You Know the Drill

Most roguelikes ask players to fight their way deeper; You Know the Drill, developed by ludokai, swaps combat for extraction entirely. The game is an incremental mining roguelite in which each run sends a drill descending through underground layers rich with ores, and everything the player collects feeds directly into making the next descent go further.

The run structure centers on harvesting ore deposits to accumulate resources, which are then spent on upgrades that increase the drill’s power, speed, or reach. Progression is vertical in the most literal sense: the goal each run is to push deeper than before, with the upgrade tree representing the gap between a basic boring machine and something capable of reaching genuinely deep strata. Unlocking upgrades transforms what is initially a limited tool into a heavily augmented piece of equipment, and that transformation is the primary arc both within and across runs.

What separates it within the genre is the near-total removal of threat. There is no combat system, no enemy roster, and no punishing failure state driving the tension. The roguelite element lives in the incremental unlock structure rather than in danger management. Runs end when the drill can go no further, and the resources gathered shape what becomes possible afterward.

You Know the Drill released on June 4, 2026, following a demo period during Steam Next Fest in February 2026. A hotfix patch followed shortly after launch. The update history is thin at this stage, reflecting how recently the game entered the market.

Players who enjoy the measured expansion loop of Dome Keeper but want the combat stripped away and replaced with pure resource cycling will find the comparison apt.