# Drill Down: Mine the Earth — Dig, tunnel and strike ore

> Portrait mining game with persistent, evolving mine and visible upgrades. (iPhone/iPad app by Luis Herskovic.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/drill-down-mine-the-earth/id6804474401 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Luis Herskovic](https://appshunter.io/developer/1875143071)
- Category: Games, Casual, Simulation
- Price: $1.99 (on sale, was $3.99)
- Rating: 4.50/5 from 2 App Store ratings · 1 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 15.0 · 164 MB
- Languages: Korean, Dutch, German (Germany), Russian, Vietnamese, Norwegian Bokmål, Swedish, European Spanish, American English, Italian and 6 more
- Released: 2026-08-31
- Data updated: 2026-09-09
- Monetization: paid
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/drill-down-mine-the-earth/id6804474401/reviews.md

## What is Drill Down?

Drill Down is a beautiful portrait mining game where every run takes you a little deeper, until one of them reaches the centre of the earth.

You drive one machine into one mountain. Put a finger anywhere on the glass and the rig turns toward it and eats its way there. No buttons, no menus while you are down, just a heading and a tank of fuel. When the tank runs low the hoist pulls you home with whatever you were carrying.

Nothing you cut is ever undone. The bore you opened yesterday is the road you ride down today, so the mine slowly becomes a map of your own decisions: the shortcut you drilled, the flooded gallery you gave up on, the seam you followed sideways for two hundred metres.

Between runs, the surface is where you spend it:

• a machine rebuilt part by part, every upgrade bolted on where you can see it
• a museum that fills up with the minerals you carried out
• a camp that quietly changes as the shaft gets deeper

Hard ground refuses a weak cutter outright. Water finds your tunnels and sits in them. Gas collects along the roof and waits for a spark off the wrong rock. Deeper still, the ground is hot enough to cost you fuel just for being in it.

There is no losing here. There is only the gap between where you stopped and where you were trying to get to, and the mountain will be exactly as you left it when you come back.

Underneath all of it, a professor pays you by the load and does not say why. Others came this way before you. Their rooms are still down there, and what they left behind is the reason none of them made it home.

Features:

• one thumb, portrait, no second control anywhere
• runs of a few minutes that fit into a gap in the day
• a mine that is never regenerated and never reset
• layers of ground that each look, sound and cut differently
• flooding, gas and lava that behave like themselves rather than like traps
• minerals to find, haul out and put on a shelf
• upgrades visible on the rig from the moment you buy them
• a surface camp that grows out of what you bring back
• a neighbour with a boat, a borrowed digger and work of his own
• expeditions to places that are not your mountain
• a story on the radio, and an older one written into the rock
• an ending, and a way to reach it
• no ads, no in-app purchases, no timers, fully offline

Keep going down. It stops sounding like rock long before you arrive.

## Key features

- One-thumb portrait controls
- Persistent, non-regenerating mine
- Dynamic environmental hazards (water, gas, lava)
- Visible rig upgrades
- Surface camp progression
- Offline play

## Recent user reviews (1 of 1)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/drill-down-mine-the-earth/id6804474401/reviews.md

### 4/5 — Some balancing issues but good

*2026-09-03*

It has potential. Short runs, nice progressive game. 

The only annoying thing is that everything needs a lot of iron to build - and it is much rarer than pretty much anything else. Yes, some minerals like diamonds are expected to be rare but if you need 100 iron to build an upgrade and you can only find two occasionally - at around 2000 meters deep now and upper layers are mostly drilled - it just takes a ridiculous amount of time to build anything. Gold is everywhere and it seems pretty useless. Iron is nowhere and smelter can only make it out of copper with so bad ratio that getting 100 that way isn’t really an option. 

So yes, worth buying but version 1.1 hopefully solves this. 

(Edited: removed battery life issue - it seems to be fixed now)

**Developer response:** Hi! Thank you so much for playing Drill Down, and for your thoughtful feedback. I just released an update that is aimed at optimizing settings, so I hope that improves the phone warming issue (greatly appreciate it if you let me know at lstmnspprt@gmail.com).

About iron and minerals in general, this is very helpful. I'm working on balancing mineral availability and requirements for upgrades, so I will definitely look into this. 

Thanks again for playing and for taking the time to share your thoughts!

## Frequently asked questions about Drill Down

### What is Drill Down: Mine the Earth?

Drill Down: Mine the Earth is a portrait-oriented mining game where players dig deeper into a persistent mine. Each run contributes to a unique map based on player decisions, with visible upgrades and environmental challenges.

### Does Drill Down: Mine the Earth have ads?

No, Drill Down: Mine the Earth is ad-free. The game is a one-time purchase with no advertisements to interrupt gameplay.

### Can I play Drill Down: Mine the Earth offline?

Yes, Drill Down: Mine the Earth is fully offline. You can play and progress without an internet connection.

### How does the mine evolve in Drill Down: Mine the Earth?

The mine in Drill Down: Mine the Earth is never regenerated or reset. Every tunnel you drill remains, creating a permanent map of your exploration and decisions.

### What kind of upgrades are available in Drill Down: Mine the Earth?

Upgrades in Drill Down: Mine the Earth are visible on the rig itself from the moment they are purchased. You can rebuild your machine part by part, with each upgrade bolted on where you can see it.

### Is Drill Down: Mine the Earth suitable for younger players?

Drill Down: Mine the Earth has an age rating of 4+. The gameplay involves simple controls and exploration, making it accessible for a wide range of players.

### What is the price of Drill Down: Mine the Earth?

Drill Down: Mine the Earth is priced at $3.99. This is a one-time purchase with no additional in-app purchases or subscriptions.

### How often is Drill Down: Mine the Earth updated?

Drill Down: Mine the Earth was last updated on August 31, 2026, with version 1.0.1. This indicates a recent release and ongoing support from the developer.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.0.4 — 2026-09-09

Thank you for playing Drill Down! New in version 1.0.4:
- Fixed a bug that could cause a crash when selecting certain languages in settings
- Added a new building that allows for some interesting experimental features
- Balanced several minerals (Thank you for the feedback!)
- Some more optimizations so the game runs smoother on all devices.

### 1.0.3 — 2026-09-05

Thank you for playing Drill Down! New in version 1.0.3:
- Added a new building that allows for some interesting experimental features
- Balanced several minerals (Thank you for the feedback!)
- Some more optimizations so the game runs smoother on all devices.

### 1.0.2 — 2026-09-03

Thank you for playing Drill Down! New in version 1.0.2: Several optimisations so the game runs smoother on all devices.

### 1.0.1 — 2026-08-31

Thank you for playing Drill Down! New in version 1.0.1: Fixed crash reporting.

### 1.0 — 2026-08-31

No release notes.

## More apps by Luis Herskovic

- [Frontier Bound: Strategy RPG](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/frontier-bound-strategy-rpg/id6758055152)
- [Dungeon Breach: Infiltration](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/dungeon-breach-infiltration/id6758815597)
- [Mini Plan Santiago](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mini-plan-santiago/id6760238731)
- [Race Driver: Motorsport Career](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/race-driver-motorsport-career/id6760553331)
- [Robot Rounds: Combat League](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/robot-rounds-combat-league/id6760737221)
- [Digline: Cozy Mining](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/digline-cozy-mining/id6760948683)

All apps by Luis Herskovic: https://appshunter.io/developer/1875143071

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-09.*