Miner Man Golden Edition

Miner Man Golden Edition is definitely not what I was expecting.

I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting, really, but it wasn't a mining game with the same frantic pace and easy-to-get-flustered nature as titles like Flappy Bird. But that's pretty much what it it. And it's not bad.

There are two key differences between Miner Man and this edition. First, this one has no ads (what with it being a paid app and all). Second, you start with a second character, The Ranger, unlocked.

The extra character is nice but ultimately unnecessary, however the removal of ads is definitely appreciated.

Regardless of which character you chose you'll be digging (or I suppose in the Ranger's case you'll be… is that dancing?) your way down through a mine as deep as you can. That's pretty much it.

You can move left, right, and down but not up. You'll need to tunnel around solid rock, and can occasionally go after some gold nuggets that can be used to unlock other characters as well.

If you run into a rock, it's Game Over. Also, if you move too slow the little meter at the top of the screen will empty and it'll be Game Over. So the only way to keep yourself moving is to, well, keep moving.

Dig as fast and as accurately as you can in order to extend your score, then take to the leaderboards to see how much better (or worse) you are than your friends.

I can appreciate how Miner Man Golden Edition does something new with a popular formula, and it's definitely not easy, but it also doesn't have much staying power.

Once you've played a few games you've seen pretty much all there is to see aside from unlocking all the characters - and they're really just cosmetic changes.

That's not to say Miner Man Golden Edition is a bad game, of course, but it's not something you should expect to enthrall you for hours on end. It's decent filler that does something a little different.