Shaft Dig: hold to drill, let go to grab the gold

Everything the Scrap League smashes ends up somewhere. Mostly underground. Shaft Dig sends you down after it. It's a one-finger digging game, free to play online with no download, and it fits nicely into a two-minute break.

One finger, two moves

Hold anywhere to drill down. Let go and the drill stops dead while a side claw snaps out to grab whatever pocket is in reach: copper, silver, gold and, deeper down, crystal. Your rig is the Corkscrew, a red drill with headlight eyes and a mine cart in tow. Up top, old prospector Moss Pickett yells encouragement. Mostly "Yee-haw!"

Every shaft has a vault at the bottom. Grind through the lid, grab what's inside, and the winch hauls you up to the weigh station to cash in your nuggets.

Watch the fuel

Fuel only burns while you drill. Run dry before the vault and the winch pulls you up anyway. You keep everything in the cart, and the game shows you how far you had left to go. Then it's off to The Shed, which sells four upgrades: Fuel tank, Drill, Scoop and Hold.

Layers, critters and TNT

Every few shafts brings something new. A springy tyre band. Hard concrete that drinks fuel. Caves where you fall for free. Fizzing gas that shoots you down at triple speed. Rollers, giant pill bugs, patrol the tunnels. Drill into one and it curls up into a ball, and you stall for a moment. Nobody gets hurt. TNT crates blast through the next hard band, or crack a vault lid.

Tips for deeper dives

• Let go when the claw brackets glow green. An empty grab wastes fuel and breaks your combo.
• Waiting is free. Stop above a tunnel and let a Roller walk past.
• Save TNT for concrete and bedrock. They burn far more fuel per metre than soil.
• Careful under gas. Fizz shoots you down fast, so it's easy to overshoot the pockets just below.
• Grab every fuel can. Each one tops you up.
• Ran dry? Buy a Fuel tank upgrade and try again. You keep what you collected.

The finds

This is the fun part. Some vaults hold a find for your collection. A jukebox, still humming. A traffic light, still green. A crystal-grown V8. Boss shafts, every tenth level, hide the big ones, like the first league ball and the lost league trophy. There are 18 finds to dig up in all. The other vaults hold a cart of lost loot, which pays just as well.

Hold, hold, hold... let go. That's the whole game, and it's surprisingly hard to stop.

More quick hits

Fancy something else short? Try Junk Maw or Lamp Hunt, or browse the whole Arcade shelf.