Digger Download (1983 Arcade action Game)

Take control of a mechanical digging machine as you tunnel your way through the earth, searching for valuable gems and the even more valuable bags of gold! But watch out for Nobbins and Hobbins, and don't be careless enough to let the bags of gold crush you!

Digger is an arcade game combining elements of the popular arcade games Dig Dug and Mr. Do!. Players control the titular 'Digger' that can tunnel through dirt with ease. The goal of each level is to gather up each of the gems, which allows you to progress to the next stage. However, Nobbins and Hobbins are also lurking within the levels - Nobbins are fairly slow, but transform into Hobbins which are much quicker. The enemies can only chase Digger through the tunnels he creates - they cannot dig through the dirt themselves.

Digger's defenses consist of being able to shoot a single, rechargeable shot in the direction he is facing with F1 (which recharges after about thirty seconds), crushing his foes by digging underneath a gold bag and letting it plummet down, crushing anything in its path, or by collecting the bonus cherry that sometimes appears, causing Digger to become temporarily invincible.

Yes, this is the good-old game that even is a difficult challenge to everyone who plays it - Digger!

You have to control a digging machine in a mine and collect emeralds and gold while you evade nobbins and hobbins, the minemonsters who are coming to get you! Your goal is to collect all emeralds in the mine, or to kill all nobbins or hobbins. When it's done, you go to the next level, each level becomes harder, of course. There are also gold bags, which fall and cruch everything under them, including you, if you are not paying attention. However, these bags are very useful to crush minemonsters below you, and if they fall two or more spaces, the gold falls out from the bags and you can collect the loot. Also, there's the bonus cherry. If you have killed enough (4; in the first level, 3) monsters, you get the cherry, which if you collect, you can eat the monsters and get big scores for a small time.

The gameplay is pretty interesting. You control the digger with the arrow keys, and shoot with the F1 key. There are usually four monsters opposing you. After getting periodically 20,000 points, you get an extra life. Levels get harder and harder - more emeralds to collect, faster nobbins and hobbins, hobbins remain hobbins for a longer time, slower fire recharge rate, less bonus time, etc.

You think it's too simple? Bah! This game has one of the best artificial intelligence I've ever seen! Here, all the monsters work as a team, and they'll most likely surround and get you, or they work together to become hobbins for a larger chance. It's extremely hard to dodge them.

Undoubtedly the most successful game from Windmill Software, Digger is a timeless action classic that combines the best elements of Atari's Dig Dug and Mr. Do. MobyGames says it all about this masterpiece that remains one of the most fondly remembered games for old-timers: "Dig through underground tunnels as you pick up gems. Drop bags of gold on the bad guys, then pick up the gold afterwards--or, kill the monsters using your one-shot gun (refuels after 30 seconds).... Digger is a classic in all respect. Its graphics are good, music great, controls excellent and playability level unmatched at the time. It was technically remarkable, way ahead of its time, with polyphonic music and sound effects, simplistic but effective computer AI and an amazing charm which keeps people playing it to this day. It's obvious that Digger's ideas were stolen from existing games, but Windmill managed to improve them greatly."

If you ever wonder how a game can fit under 50KB and still provides a lot more fun than many of today's bloated, multiple-CD, 3D extravaganza, Digger is the best example. A true classic in every respect, and a must-have for every serious action fan. Also be sure to check out the outstanding remastered version by Andrew M. Jenner, which adds optional VGA graphics, record and playback options, and even a two-player simultaneous mode.

This is another one of the first games I ever played. I remember when our school had this game on the old XT machines, and it was basically the only game they had =

You are a little digger, and you dig tunnels collecting gems. Then get as much gold as you can ;) You can be strategic and kill the evil guys with gold bags, by dropping them on their heads. I do believe you can shoot stuff as well, but its much cooler to kill them with the gold, because you can only fire so often anyway.

I can't really say that much about the game, except that it created a worldwide Digger phenomenon. People loved it; it is a classic indeed! Those dim orange, gold, red and green colours, the beeping and classy sounds!

How to run this game on modern Windows PC?

People who downloaded Digger have also downloaded:
Duke Nukem II, Donkey Kong, Duke Nukem, Dig Dug, Diamond Digger, Duke Nukem 3D, Die Hard, Wolfenstein 3D