Goal: dig ore, fly it home, sell it, buy upgrades, go deeper.

Phone: hold ◀ ▶ to drive. Push into dirt to dig sideways. Hold ▼ DRILL to dig down. Hold ▲ FLY to fly up.

Keyboard: arrow keys or WASD. E = use the shop or fuel pump. 1 2 3 = dynamite, repair, teleport. Esc = pause. Change any key in Settings › Keyboard Keys.

Controller: plug in or pair an Xbox, PlayStation or similar controller and just press a button. Left stick or D-pad = drive and dig, stick down or RT = drill, A / ✕ = fly, X / □ or B / ○ = use the shop or fuel pump, Y / △ = dynamite, LB = repair, RB = teleport, View / Share = map, Start / Options = pause. In menus: move with the stick, A selects, B goes back.

Days: every dive is one day. The day number is at the top of the screen.

Rush Contracts: the shop offers a job: reach a depth, or sell some ore, within a few dives. Finish it for bonus cash. Miss it and nothing bad happens.

Specialties: when an upgrade reaches Lv 3 you pick one of two bonuses for it, like faster digging or heat protection. You can swap later at the shop.

Auto-Miner: buy it at the shop. It earns cash by itself, even while the game is closed. Drive up to it (next to the shop) and collect.

Map: the little map at the top right shows what you have explored. Tap it to see the whole map with depths.

Selling: land on the yellow-striped SELL pad in town. It sells everything at once.

Fuel: digging and flying burn fuel. When TURN BACK flashes, head home. If you run dry or break the hull you get towed home: you pay a small fee and keep half your cargo.

Watch for: loose rock (falls), green gas pockets (explode), lava (burns), and worms deep down.

Game: Core Rush, by bluewater78. Made with AI help.

Cave tiles, ores and props: “Caves And Mines Tileset” by JoyTree Studios — CC0 (public domain). Recoloured per layer.

Sound effects: Kenney — Interface Sounds, Impact Sounds, Sci-Fi Sounds, Music Jingles (kenney.nl) — CC0.

Fonts: Kenney Future (kenney.nl) — CC0.

Music (all CC0, from OpenGameArt.org): “Cavern and Blade” by zesona (title) · “My Street” by congusbongus (town) · “8-Bit Cave Loop” by Wolfgang_ (Topsoil) · “Mysterious Cave Theme Loop” by beardalaxy (Crystal Caverns) · “8-bit - Perilous Dungeon” by HydroGene (Magma Belt) · “Ancient caverns” by congusbongus (Ruins) · “Lost in a bad place” by congusbongus (The Deep) · “Dark Place” by SkyleTheFrench (The Rift).

Drill rig, town, auto-miner, shop icons, ore markers: made for this game.

Thank you for playing!