Coming soon

About This Game

Welcome to a world after humans (and good riddance!) Humanity has long since gone extinct and is now remembered at best the way we once remembered the mythical Atlanteans. Mutated goblins and gremlins now rule the post-apocalyptic Earth – and they stand proudly at the very top of the food chain! You play as a young hero taking over the family mining business from your father. Your old man has finally retired, but instead of resting, he hangs out in the shop. He grumbles, gossips about customers, and sarcastically criticizes your every decision.

Dust & Diamonds is a mining and colony management simulator created in Unreal Engine 5, featuring beautiful 2.5D graphics with a parallax system and a dynamic day and night cycle.

⛏️ Explore and Mine

Beneath the surface of your base lies a procedurally generated, massive mine grid. Grab your pickaxe and head down. The deeper you go, the more valuable resources and minerals you will discover – but remember that the risk also increases with depth.

Vertical exploration requires proper tools. Build wooden ladders and platforms to move freely through newly dug shafts and safely return to the surface with your loot.

Impenetrable darkness rules the mine. Light up the gloom by nailing classic, crafted torches to the walls...

...or enjoy the convenience provided by relics of the past. A simple flashlight illuminates the way perfectly and follows your gaze, but you must constantly keep an eye on its battery level!

⚠️ Defy Gravity and Nature

You won't find monsters underground, but physics will still try to kill you. Removing the wrong rock block can compromise the entire structure. Maintain the structural integrity of your tunnels by carefully placing wooden support beams.

Ignoring the laws of gravity will lead to dangerous chain reactions and devastating cave-ins that will bury your plans and cut off valuable paths!

Also, beware of what hides behind the next wall. The mine is full of hidden fluid reservoirs. An unlucky cave-in or intentionally drilling through a wall will cause water to realistically spill into your corridors, drastically changing the level's architecture.

You can swim through flooded shafts, but you will eventually run out of breath. Avoid underground lava lakes, though – this bubbling liquid kills instantly, forcing you to plan your excavations very strategically.

⚙️ Craft, Plant, Hire

Raw materials pulled from the earth are just the beginning. Build and expand your surface complex (each building has 5 upgrade levels with new graphics!).

In the Workshop, process ores into dozens of different goods using an exciting QTE minigame – your reflexes will determine the item's quality. You can also hire other goblins to do it for you. Set up the Smart Warehouse and assign porters to locate surpluses and automatically distribute them across buildings. Grow crops in the Greenhouse, manage your water supply in the Water Collector (by pumping it in an arcade minigame!), and cook nutritious meals. In the Worker Hotel, you will feed and regenerate your hired kin, preparing them for hard labor.

💰 Buy, Sell, Earn

The culmination of your hard work is the Shop. It is your grumpy father's kingdom and your main source of income.

Three types of customers will approach the counter: Villagers, Merchants, and Nobles. Each has their own portrait, personality, and unique preference tags. Keep an eye on the market, sell displayed goods, buy rare items, and fulfill lucrative special orders. Earn gold, expand your empire, and prove to your father that you know a thing or two about business!

🎵 Relics of the Old World

Before the fall of our 21st century, humans used AI for everything. Before the cataclysm, a "New Philosophy" was hidden in the form of generated music. Today, ancient vinyl records are the greatest treasure, and every track carries a forgotten, deep meaning. Play them to gain powerful crafting bonuses for yourself and your employees, creating goods of unmatched quality!

AI Generated Content Disclosure

The developers describe how their game uses AI Generated Content like this:

Dust & Diamonds is a 100% solo project – I am a solo developer with a degree in Computer Game Design. My greatest passion and strength lies in programming, inventing complex mechanics, and designing engaging gameplay (I have a pretty wild imagination for this!).

Unfortunately, I was not blessed with the talent for painting beautiful pictures or composing music. To be able to realize my vision and bring this world to life at all, I utilized Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools.

How does the game use AI?

Graphics (2D/Pixel Art): A significant portion of the visual assets (character portraits, environment elements, buildings) was generated using AI, and then manually retouched, edited, and combined by me in the game engine to create a cohesive art style with a parallax system.

Music and Sound: The musical tracks available in the game were generated by artificial intelligence. Interestingly, this ties perfectly into the game's lore! The "Relics of the Old World" (our 21st century) collected by the goblins are canonically works created by AI before the great cataclysm, carrying the lost wisdom of humanity.

I want to be completely honest with you: AI did not write this game for me. All the code in Unreal Engine 5, the logic of the systems, the economy, level design, and the father's sarcastic dialogues are 100% my own human work. AI served solely as a tool that allowed me – a regular guy with an idea – to release a game without the budget for an entire art studio. Thank you for your understanding and support!