When I was growing up, my family had a Mac. Games for the Mac were hard to find, so I played very few computer games as a child. The few I did play, such as Super Munchers and The Dig, are a treasured part of my past. I was excited to hear about the recent re-release of The Dig on Steam. For just five dollars, I could revisit a classic from my childhood and see how much my perspective has changed.

Fourteen years after its release, I was surprised how much I still enjoyed The Dig, and not just for the nostalgia. I sat down at my computer was so engrossed in the game that I didn't get up until I'd finished five hours later. The game took me on an adventure to an unknown world and encouraged me to explore every aspect of this new land. However, I required some aid to fully enjoy the game.

The most distinct memory I had from the first time I played The Dig was when I got stuck. At that time, I couldn't just look for help online. I actually had to go to the bookstore, locate a strategy guide, and page through it to find my answer. After two trips to the bookstore, I finally bought the guide, which started a new habit for me (which served me well once I graduated to 80-hour RPGs). I was wondering if, after many years of gaming, I would be a better puzzle-solver than I was back then. Unfortunately, I soon found that the puzzles were rather tedious and seemed to encourage just clicking on everything, constantly retracing your steps, and generally wasting a lot of time being confused. I looked up a walkthrough online and breezed through the game, much happier now that I could concentrate on the story instead of some near-impossible puzzles.

The puzzles in The Dig were often clever and interesting, with just a few that seemed designed to sell a strategy guide. Unfortunately, due to the linear nature of the game, some of the most frustrating puzzles would gate my progress in the game. For example, once the opening sequence was over, I wandered around the new planet, trying to access new areas. There was one particular puzzle where I needed to reattach a lens to restore power to the facility, and my only tools were a couple of panels. One of the panels had about six or seven buttons on it, which would light up a screen as they were pressed. I quickly filled the screen with lights, which involved pressing the buttons about 50 times. Nothing happened. I soon grew frustrated and looked up the answer. It turned out that the button was a control panel for a robot, and only about five or six buttons needed to be pressed in a sequence to get this robot to reattach the lens. I have no idea how anyone would figure this out on their own, as I saw no clues around. This puzzle was incredibly difficult compared to some others, which involved rearranging animal bones (in the shape of a fossil seen earlier), or inputting a sequence of four distinct buttons seen on an in-game item.

Despite the difficulty of the puzzles, I really enjoyed the game (once I had the aid of a strategy guide for the puzzles). The music and voice-overs were excellent, and the characters were interesting. While there was no real villain in the game, there was still a strong conflict between the crew and others that grew organically from choices the player has to make. There was no combat, and I don't think the player can actually die in the game. Also, the art style was semi-realistic and often quite beautiful. Compared to modern games, I seemed to spend a lot of time just walking through levels, but I enjoyed the journey since the levels were often lovely landscapes. The world was designed as spokes around a hub, and each spoke had a light bridge that could be easily activated. These light bridges provided a method for fast travel between spokes without going through the central hub - a clever method to save players from too much backtracking.

Looking at this game from a more modern perspective, there are definitely some aspects that I would like to see in current games. The point-and-click interface could work well in portable games, especially those for the DS. I really enjoyed the conversation menu, as it was made up of small icons corresponding to topics of conversation. This may not work well in complex RPGs, but it was great in a shorter adventure game. I loved the overarching mystery and the story in general, as it presented the player with some interesting moral issues that are often not addressed in modern adventures. I also loved how many puzzles had hints for the player to see early on and return to when needed.

I understand that my fond childhood memories of The Dig may have influenced my view of it today, but I still think there is a lot to love in the game. While some puzzles may have been far too frustrating (especially for modern players), the game is generally well-designed and seems to have been a very polished experience for the time. I hope that the Steam re-release will get more people to play the game and appreciate its strengths.