Digging for a living
Cave Digger 2 Dig Harder starts with you stuck down in the mines, your drill machine broken, holding nothing but a pickaxe. You dig your way out to the surface camp, and from there the loop is simple: go down, break rock, haul loot back up, get paid. The caves are procedurally generated and partly destructible, so the tunnels keep changing and you can pick your own route through them. Your digging gear grows over time — upgrades to the pickaxe, dynamite for anything that needs moving, a shovel that doubles as a way to crawl through cave walls, a hi-tech hammer. For when things get unfriendly, there is a six-shooter, a chain-shovel, and a gold pan that turns into a shield. Just watch where the TNT lands if you are not digging alone.
Playing it as a group
Up to four players share a mining job, with crossplay for private groups and public matchmaking, VR and non-VR alike. Everyone earns the same Merchant Dollars as long as somebody gets gold to the surface, so the split of jobs stays loose: one person can haul while another blasts, or you can all dig. Paydays buy new tools, and also clothes, hats and faces, so you can dress the team before the next descent. TNT is effective and also close enough to your teammates to be a problem, which tends to make co-op runs lively.
The story under the rock
Beneath the mining there is a mystery: you are walking the route of a great explorer who came to the valleys and is not there anymore. Scattered comic pages, Clayton - The Greed, piece together a tale of greed, eldritch power and secrets beyond space and time. The story has multiple endings, each showing a different side of it, so a second run answers things the first one only hinted at. Expect Western, Dieselpunk and Lovecraftian flavors mixed together, old mines, nautical caves and ruins of ancient civilizations, and a Merchant Trading Company that is very sure its gear is what you need.
Before starting: progress carries over automatically between the VR, standard and demo editions. The first Cave Digger is a separate game, also available in VR and non-VR.