Punch my Dig! by nervous-composers

Controls: ASD, or Left/Right/Down
Note 1: Best played on Firefox. If there are audio stuttering issues, please download the standalone executable.
Note 2: There is an ending
It's the biggest dig ever! Go deep, go fast, consume IRN-BRU gems for gains and grow bigger. Don't run out of energy!
Pro-tip:
1) burrow deeper, guzzle energy drinks
7) throw quick punch until break stone, avoid spike traps
15) dive deep into more rock
25) eat gem and win
Software: godot / photoshop / boscaceoil / bfxr
Ratings
| Overall | 895th | 3.527⭐ | 39🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 855th | 3.392⭐ | 39🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 1323th | 2.905⭐ | 39🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 698th | 3.811⭐ | 39🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 1222th | 3.392⭐ | 39🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 601th | 3.545⭐ | 35🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 935th | 2.641⭐ | 34🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 1234th | 3.257⭐ | 37🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 54🗳️ | 51🗨️ |
The little touches: lighting, music, gem flash, player animation really elevates the otherwise pretty straightforward gameplay.
And being straightforward is _not_ a knock! this game shows you that plan and gives you the tools for the job and gets right out of its own way. Let your fists do the talking!
I like the level generator, and the use of empty space as a puzzle mechanic. planning the route feels great. The progressive color change on the blocks is clear and simple UX and works well.
I didnt really understand how the stamina system worked but it didnt slow me down too much.
Nice work!
 This was how far I cloud get, but at what cost? hahahahahaha :smile:
Nice digging game!!! Good job
The sideways punch feels much stronger than the down(1 vs 2 punches) pretty fun to just one punch your way through once you get enough gems. good work.
This is one of the most impressive entries I've seen for this Ludum Dare. Good work!
I think that making the actual goal (gems) a different item than the energy was a good design decision, forcing you to balance between depth, gems and energy. Spikes were also a nice touch.
Game feel was also very good, with all the screen shake and punches. I think the "down punch" should have been the same duration as the "side punch", to avoid lingering too mucn.
I liked it how it got darker and more sinister the deeper you went (did the character change too?). It really expressed nicely the "deeper and deeper" theme.
Maybe you could speed up the downward punching animation? It is a ton slower than going sideways. I like the idea of it getting darker the lower you go, but I think that this game is really about planning your route and maximizing your energy to get pickups and the darkening level works against that since you can't plan anymore.
Music and sound worked. I liked the graphics and the way that the rocks broke away as you hit them.