Below the Stone makes mining, crafting, and barely escaping with a backpack full of ore dangerously addictive, even if its Early Access status still shows
Below the Stone understands exactly why digging through a wall in a video game feels good. There might be copper on the other side, a useful mushroom, a room packed with goblins, or absolutely nothing. Every swing of the pickaxe creates another small decision: keep exploring, finish the mission, or leave before greed turns a successful expedition into a complete loss.
You play as a dwarf sent into procedurally generated caves beneath a struggling kingdom. Before each descent, you can accept up to three missions involving specific enemies, ores, or other resources. Completing at least one is mandatory if you want to call the extraction drill and return home, which gives every run a clear purpose without removing the freedom to wander.
The mining is simple but satisfying. Sparkles in the rock hint at nearby resources, while different pickaxe tiers determine which metals you can collect. Better ore becomes better tools, weapons, and armor, opening a steady progression path where every new material feels valuable. Cave-ins punish careless digging, darkness makes light sources important, and unfamiliar biomes encourage you to push beyond the safe tunnels.
Combat is straightforward top-down action, with swords, crossbows, explosives, and whatever useful gear survives the trip underground. It is not the deepest part of the game, but monsters become genuinely threatening when they interrupt a mining route or swarm the extraction area. Calling the drill creates the best moments, flooding the area with enemies while a timer slowly fills and everything in your backpack suddenly feels priceless.
Death means losing everything you carried into the cave. That can be brutal after a long expedition, yet Below the Stone gives you enough control to make the risk feel fair. Valuable ore and spare equipment can be stored safely in the kingdom's bank, while the blacksmith turns recovered materials into stronger gear. A rotating shop also provides a way back into the loop when a disastrous run wipes out your loadout.
This balance between permanent progress and real loss is what kept pulling me back. A successful trip improves the next one, but bringing your best equipment always means putting it at risk. The missions can occasionally clash with procedural generation, leaving you searching far too long for one enemy or resource. Still, the possibility of finding a richer biome or one more ore vein makes it very easy to ignore the sensible decision to extract.
The pixel art is excellent. Tiny glowing plants, ore deposits, mushrooms, and dangerous silhouettes give the caves plenty of character without sacrificing readability. On the ROG Xbox Ally X, the compact presentation feels naturally suited to short handheld sessions, and the low system demands make this an easy game to keep installed. Controller support is still officially listed as partial, but the core movement, mining, and fighting fit the device well.
There is not much story driving the adventure yet. Rescuing characters and rebuilding the kingdom adds context, but the real narrative is the one created by each run: the rare discovery, the terrible death, or the desperate escape with almost no health left. More characters, biomes, bosses, and a complete progression arc are planned for the full release, so parts of the current experience still feel like foundations waiting to be finished.
Below the Stone is already a compelling mixture of mining game, dungeon crawler, and extraction roguelike. Its combat could use more depth, unlucky mission generation can waste time, and Early Access remains an important caveat. Even so, the loop of digging, surviving, banking resources, and preparing a little better for the next descent is remarkably hard to put down. If losing a backpack full of precious ore sounds thrilling rather than infuriating, this is well worth exploring. Thanks for reading!
