Pocket Mine 2

I open up writing in this blog with a rather unusual entry, I guess.  Can I consider myself much of a connoisseur of games if I enlist what essentially is a casual endless runner as a favorite?  I seriously hope I can.

Pocket Mine 2 is an improved and better sequel to my favorite touchscreen mobile game ever - one that has seriously addictive and rich gameplay relying solely on tap controls.  Angry Birds was nice enough, Pudding Monsters was lovely and Candy Crush is seriously overrated.  I also don't care at all to ultra hires gfx console games with virtual gamepad lacking tactile feedback.  This is mobile gaming at its best:  extremely rewarding and fun gameplay in short rounds with simple intuitive controls.

The basic gameplay reminds me a lot of a mix of classic Dig Dug and Tetris: the goal is to dig deeper in a minesweeper fashion, uncovering deeper grounds and better gems and metals.  Tap anywhere to dig there:  you either hit earth, blockages, blocks with (upgradable) powerups such as dynamite or drills, open up whole tunnels, or precious gems to raise your ingame wages.  I love it and love to watch the little character zap through instantaneously anywhere you tap.  Powerups eventually trigger huge chain reactions - the first few rounds you're very underpowered, keep it up to watch the real explosive nature of the game.

Two things present challenge: you have a limited number of hits (you can obviously raise that with in game currency) and the fact that the screen continuously scrolls down and even faster if you lose too much time in the upper part.

This is, thus, like older arcade games, a score-oriented game: the fun part is the gameplay itself (not story that it doesn't have or exploration) and the main goal is high scores and digging ever deeper.

It offers plenty to get players glued to it for a very long time:  cards and collectibles of all sorts that give you in turn more money and more powers to dig deeper.  Some collectibles are downright fun by itself - I found Link's Master Sword among other pop culture relics.  This time around, you can customize characters' gears and those, like the cards, influence powerup and gems statistics during gameplay.  A fine-tuned combination of gear and cards for each round goes a long way towards very lengthy and lucrative rounds.

It differs to the previous one in a few points.  There's a better menu interface, with more space for the various customization and item juggling screens.  There's a sense of real progression between levels as they present themselves in a map - you may go to any previous mines to dig deeper and uncover more prizes.  Some notable gameplay tweaks include the single tap - no more multiple taps on harder blocks, it just shows the decrease in numbers - faster rotating power blocks; drills and the strong arm no longer go through hard blocks and such.  I found the changes well balanced.  The big red rubies, an important and much sought currency, now come more easily.  So far I haven't seen heal blocks and that's a shame.

Pocket Mine 2 seems to have a stronger social factor than the predecessor, or at least I'm using far more of it. Possibly due to IDs rather than Facebook account, which I don't have. I looked up for ids in the Play Store game page, in the comments. Once you have friends, you can trade items and quickly fill item decks leading to much needed magic boxes, cards or even red rubies, which in turn lead to better cards and upgrades, which in turn lead to deeper digging. It's extremely addictive, hands down. 

The game, as the predecessor, offers 5 rounds you can play that take each about 13 minutes to fill up again.  Once you have 0, you can't play.  Some people may complain of that, and I've seen it in other mobile games, but I found it a gracious way to say it's time for a break. These games can be very addictive, specially given they're always in your pocket. You can still do very useful stuff ingame while not playing it, like recycling extra collectibles for magic boxes, choosing the best gear and crafting new items. The strategic resource management component of the game is strong and a much needed feature for more successful digging. 

This game with its unique, explosive gameplay is a true labor of love to classic score-oriented arcade games.  It shows in every little pixel detail down to the exeptionally beautiful and catchy chitune music score - Pascal Lamarche composed for this one, while the first game had OST by Big Giant Circles.  They're both in my soundcloud.

All in all, a big kudos to canadian developers Roofdog.  I'm no fan of microtransactions to quickly improve scores by other means than pure skill, but I have bought a basic package to show my gratitude for an exceptionally well crafted game.  Yes, the game is free, what are you waiting for?