Overview
Psym Mobile had two stellar Android games last year with Abduction! And Gem Miner: Dig Deeper. Their last hit was released into the market earlier this week in the form of Gem Miner 2 the long awaited follow-up to Gem Miner.
If you played Gem Miner: Dig Deeper you’ll know the basic premise behind Gem Miner 2, but things are quite a bit different this time around as you’ll quickly notice after firing up the game. You’ll still go through the mines digging for ores and treasures, but Gem Miner 2 offers up missions as you take on a series of Expeditions with special objectives. The controls can be setup in classic mode or with the new scheme that lets you move about with a virtual joystick. There’s also a tutorial that you have to complete before entering the other modes of play; great for beginners, and it does a good job of reintroducing the game to folks as well. You’ll also notice a big difference graphically as they changed the graphics up quite a bit in Gem Miner 2.
There are two modes of play in Gem Miner 2 with the aforementioned Expeditions and Free Play mode. The Expeditions come in varying degrees of difficulty; there are 9 in easy mode and 5 under medium, but I’ve not unlocked Hard yet so I don’t know the final count. Freeplay comes in 4 difficulties ranging from easy to pro and lets you play an endless game on a randomly generated map. In freeplay you’ll still dig and sell to the shop, but if you find artifacts they’ll go to the Museum. There are 20 or so artifacts to discover and 4 different collections to complete in all. There are new items in the shop as well along with all of your old favorites; better items are unlocked the deeper you go which is great as it keeps you coming back for more.
Verdict
Overall Gem Miner 2 is an awesome game and a great follow-up to the original Gem Miner. Psym Mobile did a great job with the sequel; it’s got more depth than its predecessor and the new graphics are easy on the eyes. The game runs great on my aging Captivate and I really have no gripes, issues or complaints about the game at all. If you’re looking for a fun game with a great replay factor look no further than Gem Miner 2. There is no free version available at the moment, but the full version can be had $1.99 in the Android market.