I recently picked up the Steamworld Dig series on my trusty Nintendo Switch during the recent Easter sale, and I am now completely hooked on any game that involves burrowing into the earth. It’s hard to explain, but I now have an insatiable desire to dig into the ground and discover the wonders beneath the surface, and Diggerman looks like it’ll be able to scratch this peculiar itch. While slightly more of an arcade experience than Image and Form’s cult indie hits – you don’t have to worry about retreating back to the surface in Diggerman – the frantic race deep into the earth combined with a need to keep your battery topped up looks like a lot of muddy fun. We first looked at Diggerman back at PAX West last year, but developer Digital Melody has today released a new gameplay trailer showcasing the frenetic action at offer.

As we pointed out in our initial preview last September, as opposed to the more methodical gameplay of the excellent Doug Dug (Free), Diggerman is all about the action. With a simple two-button control scheme as you propel your protagonist downward through diagonal digging, you’re tasked with dodging obstacles, TNT blocks and other hazards as you attempt to descend as far as possible. While it may be a simple high-scoring romp at its score, the fantastic retro aesthetic and exuberant charm within Diggerman highlight it beyond merely its interesting digging mechanic. While no release date has been penned thus far, the developers are polling our forum members to choose the game’s app icon, so Diggerman cannot be too far off at this point. If you’d like to get involved with the development of Diggerman, and also keep up to date with breaking news on its release date and gameplay, be sure to keep an eye on our forum thread.