Drill Rift

Pros: dorfs, diggy, hole, diggy diggy hole, pretty straightforward gameplay loop. Getting past the first 6000m is a challenge and there's a good amount of options to try and balance drill health, madness, and your quota. Cons: UI is slightly cumbersome (clicking on the drill every time could be skipped with buttons on the main UI, there's room), no individual sliders for audio (the music is good but I tend to turn it down so I can have other things playing). There's also definitely room for some sort of roguelike mechanics where you can build from previous runs, which might enhance the gameplay loop after your first couple playthroughs. Maybe as an expansion/DLC or somesuch.

This feels like the beginning of what could be a good game. This is not a roguelite, there's nothing to improve on after each run. My first run I got a little over 5000 meters, and I could play more after learning the mechanics of the game better, but it doesn't feel like there's enough incentive here. The game is beautiful, with beautiful graphics, and there are really good strategies to employ with resource management and upgrade management. But I feel like there's not a big enough reason for me to continue playing this game if I can't use what I've learned in the game, and then improve any sort of skill level to take with me to the next round. Maybe keep my favorite dwarf, or raise the HP of my drill, or start with an upgraded coal miner. Lots of ideas to better the game. For me, I've played the game now, the only thing I get from playing another round is just deeper into the mine. I don't know what the plans are for this game, but it certainly seems like a game I would be willing to follow along with to see where it ends up going, if they have plans to make it go anywhere else. Mostly I like the game and I'm happy with my purchase, I guess I'm just looking for more from the game.

I really liked the setting for this game. Following the dwarves in their mining journey was enjoyable and at times stressful (in a good way) as I got deeper. I got to 4000 m my first time through until missing my shipment. The UI was a little frustrating at times, but once you get used to the quirks it's fun to play. Looking forward to my next run. Recommend!

Очень любопытная игра. Вы управляйте тройкой гномов, которые, потерпев поражение в битве, пытаются искупить вину работая на шахтах и добывая ценный для вооющих гномов мифрил. Каждые 12 дней вам нужно выполнять пятилетку по доставке мифрила на фронт. Изначально вам дают буровую установку и систему для выработки электропитания. Вся игра строится на контроле за несколькими ресурсами: топливом, железом и здоровьем ваших гномов. Ресурсов дается пугающе мало, способов их восполнения - тем более, а вариантов куда потратить - масса. В случае если вы проигрывайте - вы начинаете заново, никаких чекпоинтов в игре фактически не предусмотрено (почему фактически - опишу в минусах). Каждый день (он же ход) вы можете сделать одно действие - бурить шахту в надежде найти ценные ресурсы, восстановить здоровье вашей установки (она портится при копании и при атаках монстров). Фоном вы также можете исследовать технологии, строить и апгрейдить здания. В шахтах вас ждет одно из двух (по крайней мере я доходил только до этих двух вариантов) - либо трехуровневая шахта - рандомно на одном из 3 уровней вас ждет ивент, а на двух других - рандомные получения ресурсов - либо шахта с руной - вы получите немного мифрила и руну на какой-то перк вроде +3 к броскам на силу. Игра совсем не прощает ошибок - любой затык (вроде нажал на кнопку забыв сделать одно действие) - может аукнуться вам в компании. Также особенность - ивенты в игре рассчитываются на основе DND системы - у ваших дварфов есть вкаченные навыки, вы бросайте 20-ти гранник и к результату суммируются характеристики дварфа. За счет этого появляется рандом. И того плюсы: + хардкорность - игра точно не про расслабленный геймплей + проработанность математики по ресурсам - сперва кажется что ресурсов неестественно мало, но попробовав несколько раз - понимаешь что их достаточно, решает ресурс-менеджмент + визуальный стиль - приятная такая смесь Лавкрафтовщины и стимпанка + эмоции от игры - я человек спокойный, но пару раз браниться на монитор за всего 5 часов у меня получилось. Минусы: - сломанная система сохранений. не понятно зачем она вообще нужна , но текущая совершенно не работает. У меня несколько раз игра загружала сохранение на моменте анимации поражения, а пару раз - чуть заранее, что позволяло переиграть фатальные броски. - однообразность геймплея - из-за того что большинство опций открывается этак на 3000 метрах, безумно уныло прокликиваются первые уровни уже даже на данном этапе. Причем старт достаточно важен - в нем вы закладывайте основы для будущего развития. Но играть в него уже раза с 3 безумно скучно. Влияют заскриптованые шахты - я уже примерно понимаю когда я получу халявные 25 мифрила за погружение в шахту с руной. Хочется верить что разработчики будут активно поддерживать игру, так как потенциал однозначно имеется.

I found myself engaged in the lore of the story and in the challenge. It was a very cool game, I got to 3700m! The game is dictated entirely on your decisions, so I found myself pondering the options at every step, and it was really fun! I don´t usually play these kind of games, but I really enjoyed this one. The lore set the stage and gave the game purpose to really set you to achieve the objectives. I really enjoyed the monster scenes, really set the stakes higher! It was gret fun and I will be going back to beat my high score!

I played the demo a good bit before release, but the final product so far doesn't add much. The research tree seems to be twice as long as what I'm able to access, even after 2-3 full runs (one of which was past 10000m). There are also issues with inputs not working upon loading into a game in progress. I honestly love the parts of the game I've gotten to play, but I can't in good conscious recommend a game that is barely discernible from the demo, for a $15 price tag

Its just come out and there are some growing pains, but i honestly think this game has a lot of potential! Very excited to see future updates and patches to see what new events could occur! 👀

Wouldn't recommend buying right now, just play the demo. Game is fun and has some good bones. But, I can't scroll down to the other half of the research. Currently you can only go down to 1000m. Once you hit 1000m, if you don't make the roll the game freezes on you. I bought the game but when you "beat it" it askes you to add the game to your wishlist.

Pleasantly surprised that I was hooked for a solid hour trying to keep everything in balance (made it until 6000 depth). It took me a few play throughs to figure out how to balance the drilling, building, researching and upgrading against the damage and madness meters. And also, when to turn on/off production from each building. The building upgrades are satisfying and feel meaningful. I learned the hard way that you are gonna need to build the rings or the worm will become too hard. This was one of two issues for me. The worm felt increasingly unfair, so maybe the rings could have been highlighted earlier as a counter to the worm. The other issue was that i would have liked more enemy variety, especially on reruns but it was not a deal breaker for me. Not really an issue because it helped me, but I think an oversight in balancing. One of the runes gives you 75 coal on rolling 5+ over the required roll. You can add +3 to your roll for a cost of 15 coal and with the dwarf roll bonus you can pretty much guarantee to hit he 5+ requirement. Drilling is cool, but it’s the drilling events that hooks you into this game. The event dice roll mechanic adds the perfect amount of chance to go with the rest of the game’s strategy. And for me it feels like it is the core mechanic of the game. Overall I like it and found it surprisingly addictive. Good mix of strategy with a bit of RGN from the dice, and i like that you can level up stats, it helps remove a bit of luck. Defo recommend giving it a try as an indie game

Drill Rift is a turn-based strategy game from Steam Veil Games where you manage a remote drilling outpost deep underground. You oversee dwarves, upgrade machinery, manage resources, and push deeper while balancing efficiency against growing madness, with clear eldritch undertones if you dig too far. Pros ✔️ Eldritch themes work for me - I’ll admit I’m biased here, but the creeping “you should not be doing this” vibe adds some nice flavor to the management loop. ✔️ The drilling mechanic is neat - Digging deeper feels purposeful, and it’s a satisfying central mechanic to build the game around. ✔️ Machinery systems make sense - The way the moving parts and upgrades fit together feels logical and easy to understand. Cons ❌ Day-to-day progression isn’t clearly communicated - I really wanted some kind of clearer transition between days, like a lights-out moment or reset, to help pace things better. ❌ Technology unlocks feel underpowered at first - Unlocking a new tech only to have it start effectively at level zero feels rough and a bit deflating. ❌ Party composition lacks agency - I would’ve liked to choose my starting dwarves instead of being assigned them, especially since they don’t have strong enough personalities to justify the lock-in. Conclusion This felt fine, but very bare bones. The foundation is there, and I can see how this could turn into a solid time-sink with more systems layered on top, but right now it feels more like an early version of something bigger. I didn’t dislike my time with it, I just kept wanting more depth and clearer pacing. If it continues to build on what’s here, I could see myself enjoying it a lot more down the line. Score 5/10 Deep Drills — A solid foundation that hasn’t quite struck anything exciting yet.