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Gem Driller

Dig a dwarf down shafts of coloured stone: one strike breaks a whole seam. Bring the vault its gems and mind the falling stone. 80 shafts.

About Gem Driller

Under the Korthen hills a dwarf with a helmet lamp digs straight down through seams of ochre, jade, rose and azure stone. Strike one stone and its whole seam crumbles; whatever it held up shakes, then falls, and four of a colour landing together burst.

Each shaft's vault opens only for its gems, and the lantern oil runs down as you dig. Eight mines of ten shafts add crystals, granite, ember stones that blast, rootstone, timber galleries and sand. Every shaft keeps a top ten for score and for speed.

How to play

Goal: Dig down the shaft, collecting the gems its vault asks for, and reach the vault before your lantern oil runs out.
How it ends: The shaft is won when the dwarf reaches the vault; it is lost when the last of his three lanterns goes out (crushed by falling stone, caught in a blast or out of oil).
Record: For every shaft, the ten best scores and the ten fastest descents, each proved by replaying the run.

Walk with the left and right arrows (or A and D); he climbs a step one stone high when there is room above it. Strike down with the down arrow (S), up with the up arrow (W), left or right with Q or E, or the way he faces with Space. On a touch screen use the pad under the shaft, or tap beside, under or above him.
Stones of one colour that touch are one seam: strike any of them and all of it breaks. What it held up shakes, then falls; if it lands on him he loses a lantern. A falling seam that comes to rest touching its own colour, four or more together, bursts.
Collect the gems the vault asks for (shown as gems/needed) and reach the vault at the foot of the shaft. The oil drains one second a second; flasks refill it. Three lanterns: a lost one relights where he stands, the third is the end.

Worked example for Gem Driller — Worked example. See how the rules apply to a real position.

Controls

Input	Action
← → · A D	Walk; climb a one-stone step
↓ · S	Strike down
↑ · W	Strike up
Q · E	Strike left · right
Space · X	Strike the way he faces
Tap · the pad	Walk or strike beside, under or above him
R	Start the shaft again (the same shaft)
P · Escape	Pause (a paused run no longer counts for a record)

Good to know

Ranked results are checked by playing your run again. Your progress stays in this browser.

Watch how to play

The rules, then Lantern Drop played start to finish. Played by an automated player at a person's pace; the narration is a synthetic voice. English captions.