Tails of Trainspot
Game
Game2026
Hold The Mine
Developer Hookaria Games
Explore and defend your mine against waves of monsters in this innovative roguelike survival game! Collect and manage your resources, discover buildings with unique effects and unleash mighty heroes to hold monsters out of the mine until the sun rises. From the Steam store page
174 reactions from 2 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky) · newest Oct 23, 2026 · last updated Nov 4, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
89
LovedLoved
139 positive · 17 negative
95% range 83–93%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 139 | 17 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 6 | 0 | 12 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
151 of 169 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
89% recommend · 137 yes, 17 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 154 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (345 of 407 positive).
Players praise the satisfying mining and defense loop, calling it addictive and well-executed. [1][2][3] Some reviewers note the game is still early access with limited content and rough edges. [1][4][5] A few players feel the game lacks depth and replayability after a few hours. [6][7][8]
Liked
Representative posts
- [6]
This game is not worth the money, I consider getting double hours on anything I purchase money well spent and I have done all content in this game in under 4 hours. There is no visible progression as all unlocks do not provide information, there are no builds because if you choose to do endless you end up owning everything, and there is no optimal build path because your choices don't actually make much difference.
- [1]
Really fun defense/mining game with a great loop. Currently lacking in content, but the devs are working on that. Current gameplay loop is good enough for me to thumbs up though.
- [13]
It's a loop that's been done in other games, mine-fight-repeat. but feels really satisfying here. 11 hours in, still unlocking stuff regularly, and every run feels fresh because there are a lot of build options between heroes/hero powers/relics and many of them seem viable. Some games, you just stick to what works if you want to make progress, but with Hold the Mine, I don't feel restricted because it's designed to …
- [4]
Already a fun game and worth a look. However, there are a lot of rough edges that need to get polished before it's ready for prime time. The progression not transferring between difficulties was enough to put me off of it for now, but there's a lot of QoL issues other reviewers have noticed which should also be addressed. Dev is active and making updates, so I'm leaving a tentative thumbs up and will circle back …
- [2]
This game just kept getting better throughout all the playtests and demos. Easily worth the money in EA already. It's an easy-to-get-into yet deep mine defense game, where your days consist of making efficient plans in a turn-based mine exploration phase to collect resources and get ready for the auto-battler-ish combat every night. Very addictive loop with lots of building / hero combos to explore!
Summarised from 34 of the 173 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 13, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Hold The Mine sits at 89% positive across 156 opinionated reactions from 2 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Reactions
60 of 174 · most liked firstWe just reached 5,000 wishlists on Hold the Mine in 14 days! This is huge and feels incredible, thanks a lot everyone for playtesting the game on steam and sharing the game around, it helps us a lot 🥰✨
positive · AI labelView post →Happy #PitchYaGame ! HOLD THE MINE is a dwarf mining strategy game. A demo is available right now! ⛏️Dig, collect resources and construct powefull buildings ⚔️Maximize your heroes, spells and relics 🛒Discover the new shop and pet the mole?! 🌜Defend your mine against monsters at night and go nuts!
neutral · AI labelView post →This game is not worth the money, I consider getting double hours on anything I purchase money well spent and I have done all content in this game in under 4 hours. There is no visible progression as all unlocks do not provide information, there are no builds because if you choose to do endless you end up owning everything, and there is no optimal build path because your choices don't actually make much difference.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a strong start. But the game is simply not DEEP enough for it to earn my recommendation in its current state and at its price. $10 for about two hours of content... I came, I saw, I conquered, and now I'm left to find something else to preoccupy me. The premise is nice, who doesn't like a dig-based mechanic and character pulls? But the more you CHIP AWAY at the content, the quicker you realize there's not much to it. After UNEARTHING the endless mode, you'll quickly own every relic/…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Thanks!! Hold the Mine is a unique rogue-like survival game where you explore and defend your mine against waves of monsters! You could say it's a strategic dome keeper with dwarves. And you can pet a giant mole 👀 demo here: store.steampowered.com/app/3164960/
neutral · AI labelView post →⛏️ Just revealed at #Gamescom Awesome Indies: Hold the Mine by Hookaria Games! A mining-focused roguelike survival game, now part of our publishing line-up. 🙌 🔗 Wishlist and join the playtest today: store.steampowered.com/app/3164960?... #gamescom2025 #indiegames
neutral · AI labelView post →In Hold the Mine, you play a (Donkey Kong) dwarf and can use the barrel to dig faster before the monsters come out at night! Wishlist the game and support us: store.steampowered.com/app/3164960/ #indiedev #indiegame
neutral · AI labelView post →This game is ok. Not bad, not good. Just ok. Reviewed the day after it released into early access. It plays like those Flash games of old, or the sometimes free games you can get for your mobile phone. It's very easy to figure out the best tactic and then it's down to luck if you get the specific heroes, relics and buildings that are the best. There are some minor synergies between units, buildings and items, that gives small damage buffs, but no actual "builds" you can do, no interesting…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hold the door? No, Hold the Mine! ⛏️ Hold the Mine is the new roguelike survival game from @hookariagames.com and @goblinzstudio.com. LocQuest harnessed our power to bring you the Hold the Mine demo in 10 languages. 🧙♂️ Another day defending ethical localization against the dark forces of AI slop. 🛡️
neutral · AI labelView post →I cannot recommend the game in this state. All the content in sub 3 hours, its not even early access its a proof of concept, which in itself is not that great either
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is about DWARVES that dig in a mine and there is skeletons and others monsters that want to destroy the mine. Why ? Who send them ? I do not understand the lore... I've seen a lot of youtube videos that talk about the lore of games like "demon souls" etc... And you have to understand that this game is not like that AT ALL. One of the dwarf is a alchemist, another one is some kind of spellcaster, do they know each others ? Maybe they are siblings ? While I was having fun digging the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hold The Mine by @hookariagames.com Sadly, the demo is no more. I had good fun with this #towerdefense #mining #indiegame. Explore the mine at night to find materials to build defenses at the entrance during the day. 12 heroes, 50+ abilities, & 75+ buildings and relics! #indiedev #gamedev
positive · AI labelView post →HOLD THE MINE STREAM ISN'T ALWAYS ON TIME hopefully I'll be streaming this game and some other next fest games later this week if my sickness can clear up
neutral · AI labelView post →Really fun defense/mining game with a great loop. Currently lacking in content, but the devs are working on that. Current gameplay loop is good enough for me to thumbs up though.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Solid like a rock! After plenty of updates to the demo, the early access version already offers a well-rounded experience with just the right amount of content. It feels impossible not to enjoy playing Hold the Mine, and it’s only going to get better over time. Back to it 🙌
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's an ok rogue like game. Unfortunately it got repetitive fast. Maybe it will get better as the game evolves. Not worth the £13 it currently costs atm.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Thanks for hosting! Hold The Mine is a mining autobattler game with colorful dwarves and a strategic turn based twist! We just released a big update introducing World Bosses including a Dragon and are part of the Turn-Based Fest on Steam 🔥 store.steampowered.com/app/3164960/...
neutral · AI labelView post →It’s fine start. But choices feel unimportant. There’s not a skill to this game. The auto battler is boring. The upgrades have no choices just choose everyone and build it. Spells have little meaning. Nothing in combat has feeling. Beginner and normal difficulty are very simple and I beat on 1st each time.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game as it exists now is pretty fun. It's a mix of tower defense/autobattler and mining game like motherload. While there are some buildings to improve your mining, the focus of build crafting is a lot more tilted towards the autobattler side. I've found that the characters have a nice mix of both internal synergies and synergies which hook them in to other characters. It's still early access, so there are still things to improve on aside from adding more content and balancing. I'll…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is a diamond. And you can mine diamonds. And I don't even like rouguelikes...
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Thanks for the opportunity! I'm working on Hold the Mine, a strategy roguelite game inspired by dome keeper with dwarves! bsky.app/profile/hook...
neutral · AI labelView post →Already a fun game and worth a look. However, there are a lot of rough edges that need to get polished before it's ready for prime time. The progression not transferring between difficulties was enough to put me off of it for now, but there's a lot of QoL issues other reviewers have noticed which should also be addressed. Dev is active and making updates, so I'm leaving a tentative thumbs up and will circle back around on release.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game rage baits me, lol. But also I love it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game is enjoyable, however the perk system is flawed and progression is terribly slow.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a loop that's been done in other games, mine-fight-repeat. but feels really satisfying here. 11 hours in, still unlocking stuff regularly, and every run feels fresh because there are a lot of build options between heroes/hero powers/relics and many of them seem viable. Some games, you just stick to what works if you want to make progress, but with Hold the Mine, I don't feel restricted because it's designed to encourage synergies. My two minor suggestions for the dev: 1) The run…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is the first Early Access game in over 10 years that I've felt comfortable buying while it was still in Early Access. Here's my full journey, for transparency: tried the demo. Then pirated it (don't @ me - most of you have done it when you were broke too, don't lie). When I stopped being broke after over 30 hours of pirated gameplay (unrelated incidents, I assure you), I bought it immediately. Because I am not a piece of ♥♥♥♥. That's the whole review, really. Thank you for the most…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game is nice but there isnt enough content yet. Also for me it was a little bit too easy or i was just lucky because i won games on all difficulties on my first try.. I would recommend the game if it is on sale and you want a few hours of fun but it needs some work to keep me engaged longer.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →What a nice game! I really enjoyed Dome Keeper but it sometimes felt a bit too stressful and tense. This one is more focused on strategy and small choices, and it gives you all the time you need to play at your own pace. Also while there is only one game mode, there is already lots of content and mostly, the game feels extremely polished for an early access. Congrats team!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The mining part? Very good. The holding part? Excellent.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game just kept getting better throughout all the playtests and demos. Easily worth the money in EA already. It's an easy-to-get-into yet deep mine defense game, where your days consist of making efficient plans in a turn-based mine exploration phase to collect resources and get ready for the auto-battler-ish combat every night. Very addictive loop with lots of building / hero combos to explore!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →OVerall a fun little game, but gets old kinda quickly. Probably mnost comparable to Dome Keeper, but the systems aren't as deep or complex, and as a result it doesn't have as much replayability. Worth it for some entertainment for a week or two, but nothing that I'd see playing again and again and again.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As much as I do sort of like this game, the difficulty curve/meta progression really feels like ass
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hold the Mine uses a tested mine - upgrade - defend formula (like Dome Keeper) and it does it very well. The gameplay loop is satisfying, progression rewarding, it's easy to do "just one more run" My main wish is for some form of meaningful, tangible meta-progression beyond individual runs. I'd love to see an overworld map where you can expand and upgrade your kingdom, send dwarves on expeditions to new biomes, encounter different enemies, and make decisions that affect the wider world.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A really promising project! Gameplay is simple, split between an addictive resource gathering phase and a tense auto-battler / defence phase. Whether you succeed or fail, you make progress in a rogue-lite skill tree that improves your future runs. Though the game is already fun and addictive, it has a few rough edges, but it also has a ton of room to grow into something much greater. The dev is actively updating and has plans for a ton of new content and something called "Conquest mode", which…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Honestly, this game has a good foundation, but the price point is way off. It feels like a mobile game ported to PC, which isn't necessarily bad, but the game just feels... Lackluster, for the price it's set at. If you can snag it for 50% off, maybe it's a good grab.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Seems like fun at first but is the equivalant of a slot machine. This game is heavily reliant on RNG. No skill neccassary. Even on the easiest difficulty you will lose and there will be nothingyou can do about it, since there are no choices, just random things you may acquire or not. If you're looking for a game to create "builds" look elsewhere, it's not a thing here. Very boring game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a nice, simple game from a solo dev that is very active on his discord. He's completing gameplay patches in a quick manner and he is watchful over the endless leaderboard for cheaters. I like having a leaderboard that tries to eliminate all of the cheaters to keep it fair and legitimate and this solo dev does that. He is also going to be adding bosses in the future so there is something to look forward to as well.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game was made for me. Ok first it's early access but oh my god this game is awesome. Put it on switch when you finish it please Mr. Dev. The loop? Satisfying. The graphics/animations, cute as hell. The game? Fun! A couple ideas I have had to make it better, which I am sure you're already working on. 1. Borderless Windowed please/ 2. Extra resources you end a level with get transported back to the dwarf capital. Maybe permanent upgrades? 3. Miner dwarf should have a skill tree. 4. Put…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →https://youtu.be/sOA3wam__Sk This game came out of nowhere, when i first got the key, I didn't even redeem it, and that was a mistake. Overall it has a solid core mechanic, and alot of replay-ability. Ever run is slightly different based on your heroes and building you get. Runs take between 20-30 minutes, so even if your having a poor run its not the worst thing. Overall it is a simple base building - tower defense game, which means you can pick it up or drop it as much as you want depending…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hey there, Sure thing! Loved your demo and look forward to Hold The Mine in the full game soon. All the best to you and your team from us openindies! :)
positive · AI labelView post →I always debate whether or not it's meaningful to review an early access game. The entire experience is in flux. What was bad, may not be so on release. But what was good, also may not be so. As such, I'll keep it brief and say that the game has a strong foundation. The gameplay loop is enjoyable enough but I do look forward to seeing how the 1.0 release tackles the repetitive nature of the loop as well. That said, I think it's worth buying the game for the visual style alone. At first, I…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fun concept but insanely grindy. Perhaps the full release will alleviate the absolute slog of the meta upgrades. Also could do without the animations of the digging mechanic. Just let us click the blocks and be done with it or at least be able to skip the animations.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Simple, basic, fun. The core design works well and the game is getting frequent, good updates. The dev is very active and replies to pretty much every discussion thread. I'm excited to see where this game ends up
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wish i could this a "Meh" review. It's kinda fun for a bit. It's mindless and very easy. Macro is everything and simple to understand. Very little depth to mechanics, upgrades or relics. There's almost no micro to impact fights, pretty much an autobattler. Only buy this if you're looking for a simple easy game to play to relax after work or while stoned or something.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →https://youtu.be/6gXsPt_Yw_s Early runs are balanced harshly to leave players without many choices or decisions until they grind enough meta unlocks to get to reasonable runs.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Overall solid game, it knows what it is. An arcade roguelite with mining and limited build mechanics. Limited progression and more just understanding the mechanics. If you don’t like reading long reviews skip to the total score. Art Style – 1 point total – 1/1 This game has very simplistic but detailed in its own right sticker like design. Unique but not too distracting, the other benefit is that you can tell all the sprites, buildings, materials details mattered. Playability – 1…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Needs a lot of new content, new stuff. Good game overall, looking fowards for new updates
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Short but fun. The digging seems to stop at around mine level 300, is that a bug or a feature i wonder?
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fun and currently getting a lot of updates.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Nice game , I am looking forward for evolution and later theofficial release ! I discover this game through the demo which was quiet addictive ! I like the animation of the dwarf during the minig deplacement. its makes depalcement more pleasant and X2 speed is really nice when we want to do a quick game Weather is nice to improve replayability. I would like to see different mines with different types of ressources or ressources distribution (more gold / bigger ressources group). Suggestion :…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A bit pricy for what it is offering right now, but im looking forward for more updates. The gameplay itselfs, is quite fun. Its a solid foundation to start with
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →For now, the game has very little depth and is extremely repetitive. The player options in the mine or during battle are very little making the game uninteresting. Some enemies are also completely unbalanced like the bombing enemy which there is little you can do if you don't have a damaging spell unlocked. I may change my review later but I don't recommend the game for now, especially for that price.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hold the Mine is an amazing game! I've been playing it almost every day since the release of the demo. It plays a little differently from other deckbuilder/rogue lite, but once you get familiar with all the heroes and synergies you can have with different buildings / gems / powers / relics, you start to really enjoy going back into the mine to beat the hardest mode with different heroes. It's only just out in Early Access and the devs already shared a pretty packed roadmap so I'm confident it…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Imagine "9 Kings", but with more agency and interaction. Also, the graphics are really charming, the autobattles are engaging become increasingly intense, and the game is overall a lot of fun.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As it currently stands I enjoy the gameplay loop of Hold the Mine. Mining during the day, auto battle at night. For me, it's an easy game to listen to something else as the game plays but in truth there isnt much more to the game then that. While you unlock new buildings and some new heros; there very obviously exists a pratically best in slot for both heros and buildings and on the harder difficulty not rolling said BIL often leads to a lost run. This is due to the power level of some heros…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I’m updating this review to a positive because the developer has taken feedback from reviews and made some huge improvements. My main issue with the game before recent updates was that the gameplay became too repetitive after a couple of runs and it lacked progression or meta-progression. It had the foundations of being a fun game but without meaningful meta-progression it became a bit stale after 1-2 playthroughs. Now, after some updates, additions, and patches it’s moved beyond being a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →some itens like the piggy bagk isn't working, but the game is very good, but stills incomplete, if you like games like sap(super auto pets) or auto battle games this game is perfect
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →fun game. its gameplay loop is similar to Dome Keeper, but instead of upgrading your dome to fight monster waves, you upgrade your hero team. not sure how much meta progression the game has, but i played the demo a lot and have been enjoying the full game so far as well!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very neat game, was a bit worried about the mining part as I usualy don't like to mine (I'm the kind of player that never mine for Diamonds in Minecraft). But it's actually very fun even on that part, very polished and rewarding, the opposite of tedious! The rest of the game is even better, seing my dwarves doing all sorts of tricks and face huge amounts of enemies is very satisfying! I am a dwarf and I'm digging a hole!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →IT'S POSSIBLE TO PET THE GIANT MOLE! I REPEAT: IT IS POSSIBLE TO PET THE GIANT MOLE!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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