Play Boulder Dash Online

I first played Boulder Dash on the Game Boy in 1990, a port of the earlier computer game by First Star Software. It was a solid puzzle game for the handheld, fitting right in with the kind of thoughtful, screen-by-screen challenges that worked well on the small, portable screen. You didn't get a lot of story, just a clear goal and a lot of dirt to dig through.

You control a little character named Rockford, moving him through underground caves to collect a set number of diamonds before the timer runs out. The core of the game is digging through dirt to create paths, but you have to be very careful about the loose boulders above you; if you dig out the dirt supporting one, it falls, and it will crush you if you're underneath. Enemies like fireflies and butterflies roam the caves, and you can often trick a falling boulder to land on them. The pace is methodical but tense, because a single misstep can collapse the whole situation on you. It feels very satisfying to set up a chain reaction that clears a path and takes out a monster at the same time.