Diggers: Commodore Amiga CD32

[@L3monsta]

This is one of my childhood games. Watching you dig straight down gave me anxiety. Its a good way to have your guys accidentally falling to their deaths!

[@Insertdiskgames]

Oh yes, the straight down technique is a bit risky. All the good gems are lower down though so can be worth the risk :-)

[@jusanotherrookie9628]

Totally forgot about this game Awesome review 👍

[@Insertdiskgames]

Thank you, it's a really great classic to just sit back and enjoy. Before you know it hours have past.

[@piotrurbanczyk9480]

Really nice review - my older brother usually was mostly trying to kill the other team. There is a teleport sold in the shop which you could leave beside their base. Of course, after you made there on foot first. This game is the reason why I love terraria so much. You were right about three diggers being optimal number. I always picked the smartest (and unfortunately weakest and slowest) diggers because they didn't mind boredom so much.

[@CountScarlioni]

A really good review! I still consider Diggers one of the greatest Amiga strategy games, and sadly one of the most overlooked. You can mine methodically and cautiously, raking in the money in a slow but sure manner. You can go deep and greedy at the risk of fatalities. Or you can be an interstellar jerk, find your way to the enemy encampment and do your damnedest to murder all your opponents! And boy, I won far more rounds than I should with that last strategy! I feel some of the micromanagement adds to the surprisingly manic nature of the gameplay. Keeping a whole squad gainfully employed brings a certain satisfaction, but it's very much like keeping plates spinning - requiring constant, eagle eyed attention to what everyone is up to. However the clunky interface itself was a big minus point to the overall experience. A mouse is essential (I pity any CD32 owners who didn't have one), but having to navigate the menus constantly to do repetitive tasks could and should have been streamlined. After dozens of hours of play the menus become muscle memory, but I suspect many gamers gave up on it after only a few minutes of bewilderment. Besides the colourful overall presentation, the added bonus of the CD32 version is the music. Richard Joseph's epic ambience gives the game a truly awesome atmosphere. When you're down deep, dodging creepy phenomena and the ghosts of dead miners, that haunting music really does start to make you feel genuinely cold and isolated.

[@Insertdiskgames]

Thanks for the comments. I totally agree with you. It's definitely an overlooked game and I'd very much like to see it come back in an updated form. As you say the menus are not good at all. I'd forgotten just how unnecessary some of their design was until I went back to this one a few years after originally playing. I still struggle a little with the micro-management aspects. Sometimes you want to concentrate on a miner that is in a tricky spot and avoid the hazards. Meanwhile the rest of the group are running riot in to your opponents base, lol. An absolute classic though, I'll have to fire this one up again some time.

[@MichalBergseth-AmitopiaTV]

No comment on the music??? how dare you!!! It's one of the most atmospheric games ever released. CD32 one that is. The A1200 one is great but not at the same level.

[@Insertdiskgames]

I do apologies and you are correct, that ethereal sounding music is awesome. So many hours spent listening to it.

[@sarahb5059]

Loved this game and would happily play today. Hard work without the dig cheat though

[@Insertdiskgames]

Great game. It's easy to start and then before you know it a few hours have passed.

[@pferreira1983]

The weird thing about it is as a bundled console release Diggers doesn't make much sense since it relies on the use of a mouse. Odd choice for a pack-in game, not to say it's not a good game however.

[@Insertdiskgames]

True, perhaps a subtle nudge for new CD32 owners to go out and buy a new mouse :-)

[@pferreira1983]

@@Insertdiskgames Kind of like playing Lemmings with a joypad. Doesn't really work.