Iron everywhere near the surface, copper from 72m. Soft digging, gentle falls. Earn your first upgrades here.
Shallow Rock200 – 600m
gas pockets from 276m
Iron thins out by 264m; copper is the workhorse, silver appears from 360m. Harder rock digs slower — a better drill pays for itself.
Deep Rock600 – 1,200m
hot · lava from 708m
Gold from 660m, platinum from 1,020m. Dark — your headlamp is all you get. Long flights home; watch the fuel gauge.
Magma Margin1,200m +
open lava
Platinum country, and the only home of Descentium ★ (from 1,380m). Lava pools glow through the dark — that's the warning and the beacon.
What You Can Mine
Ore
Found at
Sells for
Iron
6 – 264m
$30
Copper
72 – 840m
$60
Silver
360 – 1,200m
$150
Gold
660 – 1,560m
$400
Platinum
1,020 – 1,908m
$1,000
Descentium ★
1,380m +
unsellable
Each ore is rarest at the edges of its range and richest in the middle. Descentium is guidance ore — the trader won't take it, the rocket needs 3. It still occupies cargo space, so plan the haul home.
What's Trying To Stop You
☠
Gas pocketsDirt with faint green speckles, 276m and below. Drilling one detonates it — deeper pockets hit harder (up to 45 hull).
🔥
LavaFrom 708m, pooling wider with depth. Touching it burns 40 hull/sec and slows you. It glows through the dark — heed the glow.
↓
FallingDrops 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 dryEmpty 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 brokeStranded 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 — deeper rock is harder; keep the drill ahead of your depth
×1
stock
×1.7
$350
×2.8
$1,200
×4.5
$4,200
×7
$15,000
×11
$52,000
Fuel Tank
range — the real limit on how deep you can go and still get home
25L
stock
40L
$200
60L
$900
90L
$3,200
130L
$11,000
190L
$38,000
Cargo Bay
haul size — bigger holds mean fewer trips and fatter paydays
8
stock
14
$150
24
$700
40
$2,600
65
$9,000
105
$32,000
Hull
survivability — falls, gas and lava all bill this account. Repairs $2/hp at the shop