Retromine

Retromine — Dig Deep, Build Smart, Escape Alive

Retromine combines the strategic depth of roguelike deckbuilding with the thrill of incremental mining gameplay. Your mission is to reach the earth's core by playing cards to mine resources, scoring points while managing a constantly evolving deck of abilities. But survival isn't guaranteed — you must balance resource gathering with deck optimization and escape before the unstable caves collapse around you. Each expedition in Retromine offers new challenges, card combinations, and opportunities to refine your strategy.

🎮 What is Retromine?

Retromine is an incremental roguelike deckbuilder where every card you play shapes your mining expedition. Starting with a basic deck, you'll dig deeper into the earth, playing cards that generate resources, score points, and provide special abilities. Between expeditions, you'll spend earned resources to purchase new cards, upgrade existing ones, and remove inefficient cards from your deck.

The game follows a classic roguelike structure: each run presents randomized challenges and card offerings, meaning no two expeditions play out the same way. You'll need to adapt your strategy based on the cards available, the resources you've gathered, and the increasing difficulty as you descend deeper underground.

At its core, Retromine is about optimization. Can you build a deck that consistently draws cards, generates energy, and mines resources efficiently? Will you focus on point-scoring cards or invest in card draw engines? The choices you make determine whether you reach the earth's core or get buried in a cave collapse.

🕹️ How to Play Retromine

Basic Controls

Retromine uses keyboard and mouse controls for efficient deck management:

Left Click – Play cards from your hand and interact with game elements
Right Click – Reorder cards in your hand or cancel selections
E Key – End your turn and draw new cards
D Key – View your entire deck to see all available cards
A Key – Examine your draw pile to know what's coming next
S Key – Check your discard pile to see used cards

Core Gameplay Loop

Start Expedition – Begin a mining run with your current deck
Play Cards – Use cards from your hand to mine resources and score points
Manage Energy – Each card costs energy; balance your plays carefully
End Turn – Draw new cards and prepare for the next round
Survive Levels – Complete mining objectives before caves collapse
Return to Base – Use earned resources to improve your deck
Purchase Cards – Buy powerful new cards like gold mines and minecarts
Upgrade Deck – Remove weak cards and enhance strong ones
Dive Deeper – Start a new expedition with your improved deck

Card Types and Strategies

Retromine features various card types that work together to create powerful combinations:

Resource Cards – Generate basic mining resources (often removed later for efficiency)
Gold Mines – High-value resource generators worth keeping
Walkie-Talkies – Communication cards that enable special abilities
Minecarts – Transport cards that amplify other card effects
Card Draw – Essential cards that let you play more cards per turn
Energy Generation – Cards that provide extra energy to play more cards

📸 Retromine Gameplay Walkthrough

Retromine Starting Deck - Begin Your Mining Journey

⛏️ Starting Your Expedition

Each Retromine expedition begins with your carefully constructed deck. In the early game, your deck contains mostly basic resource cards — simple but inefficient miners that generate small amounts of resources. Your starting hand shows a few cards you can play this turn, and you'll need to decide which cards to play and in what order. Energy management is crucial: each card costs energy to play, so you must prioritize cards that advance your mining objective while setting up future turns.

Retromine Card Combinations - Create Powerful Synergies

🃏 Building Card Synergies

The magic of Retromine emerges when you discover powerful card combinations. Playing a walkie-talkie might enable your next minecart to move twice as many resources. A well-timed gold mine followed by an energy generator can set up a massive scoring turn. As you play, you'll start recognizing these synergies and building your deck specifically to enable them. The most successful miners construct decks where almost every card drawn contributes to a larger strategy rather than operating in isolation.

Retromine Deck Building - Upgrade and Optimize

📦 Deck Management Between Runs

Between expeditions, Retromine reveals its deckbuilding depth. You'll spend hard-earned resources to purchase new cards that fit your evolving strategy. More importantly, you can remove cards from your deck — eliminating those basic resource cards that clog your draws and dilute your powerful combinations. A smaller, more focused deck means you'll draw your best cards more frequently. Should you buy that expensive card draw engine, or save resources to remove three weak cards? These decisions define your path to the earth's core.

Retromine Cave Collapse - Survive and Escape

⚠️ Escaping the Collapse

Every level in Retromine operates on borrowed time. As you mine deeper, the caves become increasingly unstable, threatening to collapse and end your run prematurely. You'll see warnings indicating how many turns remain before disaster strikes. This creates tension between greed and survival — do you spend one more turn mining for extra resources, or do you escape immediately with what you've already gathered? The pressure intensifies as you descend deeper, where greater rewards come with greater risks. Successful miners learn to read the situation and know when to push their luck versus when to retreat safely.