Back in the early days of the Nintendo DS, during the typical new console release drought that seems to plague the vast majority of major handheld launch windows, I stumbled upon the deceptively brilliant Mr Driller series from Namco. To be honest, I wasn’t sure what on earth was actually going on during the majority of the game, and I didn’t exactly get very deep – literally and figuratively – within it. In my defence, I was barely nine years old at the time (wow, I feel old). However, ever since then, the catharsis of games that involve drilling or descending down a seemingly endless cavern has greatly appealed to me, and that core gameplay mechanic was epitomised by the excellent Pocket Mine series from Roofdog Games. After a total of 9 million downloads from both Pocket Mine 1 (Free) and Pocket Mine 2 (Free) – as well as surprise runaway success in the Japanese App Store – the developer is set to release Pocket Mine 3, the latest game in the franchise, worldwide tomorrow.
If the latest trailer for Pocket Mine 3 is anything to go by, it looks like Roofdog Games’ latest effort could be their best yet. Featuring the same hopelessly compulsive block breaking, card collecting and artefact recovering gameplay from the previous title, Pocket Mine 3 adds enemies within the shafts, which will help create even more frenetic action in the depths of the eclectic locations within the game. The developers also completely rewrote the game from scratch, and tightened up the game design to extend the longevity of Pocket Mine 3 even further. It’s extremely evident from the trailer and screenshots that Pocket Mine 3 is more than just an iterative sequel – there’s just so much more happening on the screen, satisfying both those looking for a more involved experience than its predecessors and hardcore fans of the series desiring continuity. Pocket Mine 3 has already soft-launched in Canada and Australia, but if you don’t want to take advantage of our guide to play the game early, look out for Roofdog Games’ latest title on the App Store tomorrow.
