The Dig remains one of my favorite adventure games. I was 12 when it came out, and we didn’t have walkthroughs or the internet in my house. I remember having to really struggle through trial and error to solve some of the puzzles. But is was worth it.

Maybe I have always been a sucker for a good science fiction story, but the idea of exploring an alien world was totally fascinating to me. Unlocking and exploring new areas was a reward in itself, rather than simply trying to move the story along.

Some people criticize The Dig for having puzzles that are too hard. I beg to differ. Not only did I beat this game at 12, but the story demands challenging puzzles. If you expect the machines on a long-dead, alien world to simply work according to obvious logic, you are not being true to the game’s premise. Even if the aliens designed the machines to be easy to use for other species (which one of the characters comments on), you still have to expect some mind-bending to figure out what they intended for you to do. The puzzles in The Dig felt totally organic to me, and served the story very well.

Additionally, the challenge provided great satisfaction each time I was able to solve a puzzle. This is something I find lacking in modern adventure games. They have become more focused on story-telling than on game play. In some ways this is good. It also makes sense in a world where internet walkthroughs are a Google search away. However, I miss the days when all you had were your wits… and perseverance.

I still revisit The Dig every few years. Obviously, the sense of discovery and challenge are absent on replay, but it is still a beautifully realized world, and brings back fond memories.  It is an absolute must for fans of the genre.

A truly classic point and click. It’s very easy compared to other LucasArts games mainly because it doesn’t have those wacky random inventory puzzles that plagued the genre now and then.

Very noticeable is the standard of production, which could be argued to be the best of any SCUMM game:

The animation is smooth and precise, the lovingly crafted pixel-art backgrounds look just as beautiful now as they did then, displaying a great sense of depth, perspective, composition, color and detail. I’d take graphics like that over late 90s/early 00s’ horrendous static CGI backgrounds anyday. Hell, this 256-color palette is more vibrant than the brown truecolor sludge you find in most modern games.

What’s more the soundtrack is also one of my favorites and combined with the graphics creates a startling sense of place and atmosphere. The Dig is desolate without feeling drab, deserted without feeling empty. It feels foreign and hostile yet beckons exploration. The voice acting is great - Robert Patrick as Boston Low being the highlight here -  especially compared to what today’s standard is for adventure games.

Boston and his team have fully realized personalities and play well off each other. The dialogue is great with a touch of humor that fits the situation really well without veering into the slapstick that defines more cartoony LucasArts games.

Is it perfect? Not quite. It’s fairly short and the ending is a bit of a let down. But looking back The Dig has held up. It’s aged better than most games of that era despite getting panned at release after being plagued with delays.

In my opinion it is a greatly underrated game and I can’t wait to explore it again.