Where can I play Gemburrow?
In your browser, at hypersage.ai/gemburrow/play/, which you can add to your home screen. Your progress is saved in that browser. Gemburrow is also coming to iPhone; the iPhone version will keep its own save on the phone, separate from the browser's.
What kind of puzzle is it?
A physics puzzle. A jar is packed with gems and rocks; orders on the line ask for particular gems, and you dig them out. A piece comes out only when nothing rests on it, the pile collapses into every gap you make, and each dig spends one of your pickaxe swings.
Does it cost anything, and are there ads?
Not in your browser. The browser version at hypersage.ai/gemburrow/play/ has no store and no ads, and all 40 career levels are open, along with the Daily Dig and its leaderboard, Free Dig, and the whole shop and wardrobe. ARCHIVE there shows your recent Daily results; replaying past jars is not part of the browser version. The coins you spend in the mole's shop are earned by digging and are not for sale. Gemburrow is also coming to iPhone, free to play with one optional purchase: The Full Burrow, a single one-time unlock that opens career levels 11–40 and the 14-day dig archive. On iPhone, Free Dig, today's Daily and its leaderboard, career levels 1–10, twenty-five of the 27 contracts, every dig wall and all eight Flint coats are included. Coats unlock with hoard earned by playing. The Worn Iron and Copper picks fit within the free levels; the four remaining picks and last two contracts require progress in career levels 11–40. There is no subscription, no coin pack, no ads and no energy meter.
What do coins actually do?
They bank between shifts and buy dig walls in the mole's shop: six of them, from Burrow Clay up to Deep Basalt. Those walls are purely cosmetic. Coins also pay for a Deeper Pick, which adds eight swings to one retry of a career level you're stuck on. It never applies to Daily Dig: everyone gets the same jar, seven satchel slots and starting swing budget.
What is the Daily Dig?
One jar a day, identical for every player, with the same gems, rocks and buried prisms and a leaderboard of the day's best hauls. It resets at midnight UTC. Open SCORES, then DAILY for today's leaderboard or YOU for personal bests. LEAGUE, when available, adds up the last 14 days of Daily scores. Scores use a random ID made on your device, an auto-generated MOLE- name and the run's numbers. The same ID looks up your own standing; no account or sign-in is needed.
Can I play without a connection?
In the iPhone app, Career, Free Dig and Daily Dig play offline. The browser version loads over the network and does not install itself for reliable offline play. Progress stays in the app or browser where you played. Leaderboards need a connection. A queued Daily score retries on launch, reconnection or resume while that Daily is current, and expires at the next midnight UTC. It may retry while another mode is open.
How long is a shift, and is there a timer?
There is no overall shift timer. Your pickaxe limits the shift: Daily and Free digs start with 55 swings, while career levels set their own starting budget. Each pry costs a swing. Individual Rush orders do carry their own 45-second countdown, shown as a dial on the card.
Is the art hand-painted?
No. It's AI-generated. The gems, rocks, mole and dragon are made with an AI image model under one painterly art direction, then curated and repaired until the set holds together. The music is composed and rendered by our own script, and there is no stock art or licensed audio.
