Ground Digger is a free simulation game that lets you drive around excavation vehicles of different shapes, colors, and sizes. This casual game from HOMA GAMES lets you explore the different materials beneath the Earth’s surface–rock, mud, ice, and lava–and mine for rare minerals. Each run allows you to cash in your wealth, letting you purchase assistants and some cool upgrades.

Its cartoon graphics, fun music, and simple gameplay premise make Ground Digger a more relaxing alternative to other digging games like Digger Excavator Simulator 2019 - CONSTRUCTION SIM or Diamond Digger Saga. It has fewer missions and customization options, though.

Drill down, resurface, upgrade, repeat

With Ground Digger, the objective of the game is fairly straightforward: dig minerals from the Earth, bring them back to the surface, and trade or sell them for upgrades. Still, this game is addictive thanks to the exaggerated vehicle designs available for you to unlock. Its use of bright colors and oversized drill heads make it ideal for younger players, and of course for the young at heart.

Another feature that makes this game casually enjoyable is that the game allows you to purchase “mining bots.” These mini-versions automatically dig up the soil around you and help you progress faster. They look like little flies as you make your way underground. There are also a lot of upgrades and special boosters, although some of them would require you to watch ads in order to claim.

While this game doesn’t drown you with frequent ads, it has a way of essentially forcing it on you. To advance to the next level, you have to gather a certain amount of gems. Unfortunately, there don’t seem to be enough gems in one stage, forcing you to watch ads should you want to play the next stage. Aside from that, the rest of the upgrades are optional.

A relaxing drill game

Aside from the clever way of forcing ads on its players, Ground Digger is a fairly decent game. It has a relaxing visual presence thanks to the variety and the style that goes into its excavators, making it fun to use them per stage then upgrade them to a bigger and crazier one. It even makes your job easier with the use of small automated drilling bots. Still recommended.