Dig for ore and named discoveries. Bank your haul, improve the rig and establish underground field bases to reach deeper geology.

Basic controls

Space / Enter - begin the expedition

Arrows / WASD - move, drill or attack

Up / Space at the shop door - enter the workshop

Left / Right / X in the workshop - choose a purchase

Space in the workshop - buy

Down in the workshop - leave

V underground - deploy a purchased base kit

Space at a field base - open its workshop

F at the crane or a field base - finish the expedition

P - pause

R - resume

N - play again

Your first trip

You are the yellow drill. Dig a short shaft below the crane, collect ore, then return to the crane's platform. It automatically sells cargo, recharges the battery and repairs the hull. The shop is left of the crane: drive to its door to enter. The initial $60 buys the first $50 drill upgrade.

The next survey target gives a destination and reward. Bank each discovery before seeking the next. Cash buys five equipment tracks: Drill opens harder rock, Battery stores more charge, Cargo carries more ore, Engine speeds travel through cleared tunnels, and Chassis withstands more damage. Later drill tiers require both cash and banked discoveries. Each track has six levels; the workshop shows the current and next capability.

Danger and depth

Battery drain increases with depth. The return marker and reserve estimate help plan a trip, but the estimate assumes a straight route; your tunnels can make the journey longer. Cargo and discovery rewards are only secured when banked.

Orange hot rock damages the hull. Creatures wake when you expose them, follow connected tunnels and telegraph their bites. Drill into them to fight. Stronger drills kill faster; a stronger chassis survives more hits. Green gas reservoirs remain fatal at every equipment level. Ignition leaves a crater and a wreck.

Build a field base

The sixth workshop item is a base kit, starting at $6,000. Carry one at a time, travel at least 28m underground and press V on a cleared tile away from nearby gas and creatures. Bases must be at least 35 blocks apart. Deployment sells cargo, recharges and repairs; later visits do the same. Space opens the base's workshop, including replacement kits. Each deployed base raises the next kit's price.

Bases are places to visit, with no teleport or respawn. Battery pressure still rises with absolute depth. Twelve discoveries lead to the Heart of the deep at 463m. Finish at a depot with F when you want to bank the expedition's result.

Banked dollars earn ten points each, plus five per newly banked metre. Buying upgrades never reduces score. Scores are local practice; this release has no connected global leaderboard. The mine is finite.

Programmable expeditions

Launch paydirt --script or type script during play. Edit policy.sh with the shared editor, run chmod +x policy.sh, then ./policy.sh. fixtures selects a repeatable mine; standard returns to manual play. Stop cancels execution. Your saved files survive re-entry. RELEASE-GUIDE.txt provides the current reference without overwriting an edited README.

scan and state expose public observations. Unseen geology and distant creatures stay hidden. Plan return routes, drill purchases and base placement using the same commands and rules as manual play. gif, replay and receipt export local practice evidence.

Try scripts try [email protected], or install an editable copy with scripts install [email protected] my-paydirt. The opening brings a small haul home and buys an upgrade. ORIGIN.json and LICENSE.txt carry credit with the copy; installation never overwrites your existing files.

Use man paydirt for the reference, or play Paydirt.