Game review
Mr Drill
7.6 / 10
- Developer
- Frank Force
- Publisher
- Frank Force
- Released
- 1 January 2026
- Platforms
- phone, desktop
- Genre
- arcade
- Monetisation
- free
- Players
- false
The short version
A genuinely well-built Dig Dug/Mr. Driller-style vertical digger, with a real depth target, a live air-management meter, and controls confirmed working correctly on both desktop and phone - a real held key on desktop and a real touch drag on the on-screen d-pad on phone each drilled the character down through the colorful block grid with matching score, depth, and air-meter changes.
Biggest strengths
- Controls confirmed genuinely correct on BOTH platforms through direct testing - a real held Down-arrow drilled the character through the block grid on desktop, with Depth climbing from 1m to 3m, Score from 0 to 40, and Air ticking down from 100% to 98% in real time; the identical result was reproduced on phone via a real touch drag on the on-screen d-pad (Depth 1m to 5m, Score 0 to 40), confirming the touch control scheme works exactly as well as the keyboard scheme
- A genuinely legible, well-composed presentation - a colorful Tetris-block-style tunnel wall, a live air meter, score, and depth-with-target HUD, and clear on-screen control hints ("< / > walk or drill, v drill down") visible from the very first frame
- Real risk-management depth beyond simple digging - a 300m depth target paired with a depleting air meter gives the core loop actual stakes, not just an idle tunneling animation
Biggest weaknesses
- A familiar genre take (Dig Dug/Mr. Driller-style vertical digging) rather than a distinctive new mechanic
- Sound wasn't deeply exercised in this pass beyond confirming a mute toggle exists and no console errors occur
- Single continuous descent mode rather than discrete levels or additional game modes
Who it's for: Fans of vertical dig/descent arcade classics (in the spirit of Dig Dug or Mr. Driller) who want a free, well-presented take on the genre on either desktop or phone.
Our recommendation: play
7.6 / 10
Opening
Mr Drill is a vertical digging arcade game built by Frank Force with the LittleJS engine, in the tradition of Dig Dug and Mr. Driller: tunnel down through a colorful grid of blocks toward a 300-meter depth target, managing a depleting air supply as you go.
Controls, confirmed with real digging progress on both platforms
Rather than trust the on-screen control hints alone, real digging was tested directly on both platforms. On desktop, a held Down-arrow drilled the character straight through the block grid, with Depth climbing from 1m to 3m, Score rising from 0 to 40, and the Air meter ticking down from 100% to 98% - all in clear, real-time response to the input. On phone, the identical test was run through the real on-screen d-pad: a genuine touch drag on the down zone produced the same kind of result, Depth advancing from 1m to 5m and Score from 0 to 40, confirming the touch control scheme drives real gameplay exactly as the keyboard scheme does.
Real stakes, not just tunneling
The air meter gives the core loop genuine tension - digging costs air, and the 300m depth target means a run has to balance progress against the depleting supply, rather than being an idle descent with no consequence.
A trimmed, clean install
As with other titles in this engine's showcase, the source repository is a 65-game, 8.8MB monorepo; only the files Mr Drill's own HTML actually loads (four shared template scripts, the release engine build, and the game file itself) were kept, cutting the shipped install down to roughly 1MB.
Final Verdict
A well-built, genuinely playable vertical digger with real air-management stakes and controls proven correct on both desktop and phone through direct testing. Recommended for fans of classic dig-and-descend arcade games.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Controls confirmed genuinely correct on BOTH platforms through direct testing - a real held Down-arrow drilled the character through the block grid on desktop, with Depth climbing from 1m to 3m, Score from 0 to 40, and Air ticking down from 100% to 98% in real time; the identical result was reproduced on phone via a real touch drag on the on-screen d-pad (Depth 1m to 5m, Score 0 to 40), confirming the touch control scheme works exactly as well as the keyboard scheme
- A genuinely legible, well-composed presentation - a colorful Tetris-block-style tunnel wall, a live air meter, score, and depth-with-target HUD, and clear on-screen control hints ("< / > walk or drill, v drill down") visible from the very first frame
- Real risk-management depth beyond simple digging - a 300m depth target paired with a depleting air meter gives the core loop actual stakes, not just an idle tunneling animation
- MIT licensed, no third-party analytics found, and the install was trimmed from the full 65-game, 8.8MB LittleJSArcade monorepo down to the roughly 1MB of files this specific game actually loads
- Added the missing viewport meta tag the shipped file lacked, ensuring the on-screen touch d-pad renders at the correct size on phone
Cons
- A familiar genre take (Dig Dug/Mr. Driller-style vertical digging) rather than a distinctive new mechanic
- Sound wasn't deeply exercised in this pass beyond confirming a mute toggle exists and no console errors occur
- Single continuous descent mode rather than discrete levels or additional game modes