One of the things I tend to appreciate most about indie games is their ability and willingness to take risks, blending together concepts and genres in ways that are unexpected. In general, the further apart certain styles of play seem to be, the more interesting it can be to see them placed side by side, but there’s also undoubtedly a risk in doing that since that can make the game’s target audience more murky in the process. Drill Core most definitely offers up this sort of mix, by combining elements of tower defense, unit management, and what can end up being a fair amount of latitude for tackling challenges your own way, but it also runs into some issues.

The core idea here is that you’re helping to manage a massive mining platform, moving from area to area to plumb the depths and recover resources. Of course, there wouldn’t be much excitement if any of this was easy, so you’ll need to be keenly aware of the threats you’ll find in the mines themselves, and then on the surface as days turn to night and the skies fill with various creatures. That makes for a mix of higher-level priorities, in particular what units, buildings, and upgrades you pursue, and then a degree of hand-holding to help guide your workers as they carve out the space below the platform. If you’re not paying attention you can absolutely get them into trouble, as smaller buggy threats and some much more lethal ones will make themselves known, but as long as you understand they’re generally quite expendable you’ll be fine.

The biggest challenge I had was simply getting going, as the on-screen help feels like it’s plastered everywhere on the screen at first, and that doesn’t make for a friendly ramp-up. Pair that with controls that continued to feel wonky, specifically with the pointer’s tendency to dip to the bottom of my mine area when I’d shift to that view, wasting my time and putting my workers at greater risk, and there are some nagging issues even when you’re on top of what you’re doing. The final challenge is that given the relatively slow pace of progress, and upgrades that are helpful but never quite feel game-changing, there’s a fair question of how long this will keep the average gamer satisfied. It has its charms, for sure, but with so many distractions out there it feels easier to move on from than its peers.