Pocket Mine 2 Review

Developer: Roofdog Games
Price: FREE
Version Reviewed: 1.3.0
App Reviewed on: iPhone 5

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Pocket Mine 2 is a free-to-play spelunking arcade game that builds upon the strengths of its predecessor. It still isn't necessarily the ideal version of itself, but it certainly takes a lot of steps in the right direction that left the original Pocket Mine wanting more.

For those unfamiliar with Pocket Mine, it stars a quick-moving protagonist as they try to dig as deep as possible as quickly as possible before either being swallowed up by the autoscrolling screen or breaking their pickaxe. It mixes some puzzle mechanics with some twich gameplay, and it all controls with the beautiful simplicity of single taps on the screen to direct the miner where to move or dig.

All of this and more is present in Pocket Mine 2, with the most notable additions being discrete levels, new powerups, some social integrations, and custom loadouts. As players continue to further their mining accomplishments they can collect cards that help determine what powerups will be present in any given map. These cards are collectible and can be upgraded by fusing duplicates together to stregthen a particular card's effect. With custom loadouts, players can determine exactly which cards will be in play for a session, though using these loadouts are time-limited to players unless they spend premium currency.

As players continue to dig, they'll also earn dollars that they can use to upgrade their pickaxe's durability or build factories to craft items. Each level also has artifact collectibles, which can be redeemed for more cards and other rewards once a particular set has been completed and adds replay value to some of the environments.

Although these are all marked improvements over Pocket Mine, Pocket Mine 2 still feels like it roots most of its challenge in being free-to-play rather than in actually beingdifficult. Because the controls are so easy and the character moves so fast, players will rarely find themselves in a bad situation that involves a mistake rather than a lack of progression.

That being said, the sheer number of things to do in Pocket Mine 2 can keep the simple gameplay from feeling completely empty. Perhaps someday there will be a Pocket Mine game that challenges players to make digging decisions at a break-neck pace that is as hectic and difficult as it is fun, but until that time comesPocket Mine 2 does a reasonable job of improving on the original formula.