Skip to content
Geeky Alien
Drill Keeper

Screenshots

Drill Keeper screenshot 1
Reveal Trailer trailerWatch trailer on Steam ↗

Drill Keeper

ShoulderByte GmbH · Published by Hooded Horse · Official site ↗

Last updated 27 Sept 2026

Roguelike deckbuilding meets siege defense as you travel the galaxy and dig through fully destructible worlds to strip them of their riches, defending against relentless hordes of aliens as you build impenetrable fortresses of mining.

Free to PlayComing SoonDJCTQ 6

Free

View on Steam

Prices can lag the live Steam store — always confirm before buying.

Simulation, Strategy · 2026 · More free games

In Drill Keeper, explore destructible worlds and fend off alien attacks as you construct robust mining fortresses. Experience a blend of simulation and strategy in this unique roguelike adventure.

About this game

Play as a heroic Drill Keeper in this deckbuilding roguelike siege defense game where you travel the galaxy in an effort to secure vital resources for your people. As a dutiful symbol of the future, you will be tasked with protecting your Planetary Drill – build fortresses around your mining operations to protect it from the dangers that lurk in the depths of distant planets, designing labyrinthine pathways and traps to stall and bewilder the enemy. And if a sense of duty isn’t enough of a motivator, you should know that your parent corporation has installed a neural implant that will kill you should your Drill be destroyed – it’s expensive equipment, after all!

Join the Orion Prospectors Team today!

Does the vast expanse of the galaxy call to you? Do you want to work with state of the art drilling technology? Have you dreamt of strip-mining entire planets to their core while building massive defensive fortifications to hold back and gun-down alien attackers? Then you’ll dig this gig!

  • Each planet you visit on a run will feature unique challenges and opportunities every time, with a variety of possible objectives to keep you on your toes, unlocking new cards and planets as you complete them. Occasional supply drops will assist your operation by providing additional resources, including rare artifacts, and even more cards for your ongoing run.

  • Procedurally generated dig sites are influenced by unique planetary modifiers – at times you’ll find yourself fortunate enough to be surrounded by bountiful treasures and easily removed brittle walls with only a distant enemy spawning pool, while at others, the riches may be distant, and the enemy right by your side. Surrounded by resources, enemy spawning pools, and unique points of interest, you will always have a fresh set of considerations to build your mining strategy around.

  • Every tile around you can be destroyed, either in a calculated manner when digging in pursuit of gold, shards, and mysterious treasures, or by environmental effects that may inadvertently help or hinder your position. Manually digging between drill activations takes stamina, and pushing yourself too hard will invite negative consequences. This means the need for a carefully planned approach as digging is not only the primary source of resources with which to play your cards, but a powerful tool for defense as well.

  • Every time you activate your drill, the mindless enemy swarm responds with ruthless aggression, moving along a predictable path – the shortest available from where they spawn to your drill. Influence this path by placing obstructions and digging alternative routes shaped in your favor – will you build long narrow corridors and place defensive buildings that fire piercing shots in straight lines, or pursue zig-zagging paths to maximize enemy travel time instead? Different weapons at your disposal behave in completely different ways, and while anyone can find synergies among the cards in their deck, a true Drill Keeper will pair those synergies with the perfect dig strategy.

Make your mark as one of the greatest Drill Keepers ever known – will you be heralded across the galaxy as a master of magic? Or will they speak of your uncanny luck? Perhaps yours is a legend of loot and plunder, known to have a drill adorned with artifacts and runes of great power? Every famed Drill Keeper has their own calling card – choose yours today!

  • Cards are the core tool in your hand, available for use between and during attacks, used to place and upgrade individual buildings, to apply status effects to the enemy, and to enhance your own capabilities.

  • You will begin each run with a small starting deck, and while you can grow this deck with additional cards acquired through periodic supply drops and treasures found while digging during an ongoing run, completing objectives on a planet will unlock cards as new options for the starting deck of future runs. This can fundamentally change your overall strategy. Will you focus on buffing your own abilities, using magic to dig and defend more efficiently? Will you prioritize barricades that influence enemy movement to funnel them into killboxes? Or will you squeeze every possible ounce of damage output out of your deck, combining status effects and defensive buildings to overcome the vast hordes?

  • Prioritize your current expedition by focusing on the acquisition of gold needed to activate cards, or plan for the future with a focus on acquiring shards and the runes they allow you to purchase and use in future expeditions. Bolster your economic capabilities, improve your damage output and attack speeds, or otherwise sway luck itself in your favor with the help of these magical attachments, and bring a variety of runes together to create powerful combinations and unique strategies, with upgrades available to make them even more powerful.

  • Seek out artifacts buried deep within the planets and use their unique offerings to further bolster your expeditions – from modifying the outcome of familiar actions to providing buffs and debuffs, artifacts are another piece of the puzzle as you seek synergies and opportunities in what they have to offer.

As an equal opportunity employer, all are welcome as Drill Keepers – all it takes is a passion for digging, and the courage to stand against unfathomable horrors! Be warned that not all Drill Keepers live to see retirement – becoming a master of this craft is a perilous path, but at its end lies glory, and the knowledge that you’ve helped a megacorporation grow stronger, wealthier, and wiser! What greater honor is there? Apply now!

  • Choose from one of multiple hero archetypes, each with their own unique artifacts and special abilities they can use to aid their expeditions in various ways – adjust your strategy to match your archetype, or choose one that matches your style.

  • Heroes belong to one of many factions, each offering entirely unique experiences at the dig site, introducing different equipment, alternate strategies, and entirely new types of resources and considerations – from classic spike traps and stone walls to towers that decay over time, using their own biomass to do battle.

Drill Keeper is a roguelike siege defense game set in the far future, putting you in charge of mining expeditions across the galaxy. Build powerful synergies in your deck as it grows over the course of a run, optimize your dig strategy to acquire resources for immediate and future use, and experiment with a multitude of heroes and factions, each featuring their own unique strengths, weaknesses, and strategic considerations.

System Requirements

Will my PC run this? →

Minimum

Minimum:
  • OS: Windows® 10 (64-bit)
  • Processor: Intel® Core™ i5-4670 (quad-core) / AMD® FX-Series™ FX-8300 (quad-core)
  • Memory: 8 GB RAM
  • Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 960 (4 GB) / AMD® Radeon™ R9 380 (4 GB)
  • DirectX: Version 11
  • Storage: 1 GB available space

Recommended

Recommended:
  • OS: Windows® 10 (64-bit)
  • Processor: Intel® Core™ i5-7600 (quad-core) / AMD® Ryzen™ 5 1300X (quad-core)
  • Memory: 8 GB RAM
  • Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1660 (6 GB) / AMD® Radeon™ RX 5600 (6 GB)
  • DirectX: Version 12
  • Storage: 1 GB available space

Supported Languages

English, German, French, Spanish - Spain, Portuguese - Brazil, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Italian, Czech, Hungarian, Polish, Traditional Chinese, Turkish, Ukrainian

Latest news

  • AnnouncementsOfficial

    Drilling Permit Delayed to 2026

    Hello everyone, Sorry for the long radio silence! I’m Denno, the solo developer behind Drill Keeper, and I wanted to share a long-overdue update to assure you that, despite the quiet, development is alive and well. I want to be transparent about the current timeline: Drill Keeper is now planned for release in 2026. It wasn’t an easy decision, but it’s the right one to ensure the game reaches the quality and depth it deserves. Why the Delay?When I started Drill Keeper back in 2021, it began as a small experiment, a way to explore a few ideas around digging mechanics and card-systems. But as development went on, those ideas kept growing into something far larger and more ambitious than I first imagined. Over time, it became clear that the core systems, from the mining mechanics to world generation and progression, needed to be deeper and more dynamic to truly deliver the experience I wanted. That meant rebuilding and refining a lot of what was already there, which naturally takes time. I learned that many features and systems that seem simple on paper often turn out to be far more complex in practice, requiring more iteration and refinement. On top of that, we’re redoing a large portion of the game’s art. The goal is to give Drill Keeper a stronger, more cohesive visual identity that really brings its atmosphere to life. The new artwork adds far more personality and polish, but it also means revisiting and reworking many assets and interfaces from scratch. All of this is a big undertaking for a mostly solo-developed game, but I genuinely believe it’s worth the extra time. Rather than rush something unfinished, I’d rather take the time to make Drill Keeper into the game it deserves to be. A Few Helping HandsWhile Drill Keeper remains very much a solo-developed project, I’m incredibly fortunate to have some talented and passionate people helping me bring this vision to life. I’m now collaborating with a wonderfully skilled artist, who’s been helping to refine the game’s...
    Read full article on Community Announcements (ShoulderByte)
  • Community & EventsOfficial

    Drill Keeper Digs Into the "Games Baked in Germany" Event!

    Hello Dirt Dwellers! Exciting news from the depths of development! Drill Keeper is part of the "Games Baked in Germany" event on Steam, running from June 20 to June 27. The "Games Baked in Germany" event kicks off on June 20 at 19:00 CEST with a special showcase on Steam and IGN's YouTube channel. It’s a celebration of the best games developed in Germany, and I'm thrilled to be part of this lineup. https://store.steampowered.com/sale/games-made-in-germany-2024 Check Out Drill Keeper's Reveal Trailer! If you haven't seen Drill Keeper's reveal trailer, come see what’s been cooking in the mines. Wishlist Now! Don't miss your chance to dig deep and strike gold with Drill Keeper! Add us to your Steam wishlist to stay updated and support our journey. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2409320/Drill_Keeper/ Drill safe, Denno / ShoulderByte
    Read full article on Community Announcements (ShoulderByte)
  • AnnouncementsOfficial

    Drill Keeper digs deep with Manor Lords‘ publisher Hooded Horse

    Hello Dirt Dwellers, After more than 3 years of working solo on Drill Keeper, I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve drilled into a partnership with Hooded Horse, my new publisher! They’re renowned for their dedication to quality and great catalog of deep and system-driven strategy games (e.g., like Manor Lords, Against the Storm or Terra Invicta). Importantly, this collaboration won’t change the creative direction of the game — it’s about making Drill Keeper the best game it can be. With Hooded Horse's support, I have the opportunity to develop the game without compromising it‘s unique identity or rush the development while also learning from their vast experience. Rest assured, I truly couldn’t think of a better partner than Hooded Horse to come along for this ride. In light of this collaboration, I’ve decided to extend the development timeline to 2025. This additional time will help me refine the game, mine out any lingering bugs, add exciting new features, and polish every facet to diamond-like brilliance. I know this might be disappointing for some of you who have been eagerly waiting, but this extra time will allow me to make the game better than I ever anticipated. Thank you so much for sticking with me on this journey. Your support has kept me drilling forward, and I can’t wait to show you what’s coming next year. Drill safe, Denno / ShoulderByte
    Read full article on Community Announcements (ShoulderByte)
  • Press Coverage

    Drill Keeper seems to have it all with deckbuilding, tower defense and roguelite survival

    Hooded Horse sure do pick some gems to publish with the latest announcement being Drill Keeper from ShoulderByte GmbH that looks like an intoxicating mix of genres. Read the full article here: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2024/06/drill-keeper-seems-to-have-it-all-with-deckbuilding-tower-defense-and-roguelite-survival
    Read full article on GamingOnLinux

We use strictly necessary cookies to run this site. We don't currently set any analytics or advertising cookies. See our Cookie Policy for details.