no dpad

From the few hours of playing this game, I must say it is quite a pleasant experience.  California Gold Rush is very similar to InMotion Software’s I Dig It, which was also greatly accepted as enjoyable.  Content is also not a problem here as there are about 30 mines to dig from, each one taking around half an hour.

In this game, you dig around the mines hoping to find a huge deposit of gold within a rock.  Your decisions must be precise and thought out though, each rock you dig takes away from your stamina.  If you run out of stamina, the level is over and you’ll be assessed on how much money you made from the gold you collected.  There are items you can also buy to either boost your stamina by 20 or explode rocks horizontally or vertically.  Level variety is also available like trying to find your way out of the mine to collecting as many diamonds as you can.

Graphics are pretty well done, I must say that the artwork is applied throughout the whole game and not just a part of it.  Each button and menu fits together with the whole gold rush theme, which adds to the nice in-game designs.

One complaint I have are the controls.  Although this might be the best way, scrolling through the map using two fingers is very sluggish.  Sometimes when you try to scroll, the map doesn’t move at all, but actually jerks backward to the spot where you first were.  It does get a little frustrating when you’re trying to get to the mining store to empty your gold.  If Digital Chocolate is reading this, please fix this because it does interrupt the gameplay.

All in all, I would say this game is worth the $2.99.  It offers a lot of content with a little bit of replayability to try and get all 3 stars.  The 30 levels it offers may seem a little short, but I can tell you that each level lasts atleast 30 minutes to 1 hour if you want to try and get all three stars.  There is also a lite version to try out if you’re not convinced by this.

Editor's Note: The first impression you've just read is aimed at giving you an overview of the game, and our first thoughts after spending some time with it. For full reviews and recommendations, please visit our reviews section.

Tags: $2.99, Digging, Digital Chocolate