The Strata
First descent into each new stratum pays a
scouting bonus — $500 for shallow rock, $1,000 for deep rock, $2,000 for the magma
margin, $4,000 for the crystal depths, $8,000 for the impact layer — and briefs you on
its hazards.
Topsoil0 – 200m
air: free
Iron everywhere near the surface, thinning as you go; copper from 12m. Soft digging, gentle falls — earn your first upgrades here. A stray of gold turns up from 96m: rare, and worth more than a full early hold of iron.
Shallow Rock200 – 600m
gas pockets from 276m
Copper is the workhorse, richest near 372m; silver appears from 204m and iron gives out by 480m. Harder rock digs slower — a better drill pays for itself.
Deep Rock600 – 1,200m
hot · lava from 708m
Gold's seam thickens through here, richest near 1,164m; platinum from 756m. Dark — your headlamp is all you get. Long flights home; watch the fuel gauge.
Magma Margin1,200 – 1,920m
open lava
Platinum country, and the only home of Descentium ★ (from 1,344m — just six crystals in the whole dig). Lava pools glow through the dark — that's the warning and the beacon.
Crystal Depths1,920 – 2,640m
steam vents
Rubies from 1,980m and diamonds below 2,160m — but the rock outmatches every bit under Ruby. Steam vents blast a scalding plume on a rhythm: learn it, route around it, or dynamite the vent — the blast caps it in platinum.
Impact Layer2,640m +
starfall
Twelve buried meteorites in the whole world, $15,000 apiece, and nothing but a Diamond drill digs here at speed. Gas, lava and steam all follow you down. The longest commute in the game — fuel for the climb, always.
What You Can Mine
| Ore | Found at | Sells for |
|---|
| Iron |
6 – 480m | $30 |
| Copper |
12 – 912m | $60 |
| Silver |
204 – 1,296m | $150 |
| Gold |
96 – 1,644m | $400 |
| Platinum |
756 – 1,908m | $1,000 |
| Descentium ★ |
1,344m + | unsellable |
| Ruby |
1,980 – 2,580m | $2,500 |
| Diamond |
2,160 – 3,000m | $6,000 |
| Meteorite |
2,640m + · 12 exist | $15,000 |
Each ore is thin at the edges of its range and richest inside its seam. Silver and gold also throw the odd stray far above the seam — that glint of gold in the topsoil is a real find, not a mistake. Ore runs in short veins, so where you strike one, dig sideways before you move on. Descentium is guidance ore — only six crystals exist in the whole dig, the trader won't take them, and the rocket needs 3. They can't be destroyed: dynamite won't crack one, and a rescue crew brings yours home with the pod. They still occupy cargo space, so plan the haul.
What's Trying To Stop You
☠
Gas pockets
Dirt with faint green speckles, 276m and below. Drilling one detonates it — deeper pockets hit harder (up to 45 hull).
🔥
Lava
From 708m, pooling wider with depth. Touching it burns 40 hull/sec and slows you. It glows through the dark — heed the glow.
♨
Steam vents
From 1,920m: cracked rock that blasts a scalding plume three tiles up, one second in every four — 30 hull/sec if you're standing in it. Undrillable; dynamite caps them with a platinum plug. The rhythm never changes: watch one cycle, then move.
↓
Falling
Drops of ~5 tiles and more damage the hull, scaling with speed. Feather the thruster on the way down — or buy the parachute and never worry again.
⛽
Running dry
Empty tank strands the pod: surface tow costs 25% of your cash and all cargo. Hull failure costs 30% and the cargo. Turn back at half a tank — the screen bleeds red when it's getting serious.
☠
Dying broke
Stranded with less than $150 in the bank? Nobody tows for free. The pod goes dark, the run is over, the save is gone.
Pimping The Rig
Drill
dig speed — each bit is rated for one stratum deeper; the drill named for the ore is what reaches it
Fuel Tank
range — the real limit on how deep you can go and still get home. Bigger tiers are literally bigger
Cargo Bay
haul size (in ore) — bigger holds mean fewer trips and fatter paydays
Hull
survivability — falls, gas and lava all bill this account. Repairs $2/hp at the shop
Engine
climb rate — what the flight home costs in patience; hungrier tiers drink a little more fuel per second aloft
Parachute
one-off gear — auto-deploys past safe speed; falls stop hurting entirely
Dynamite
consumable — 5s fuse, 2.5-tile blast that clears even undiggable rock (bedrock and stations excepted). The flash quenches the nearest lava into a ruby and caps steam vents with platinum. Drop it from the cargo hold.
Fuel costs $3/L at the depot. New tanks and hulls come fitted full.
Tap any item in the shop for its full spec card.
The Way Home
🚀 LAUNCH HOME
The one sink everything drains into. Bring it all to the pad at once:
3× Descentium ★ aboard
$150,000 cash