Oxygen
Oxygen steadily decreases throughout the run and drains faster in deeper areas. Blue oxygen crystals restore a small amount. Tough rocks can occasionally reveal extra oxygen or currency.
Official game guide
How to Play Pixel Digger
Pixel Digger is a free endless mining arcade game for web browsers. Every run is a race between depth, oxygen, difficult rock, explosive cave reactions, and monsters that become more aggressive as you descend.
Play Pixel Digger Free 한국어 가이드Core controls and objective
Use the left, down and right controls to choose a digging direction. With AUTO DIG ON in the in-game HUD, tapping a direction keeps the miner moving only left, down or right until another direction is selected. Switch it OFF to move only while a key or touch control is held. There is no separate HP: oxygen is your only survival resource, and monster hits drain it.
Mining without stopping builds a combo multiplier. Waiting too long or hitting a multi-hit rock breaks the combo, so efficient routes matter. Coins are both score and the currency used in underground shops.
Oxygen, light, and cave hazards
Gas and lava
Collecting gas creates a green aura for seven seconds and increases oxygen drain. Reach lava while the aura is active to trigger an 8×8 chain blast and recover up to 8% oxygen. Without gas, lava causes a sharp oxygen penalty instead.
Dynamite
Collecting dynamite destroys a 4×4 area, including ordinary terrain and obstacles. A mole or drill goblin caught inside the explosion is defeated.
Limited vision
The mine outside your light radius is dark. A wider light radius helps reveal routes and hazards earlier, but it must be purchased separately from digging speed.
Rock types and mining gear
Shallow rock, deep rock, and compressed rock require progressively more hits and visibly crack as they take damage. Better gear does not automatically make ordinary dirt movement faster; it increases rock-breaking power. This separation keeps every upgrade meaningful.
- Mining Shovel: the starting tool and basic one-cell digging animation.
- Steel Pickaxe: breaks resistant rock more efficiently.
- Industrial Drill: a vertical auger animation built for sustained downward mining.
- Magma Excavator: a heavy machine with a powerful digging presentation.
- Abyss UFO: the final visual tier, mining with a focused beam.
Underground shops occupy a visible 2×2 entrance in the mine. Dig into the entrance to open the shop. You can buy the next gear tier, increase normal digging speed up to level 5, refill oxygen, or expand the light radius up to level 3.
Monster survival guide
Raider Mole
The mole burrows upward through a crooked route. Its tunnel marks remain visible even in dark terrain. A hit drains 14 oxygen, so move sideways when its path closes in.
Drill Goblin
The goblin runs along both horizontal legs of a mirrored Z and drills through its diagonal climb. A hit drains 22 oxygen. Read each turn and leave its route; explosions can defeat it.
Deep Burrower
The largest underground threat rises through a marked column. Leave that column before the strike. Its vertical charge also opens a shaft through the terrain.
Monster appearance frequency rises with depth, while their attack timing becomes more demanding. A route that feels safe near the surface may become dangerous in the deep mine.
Frequently asked questions
Is Pixel Digger free to play?
Yes. It runs directly in a modern browser with no download or installation.
Does it work on phones?
Yes. Pixel Digger supports touch controls on modern mobile browsers as well as keyboard controls on PC.
How is a high score calculated?
Depth, mined terrain, collected currency, explosions, monster avoidance, and the active combo multiplier all contribute to a run.
Is progress permanently saved?
Your best score and language preference are stored locally. Gear, speed, light, oxygen, and currency upgrades belong to the current run.