While most people spend their spring break relaxing on a beach or going wild at a party, a good majority of mine was taken up excavating for gold. My hours became controlled by my need to capture every piece of gold, gem, or coin I could get my hands on. I lived for the sight of my bank account growing and my frustrations never ceased when I had to blow up a rock that got in my way.

Alright, so I didn't actually go out and take up gold mining. Instead, while hanging out at a friend's house in Florida for spring break, I surfed around Reflexive Arcade until I stumbled across this game called Gold Miner . It looked mildly interesting and different from most of the other games, so I decided to give it a go. The next thing I knew, my friend was looking at me as though I was mad because I was screaming at the screen and pleading with the gold miner to pick up the pieces of gold I wanted him to get.

Each level begins with the gold miner swinging his crane back and forth across the screen. The player has to utilize hand-eye coordination in order to pick up specific goodies. Though the amounts vary by level, there are usually gold nuggets, precious gems, goodie-bags, coins, and critters to be captured. The larger gold nuggets are worth more money, but they also take longer to reel up to the top. Strength power-ups help with this and can be found at the shop between levels or in special goodie bags. The coins are useful for the slot machine that appears every few levels where you can bet your money in hopes of winning more gold.

There are obstacles that get in the way of you and your riches that make Gold Miner more challenging. Barrels of TNT are randomly placed and if grabbed will explode, destroying it and everything around it. This can be a big problem when there are many barrels on the board, causing nearly everything to be blown up. There are often critters such as moles, bats, and leprechauns that will wander into the path of your mining claw. There are two noteworthy things about the critters: Firstly, if they are carrying diamonds, grab them, as they are worth lots of money. Secondly, the leprechauns look cute and sweet and make a funny little squeal when you pick them up, but do not be fooled. They are pure evil. They destroy everything that gets in their path. Some levels are bombarded with leprechauns, so be careful.

I will admit that the game does get rather repetitive after awhile, especially if you don't meet your goal for the level and have to go back to the beginning. The scenery rarely changes and many of the obstacles are the same in each scene. It's hard to stay interested when looking at the same TNT barrels and dealing with the same critters level by level. One feature that I used when I got too annoyed with having to start over again was the No Limits level. This takes away the goal for each level and allows players to move forward at their own pace, taking more time to explore the little nuances of the level as opposed to frantically trying to meet their goal. This also allows for more money to be spent at the shop between levels, letting players experiment with the different items offered.
All in all, though Gold Miner repeats itself, there is something about it that kept me coming back for more. It is highly addictive and though simple, it is extremely fun. It can be found here. There is a free 60 minute trial for the game, which can then be purchased for $19.99. I highly recommend it to supply a nice break in the day or supply hours of fun.

Helpful Tip: It is good to always keep a stick of dynamite on hand. It carries from level to level, and it is always useful when you accidentally pick up a rock instead of riches. All the rocks do is eat up time, which is especially aggravating when time is a necessity in order to meet your goal.