The clock has stopped around the turn of the 19th century, and humankind has prematurely blown itself to bits.

The remaining scraps are huddling in caves beneath the surface, and steam-powered robots have taken over the Wild West. A horror scenario? No, rather the setting for SteamWorld Dig. Don’t worry: the robots are the good guys. And you’re one of them.

You play the protagonist, Rusty - a lone-wolf, steam-powered cowbot who has come to an old mining town in great need. While digging your way through the old earth for riches and helping the townfolks get back on their feet, you unwittingly wake an ancient evil that lurks below...

The objective is mining, the controls are those of a platformer, and it’s a story-driven game with a defined beginning and end. It’s been compared to Minecraft and Terraria, but those are sandbox games and not that similar to SteamWorld Dig — which is more of a Metroidvania type of game. You dig down, find gems and minerals, get back up to the surface, sell the loot to upgrade your equipment, and go back down again. Both soil and enemies get tougher the further down you go, and also other aspects of the environment.

SteamWorld Dig is a dense and immersive experience, and it contains no filler. It’s designed so that the hours you spend with the game will be the best hours you’ve spent in a long time. The game has been nominated for — and has won — numerous Game of the Year awards all over the world.

SteamWorld Dig will be available in a slew of strange, wonderful languages and will also be cross-buy (8,99€/$9,99), which is nice: buy the game on either platform, and get it for free on the other as well. It will run at a smooth 60 fps in native resolutions on PS4 and Vita. SteamWorld Dig will be available at a 20% discount to PlayStation Plus members for the first week.