Astro Miner (Nintendo Switch) – The test

Have you ever had that ad on your phone of a small miner who, using a vacuum cleaner, was collecting resources in order to earn money? Well this game exists and is called AstroMiner. Originally released on telephone and published by QubicGames (Dig Deep, DIY dessert), the game arrived on our Nintendo Switch on November 25 at the price of five euros. So what is this intergalactic adventure worth to us?

At the time of publication of this test, the game is no longer available in Europe on the eShop, it is currently only available on theUS eShop.

Before starting the test, we would like to point out that the game does not offer any French translation. A basic level of English is required to play Astro Miner.

A repetitive game as possible

If you have already read the test of Dig Deep, you don't need to read these next lines. The game is exactly the same, with the mine setting replaced by space. There may be more bugs in this version than on Dig Deep.

AstroMiner is a game with a very simple concept. You play as a miner, who, we don't really know why, arrives on a planet, and, like a seasoned capitalist, decides to exploit all the resources of his new habitat.

So here we are, vacuum cleaner in hand, and the gameplay consists of… Vacuuming. We arrive with our gadget on the dunes and we collect resources until our backpack is at its maximum capacity.

We will then empty it to transform the nuggets into a wad of cash. This money allows us to increase our character (speed, suction force, bag capacity), or allows us to create an “automatic” mine or bots which “automatically” collect the money.

We put all of these terms in quotes because there's no real automation in AstroMiner. In reality, the mine does create ores, but we still have to go and collect them to turn them into notes.

Our miners should recover the ores lying around the map, but most of the time they find themselves blocked by invisible walls.

While mining, we also find animal fossils that we can equip to strengthen our three abilities… And that's it.

There are fourteen planets and we repeat each action until the end without any variety in the gameplay.

Two hours and it's over

If at first a feeling of curiosity assails us, this dissipates very quickly to give way to boredom. We vacuum, we collect gems, we come back, we collect gems, etc.

There are items that require coins and can ease the burden of near-zero gameplay. These allow us to temporarily increase our statistics. These pieces also allow us to personalize our character.

We have just given you a tour of the game. There are two DLCs including moons and dungeons, but honestly, the gameplay is far too poor to justify such a price. Furthermore, the game ends in two hours, maybe three if you want to get all three stars on each planet. Paying five euros to do three hours of vacuuming without the slightest fun… We would rather clean our apartment as well.

The graphics are minimalist and not very interesting. The soundtrack, composed of vacuum cleaner noises, is far from making us dream. The game is not translated into French but a basic level will be enough for you to play AstroMiner. It is entirely tactile even if the game is more practical with the controller.

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