
made by Xahon for Ludum Dare 58 (JAM)

Cozy idler game. Harvest resources, go deeper and deeper!
Progress wisely, each new level is harder to dig but more reward
What will be your strategy to collect all that ore in the best time possible? Would you hire an army of human workers or run a swarm of collector drones? Can you speedrun it?
The choice is up to you! Share your strategies and results in the comments down below!
Small tip, no matter which type of unit is used, tier gives reward bonus. More tier unit collected the tile, more reward multiplier. My best result is 3054s (5.0 min of realtime)

Have a good time, stone collector! :)

My second jam alone

Ratings

Overall 397th 3.5⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Fun 270th 3.538⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 393th 3.25⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Theme 482th 3.538⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 628th 3⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Humor 639th 2.261⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Mood 506th 3.365⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Given 27🗳️ 29🗨️

Feedback

Fernando Tonon de Rossi
Oct 06th · 05:23 UTC
Nice touch at the end, like post credits on Marvel movies... haha

![Screenshot From 2025-10-06 01-20-32.png](///raw/01c/91/z/6d398.png)

It is really addictive, thank you for stopping on level 20 :smiley:

The only thing I missed, was some way for losing workers or machines, like accidents or failures, because it only goes up and up in number. But it is really fun to watch them collecting, and the SFX really suits the game, well done!
StaticRose
Oct 06th · 08:14 UTC
Pretty fun and satisfying. At some point the limiting factor becomes how many stones are exposed and your workers start to idle. I like the sound of the workers chipping away.
xlambein
Oct 06th · 11:30 UTC
This was a lot of fun. I played three games, but couldn't get my time below ~3600s. What's your strategy? :D
🎤 Xahon
Oct 06th · 19:44 UTC
@xlambein Well, I first buy a couple of workers, then I tier them up 2-3 times in a row, so they dig faster and it gives me more money. Until the very first level finishes, I already have 2-3 tractors and tier them up to a decent level 5-6 until drones come up. I get rid of humans at level 4-5 (I guess) and max drones tier balancing with buying new ones
CameronPenner
Oct 07th · 14:50 UTC
I love a good idle game, and this is a good one! Thank you very much for the time multiplier slider. It made it much more bearable to grind out multiple games to try and get the most efficient build.


Here's my best run!

![Screenshot 2025-10-07 094934.png](///raw/526/z/6ea42.png)

Update, can't stop optimizing

![Screenshot 2025-10-07 095913.png](///raw/526/z/6ea57.png)
CameronPenner
Oct 07th · 15:08 UTC
Maximize for early worker upgrades because that first upgrade is huge.
I think I'm selling my workers around level 10. Though I've found they only slow me down at the end of a level, so I'm experimenting with buying a bunch at the beginning of a level, and selling them before the end of the level so they don't hoard the final blocks. My last run I did this around level 10-15 or something.
I never end up selling tractors at all, with the upgrades it's better value to keep them since the price of upgrading/buying drones to out pace tractors isn't worth it.

Anyway, I had way too much fun with this game. If you ever did an update, hotkeys for buy/sell/upgrade for each type would be amazing.

Q: sell worker, W: buy worker, E: upgrade worker
A: sell tractor, S: buy tractor, D: upgrade tractor
Z: sell drone, X: buy drone, C: upgrade drone

Letting me hold down the button so that it buys it as soon as it is available would let me be even more precise without having to spam button presses. My mouse finger is tired now lol.
🎤 Xahon
Oct 07th · 21:31 UTC
@cameronpenner My congrats! :) 2710 is the world record now!
Thanks for sharing your strategy, you are right, workers will slow down the gameplay at some point and I believe I get rid of them too early. However, I don't yet know if continuous boosting of workers will work out on the late game against mixed units with lesser tiers, because worker upgrade #10 is far more cheaper than #10 for trac or drone. I think will check it a bit later

Hotkeys feature is a great idea, I wonder why I missed it in the first place when was finalizing the game

UPD: No, workers don't work out in the late game. My best now 2889 on all drones upgraded to 10, can't go any better
TemmyT
Oct 07th · 23:09 UTC
quite satisfying, I personally like the feedbacks when something is mined, through sound effect or just visually
Planetary
Oct 08th · 19:45 UTC
Nice game! At a glance, when I saw the textures, I said: "A 2D Minecraft version is here!" :rofl:

Back to your game, textures are good, audio part is nice, and the game mechanic is satisfying. And didn't expect for the last part to happen...

Well done!
Schu
Oct 08th · 21:28 UTC
Really impressive work! Very satisfying to watch it get more complex over time
dagon
Oct 09th · 00:59 UTC
Pretty addctive!
Nilan
Oct 09th · 07:15 UTC
Cool, I love idle game, and not just a game where upgrade whatever they have, there are some strategy, such as workers should being eliminated in the later stages to avoid wasting the efficiency of advanced machines. I like this game.
Eugenik
Oct 09th · 10:59 UTC
Cool! Like It!.
Ira Baciu
Oct 09th · 11:18 UTC
Didn't expect the music to be so nice!
LDJam user 314423
Oct 09th · 20:40 UTC
Really enjoyed optimising in this game! I've played it twice so far.

![Screenshot_20251009_213524.png](///raw/73c/c4/z/6f20a.png)
Avi
Oct 10th · 09:43 UTC
OOO i love me an idle game :) nice one!
Aurora_Bee
Oct 10th · 22:23 UTC
Nice little idle game, didn't manage to get it done too quick but it was definitely fun to play and the graphics are also cute and simple. My only gripe is that the sound progressively gets louder and louder, could have done with some adjustments to reduce the volume of each worker the more of them are on screen ^^

Here's my score:

![collect-all-these-stones.png](///raw/5df/66/z/6f3a3.png)
Kitira
Oct 11th · 15:34 UTC
Nice and cozy game! It's very satisfying to see the levels gradually being cleared, especially towards the end when everything happens so fast! ^^ Nice idea with the level 20 screen :)
ruruie
Oct 20th · 08:45 UTC
Nice simple clicker!
Semenchk
Oct 24th · 17:07 UTC
A charming idle game with simple, cute graphics. I took my time with it and found the experience very enjoyable. My only suggestion would be to add sound mixing; as more workers appear, the cumulative sound effect becomes progressively louder. An option to reduce each worker's volume as their numbers increase would be perfect.
yness
Oct 24th · 20:38 UTC
A nice little idle game- really well done for a solo project! Runs smoothly with no bugs or lag.
🎤 Xahon
Oct 25th · 14:56 UTC
@fernando-tonon-de-rossi, @staticrose, @xlambein, @cameronpenner, @temmyt, @planetary, @schu, @dagon, @nilan, @eugenik, @ira-baciu, @reivilibre, @avi, @aurora-bee, @kitira, @ruruie, @semenchk, @yness

Thanks you all for your support! Your support means a lot to me! I've decided to go Post-LD and release the game on Steam with a few updates to the gameplay, UI and visuals. The estimated date of the release December 1, 2025. The title name will remain the same (Collect All These Stones), so you will find it easily!
CameronPenner
Oct 28th · 02:32 UTC
Nice, good luck!
🎤 Xahon
Dec 23rd · 09:27 UTC
@fernando-tonon-de-rossi, @staticrose, @xlambein, @cameronpenner, @temmyt, @planetary, @schu, @dagon, @nilan, @eugenik, @ira-baciu, @reivilibre, @avi, @aurora-bee, @kitira, @ruruie, @semenchk, @yness

The game is released on Steam https://store.steampowered.com/app/4117750/Collect_All_These_Stones_CATS/