You Know The Drill Hits Steam With Very Positive Reviews
The game's strong early reception shows that a simple, short incremental loop with clear upgrade progression can still find an audience on Steam, especially when offered at a launch discount.
Key Facts
- You Know The Drill launched on Steam on June 5 via publisher Catoptric Games.
- The game has 374 user reviews, 95% positive, earning a 'Very Positive' rating.
- Players drill through underground ores for about 30 seconds per run, then upgrade in a skill tree.
- Special abilities include a laser that bombs ores and a lightning orb that damages surrounding minerals.
- The game is available at a 20% launch discount of 524 yen until June 19.
Reporting from 2 sources: Denfaminicogamer, Automaton.
Publisher Catoptric Games released ludokai's incremental game You Know The Drill on Steam on June 5. The game has already earned a 'Very Positive' rating from user reviews. Players drill through underground ores, upgrade their drill in a skill tree, and unlock deeper layers. A laser and lightning orb are among the special abilities available.
You Know The Drill, an incremental game from solo developer ludokai, launched on Steam on June 5 via publisher Catoptric Games. The game tasks players with drilling through underground ores on a resource-rich planet, collecting minerals until the drill's power runs out after about 30 seconds. There is no game over; players simply move to the skill tree menu, where collected ores are automatically converted into money. That money can be spent on upgrades such as increased attack power, faster digging speed, or a longer time limit per stage. As upgrades progress, deeper layers of the planet unlock, revealing rarer ores like gold and diamonds. Special skill points can unlock abilities such as a laser that sequentially bombs ores on screen and a lightning orb that damages surrounding minerals. Both abilities can be upgraded further. The game includes a standard Campaign Mode and a faster Rush Mode. Dug paths remain as permanent cavities during a session, and the drill moves faster through cavities, making mineral collection more efficient over time. As of writing, the game has 374 user reviews, 95% of which are positive, earning it a 'Very Positive' status on Steam. The peak concurrent player count is 590. The game is available for PC on Steam at a 20% launch discount of 524 yen until June 19.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 2 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.