Steam continues to be a go-to source for co-op games, as new titles to play with one’s friend group get announced each and every day. Simple-yet-addictive friendslop games have become increasingly common, as have co-op horror games like Phasmophobia and Lethal Company. Sandboxes are a common avenue for indie developers, too, catering to players who enjoy not knowing exactly what to expect from the gaming session that awaits them. For players who like any of these categories, or happen to be lucky enough to appreciate all three, then the upcoming game Gone Digging is one to wishlist.
Steam’s Gone Digging will likely remind players of a handful of franchises almost immediately, such as Minecraft, Deep Rock Galactic, and even Dead Space for those who look closely at the game’s nighttime mechanic. These three titles aren’t the only comparisons one could make. For instance, the character models for the diggers that players control look very much like humans do in ARK: Survival Evolved, but they are perhaps the most meaningful when explaining the game’s moment-to-moment gameplay. While careful miners can avoid the horror entirely, those who fail to satisfy a nightmarish entity will surely be terrified by the result of their error when the game launches in Q2 2027.
Gone Digging Features at a Glance
- DIG together with up to three friends, finding valuable and mysterious items.
- UPGRADE your miner
- UNLOCK new layers of the cave system.
- FEED a terrifying entity some sacrifices of your choosing.
- EXPERIENCE a Minecraft-like day-night cycle where monsters come out in the dark.
Dig together by day. Feed the darkness by night. A 1–4 player co-op digging thriller where loot, upgrades, and sacrifices decide who survives after sundown.
Gone Digging is Like Deep Rock Galactic by Day…
Without its day-night cycle, Gone Digging would be fairly straightforward. 1-to-4 players start their day by entering a cave, mining with their pickaxes to find gems, minerals, and chests with forgotten rare items. After a busy day of mining, they’ll return to the surface with a haul of loot. From there, they can sell their finds to a roaming merchant, securing themselves a variety of useful upgrades. Said boosts include better tools, faster digging speeds, and access to new layers of the cave that will provide more loot and challenges to deal with. In this regard, it’s pretty much a straightforward mining game.
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However, the aforementioned Minecraft-like cycle is what gives Gone Digging such a distinct identity. Every time nightfall descends on the mine and the surrounding area, players will have to make an offering to a dark entitity. What they sacrifice is entirely up to them: they could give the glowing-eyed statue their entire haul, but that means they may not have the upgrades they need to progress. With this system, every trip to the traveling salesman and the entity is a risk-reward gamble. Successfully balancing offerings and purchases will allow for steady progression, but if players want to risk being greedy, they’ll be trading a safe and relaxing night in the mines for a full-on horror game.
…And Dead Space by (Failed) Night
If the entity is disappointed with the offering made by a solo player of their co-op group, they’ll send a menacing creature out to hunt and kill the party. This monster is utterly terrifying due to the sharp tendrils sprouting from its shoulders, glowing eyes, bony body, and Pennywise-like mouth of teeth. This monster can only be described as looking like it came straight out of Dead Space, as every part of its design gives massive Necromorph vibes. And with the Dead Space series seemingly on ice, Gone Digging’s Necromorph-like creature could fill a void for horror fans.
Mechanically, the creature will seemingly function like a regenerator from EA’s iconic horror IP, being an unstoppable force that stalks players until the night comes to an end. Gone Digging’s nightfall doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to lighting, with players having nothing but a faint lantern to guide them through the dark. Hearing the unsettling sounds of the creature as they can barely see what’s directly in front of them is sure to send a chill up miners’ spines, so much so that many will likely do their best to avoid angering the game’s creepy god with their tribute.
While Gone Digging is set to release come 2027, it’s worth noting that the game will remain in early access for a period of 9-12 months. While this is hardly the longest early access period for an indie game on Steam, it’s still worth mentioning for players seeking a content-complete experience for their friend group. In its early access window, developer NewGen plans to add more monsters, lootable items, digging tools, and maps to explore. Player feedback will also be taken into consideration so that any necessary balancing changes can be made, while general polish to the multiplayer experience and map design can be expected. For players eager to try Gone Digging right this second, a Steam demo is available, though it’s only single-player. For a proper co-op game session of digging and fleeing from spooky creatures, gamers will have to wait until Q2 2027.
