Digging Master

🦕 Digging Master: Stratigraphy and Spatial Assembly

Digging Master gamifies the discipline of Paleontology. It breaks the process down into three distinct phases: Excavation (Removal), Assembly (Puzzle), and Exhibition (Economics). We analyze this as a simulation of Stratigraphy—understanding that deeper layers of soil contain older data.

The excavation phase is a "clear the fog" mechanic. Players must efficiently remove voxel soil to reveal fossil nodes without wasting energy on empty dirt. This requires estimating the size and orientation of the buried object based on partial visual cues.

🧠 Cognitive Skill: Part-Whole Relationships

The assembly phase tests visual synthesis:

• Skeletal Reconstruction: You are given scattered bones (Femur, Skull, Ribs). You must mentally rotate and snap them into a coherent biological structure. This trains the brain's ability to recognize how individual components form a systemic whole.
• Pattern Matching: Matching the fossil shape to the silhouette outline requires precise spatial alignment.

🎮 Mechanics: The Museum Economy

The meta-game is an economic loop:

• Layout Optimization: Placing exhibits generates passive income (Ticket Sales). High-value fossils (T-Rex) should be placed deep in the museum to force visitors to walk past (and view) lower-tier exhibits, maximizing dwell time.
• Tool Progression: Upgrading the pickaxe increases the radius of soil removal. This improves the "Time-to-Fossil" ratio, which is the primary efficiency metric.

🏆 Strategy: Targeted Excavation

1. Follow the White Bones

When digging, if you see a white pixel, stop random digging. Dig outwards from that point. Fossils are contiguous. Following the bone structure minimizes wasted clicks on empty soil.

2. Gold Management

Prioritize upgrading your "Selling Price" before your "Digging Speed." Economic inflation allows you to buy the expensive late-game biomes faster than raw digging speed does.

❓ FAQ