Gold Miner Classic

Gold Miner Classic is an iconic arcade game that requires skills, perfect timing, and a little of luck. You're an old miner, and your job is to collect gold, diamonds, and other underground treasures with a grappling claw. You need to reach your revenue objective before the 60-second timer runs out.

Gameplay Mechanics

The miner's claw swings back and forth continuously, like a pendulum.

Releasing the claw: Tap the screen or press the Down Arrow key to launch the claw toward an object.

Objectives: Each level requires a specific amount of money. If time runs out before you meet the quota, the game ends. Surplus funds carry over as capital for more difficult subsequent levels.

Retrieval speed: How fast an object is hauled up depends on its weight. Big gold nuggets and boulders require a long time to retrieve, taking away your valuable time.

Obstacles & Minerals

Gold: Your main source of income. Larger chunks are worth more, but take longer to bring up.

Diamonds: These are the most expensive objects; they are tiny and can be retrieved exceedingly rapidly.

Rocks: Your number one enemy. They are heavy, take a long time to pull up, and are worth only a few dollars.

Mystery Bags: Contain random prizes like cash, power-ups, or sometimes just a stick of dynamite.

Pigs: Nuisance moving targets that take time to retrieve for little reward. However, pigs carrying diamonds are valuable moving treasures.

TNT Barrels: Explode upon contact, destroying everything nearby. Useful for clearing large boulders blocking your path, but they will also vaporize any nearby gold.

Shop Items

Between levels, you have the opportunity to purchase items that aid your strategy:

Dynamite: Allows you to instantly destroy a worthless object currently being hauled up, saving time.

Strength Drink: Boosts the old man's strength, enabling him to reel in any item at lightning speed for the duration of a level.

Lucky Clover: Increases the chance of getting high-value items or large sums of money from Mystery Bags in the next level.

Diamond Polish: Increases the value of diamonds in the next level.

Rock Collector's Book: Increases the value of rocks. Only buy this if the next level is cluttered with rocks that you are forced to haul up.

Tips for High Scores

For distant targets or moving wild boars, the claw takes time to travel. Aim and release just ahead of the target's movement path.

Time is more valuable than the cost of dynamite. If you accidentally hook a giant rock, use dynamite immediately; don't let the cost of a few dozen dollars cause you to fail the entire level.

Don't shop indiscriminately. Only buy the Strength Drink if you have plenty of money and know the next level contains many large gold nuggets. Only buy Diamond Polish if you are confident in your ability to hook diamonds.

If a diamond is trapped between rocks and a TNT barrel, hook the TNT barrel to clear the path. Diamonds are not destroyed by bomb explosions.

If you enjoy horror-style games: Horror Nun 2.