Info about Coal Mining Simulator:

Official game description:
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About the Game
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Welcome to the world of Coal Mining! Start with almost nothing and get to the top - develop your mine, sell coal, buy new machines and avoid dangers in this sandbox simulator.  
Coal Mining Simulator is a sandbox experience in which it's up to you to create new tunnels and pathways. Make your mine truly yours, as you go deeper and deeper in order to mine more coal.  
Take control of numerous mining machines. Destroy, mine, drill, transport and blow things up - just remember to follow safety protocols and regularly maintain your equipment. Nothing works forever - if something gets broken, it's up to you to repair it.  
There is no end goal in Coal Mining Simulator - you can take contracts and complete special assignments to get unique rewards or just follow your own path. The choice is yours!  
Mining is a dangerous job. Avoid earthquakes or gas explosions and be prepared for anything - whatever you buy, you can very easily lose if you are not careful!

Release date: Apr 11, 2023

Categories: Sandbox, Simulation, Resource Management, Vehicle Customization, Vehicle Piloting, Base Building, Management Simulation, Construction Simulation

Feature scans:
- Steam Deck: score 80; verdict: Broken; summary: The game suffers from severe control issues including sensitivity and inability to save settings, numerous bugs such as physics glitches, and dated graphics leading to a tedious experience.

- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price:
  - Community fair range: $0.00 - $8.00
  - Reasoning: Multiple reviews state the game is not worth its current price point of $10-$15, suggesting it is overpriced. One reviewer explicitly says it is not worth $10, another says it is not worth $15 and proposes making it free, and a third advises waiting for a sale to get value. This indicates the community considers a fair price below $10, likely in the $5-$8 range, though the lower bound could be near $0 given the 'make it free' suggestion.
- Playtime Metrics:
  - Game completion: 5.0h
  - Story completion: 1.0h
  - Session length: 0.6h
  - Endgame: N/A
  - Reasoning: Story completion is reported as about 1 hour in one review. Game completion estimates vary from 2 to 5 hours, with multiple reviews indicating around 4-5 hours to buy everything and get most achievements; 5 hours is chosen as a representative upper bound. Session length is evidenced by a 33-minute initial session. No reliable endgame playtime is reported; the game is described as lacking content beyond the main loop.
- Time-to-fun:
  - Summary: Players initially enjoy the repetitive mining loop but rapidly lose interest after buying all machines and mines due to lack of progression and content.
  - Stance: Fun then drops
  - Anchor: N/A
  - Time to anchor: N/A
  - Friction: Poor tutorial; Game crashes during tutorial; Unclear worker system; Repetitive tasks; Lack of clear progression; No new challenges after initial phase
  - Unlock drivers: N/A
  - Conditions: Requires tolerance for repetitive tasks; Must overcome poor tutorial; Player expects content beyond buying all mines; No multiplayer or endgame; Short completion time (around 5 hours); Crashes may prevent tutorial completion; Worker system poorly explained; No progression after owning all mines
- Player Archetypes:
  - Repetitive Mining Enthusiast (buy)
    - Motivation: Mindless relaxation through simple gameplay loops
    - Playstyle: Performs repetitive mining and selling tasks, upgrades equipment gradually
    - Experience: familiar
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: N/A
    - Reference games: Gold Miner; Out of Ore
  - Bug-Averse Critics (no buy)
    - Motivation: Expect a polished, complete simulation experience
    - Playstyle: Attempts to play but encounters missing features, bugs, and poor UI, leading to frustration
    - Experience: mixed
    - Purchase stance: no buy
    - Labels: N/A
    - Reference games: N/A


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Engaging gameplay loop with depth (weight 0.4): The core gameplay loop of buying transport, taking orders, mining, and expanding through contracts and hiring, offers dozens of hours of satisfying, repetitive fun for genre fans.
- Promising concept with potential (weight 0.37): The game is praised for its strong core idea, particularly the mining and crane loading concepts, with many players noting it has room to grow into a great title.
- Active patching and improvement (weight 0.36): Developers are actively patching the game, fixing bugs and improving performance, graphics, controls, and saving, with notable gains in FPS and stability.
- Easy, smooth, accessible controls (weight 0.24): The gameplay is described as easy, smooth, and accessible, with simple controls that are now improved on controller after patches, making vehicles and contracts straightforward.
- Decent graphics and atmosphere (weight 0.18): Graphics and sound are considered okay to realistic, creating a good atmosphere that immerses players in the dirty mining job setting.
- Realistic immersive simulation (weight 0.18): The game delivers a realistic, hardcore simulation of coal mining with immersive physics, goofy moments, and a sense of having a dirty job.
- Good value for low price (weight 0.17): Many players find the game worth its low asking price of around 10€, calling it adequate and a good deal for the experience offered.
- Great prologue built hype (weight 0.12): The prologue was well-received, featuring easy controls and generating anticipation for the full release among players interested in the mining genre.
- Convenient and replayable features (weight 0.1): Features like endless mining, a built-in reset function for stuck vehicles, and fun ways to break the game add replayability and convenience.
- Detailed vehicle models (weight 0.03): One player highlighted that the Ute/4WD model has a lot of detail, showing attention to vehicle design.
- Resource gravity adds challenge (weight 0.03): The resource gravity mechanic demands concentration, adding a layer of challenge to the gameplay.
- Dedicated fanbase present (weight 0.03): Some players express strong enthusiasm, calling themselves fans or planning to continue playing for many hours.

Common complaints:
- Pervasive buggy experience (weight 0.3): Frequent bug reports cite general instability, with a specific excavator physics glitch causing it to flip or fly when handling coal. Overall jankiness undermines playability.
- Frequent crashes block progress (weight 0.19): The game crashes repeatedly during critical moments, particularly when exiting a mine or during the tutorial. These crashes block progression and frustrate players.
- Feels like early access (weight 0.18): The game feels incomplete, akin to an early access or beta product. This suggests missing content or polish expected from a full release.
- Worker management confusing (weight 0.12): Worker management systems are confusing and overly complicated, making it difficult to assign tasks or understand employee behavior. This hampers core gameplay.
- Tutorial is inadequate (weight 0.09): The tutorial fails to explain basic mechanics adequately, leaving new players confused from the start. This hinders onboarding and causes frustration.
- Workers stall after leaving mine (weight 0.09): Workers stop functioning after leaving a mine, forcing players to micromanage or restart tasks. This disrupts workflow and adds unnecessary hassle.
- Core mechanics are flawed (weight 0.09): Core mechanics are criticized as poor or annoying, failing to engage players. This encompasses general gameplay friction beyond specific bugs.
- Repetitive tiresome gameplay (weight 0.08): Gameplay is described as repetitive and tiresome, lacking variety to sustain long-term interest. This leads to player burnout quickly.
- Excavator controls unintuitive (weight 0.08): Excavator controls are unintuitive and unrealistic, frustrating players who expect sensible operation. This specific mechanic fails to deliver.
- All mines look identical (weight 0.08): All three mines share identical layouts and aesthetics, reducing exploration excitement. Players find this monotonous and lazy design.
- Drill rig seems pointless (weight 0.08): The drill rig is either pointless or confusing, lacking clear purpose or effective integration into gameplay. This wastes player effort.
- Sound quality is poor (weight 0.08): Audio quality is dreadful and detracts from the immersive experience. Poor sound design stands out as a noticeable flaw.
- World feels lifeless (weight 0.08): The game world feels lifeless and empty, lacking environmental detail or interactive elements. This makes exploration dull and unrewarding.

Gameplay feedback:
- Heavy machinery operation (weight 0.41): Players operate various heavy machinery such as excavators, trucks, and drills to mine and transport resources. Vehicle handling includes specific controls like opening scoops with Q/E and assigning haulers before diggers.
- Coal mining simulation core (weight 0.28): The game is a realistic coal mining simulation where players manage workers, operate heavy vehicles like excavators and trucks, and fulfill delivery contracts. It features tutorials, progression, and underground mining with various machines.
- Limited mine variety (weight 0.15): The map contains only three mines that are described as identical and lacking variety, though the mines offer different delivery methods (truck, ship, train). The small number of mines limits gameplay diversity.
- Mission and contract system (weight 0.12): Missions and contracts form the core gameplay loop, where players complete straightforward tasks to progress. The mission system drives the business management and expansion.
- Driving simulation elements (weight 0.08): The game includes driving simulation elements with vehicle handling mechanics. Players drive trucks and other vehicles underground.
- Worker management issues (weight 0.08): Players must travel between mines to assign workers, and worker management often yields nothing, indicating the system may be underdeveloped or buggy.
- Dated graphics and world (weight 0.05): The graphics are described as old-fashioned and the world feels dead, which may detract from immersion. This suggests a dated visual presentation.
- Tunnel building feature (weight 0.05): Players can build tunnels underground, expanding their mining operations. This adds a strategic element to navigating and accessing new areas.
- Progress-based growth (weight 0.05): The game's concept and growth depend on player progress, where unlocking new equipment and upgrades is tied to advancing through tasks.
- Single job acceptance (weight 0.05): The game restricts players to accepting only one job at a time, which streamlines the experience but may feel limiting for multitasking.
- Loading station bug (weight 0.05): The loading station in the second mine can get stuck, causing gameplay interruptions. This is a bug that affects progression.
- Fast equipment unlock (weight 0.05): Players can buy all devices and mines quickly, indicating a short progression curve and lack of long-term challenge. This may reduce replayability.
- Vertical mine levels (weight 0.04): The mine layout features levels with upstairs and bottom floors, suggesting vertical progression. This adds complexity to navigation and resource extraction.
- Lite simulator genre (weight 0.04): The game is considered a lite simulator, offering simplified simulation mechanics compared to hardcore titles. This makes it more accessible.
- Mines as loading zones (weight 0.04): Mines are loaded into rather than dug into, meaning resources are deposited into predefined spots rather than extracted from terrain. This limits environmental interaction.
- Camera perspective switch (weight 0.04): Players must change the camera view to operate machines, which can affect usability. The ability to switch perspectives is noted as necessary for vehicle control.
- Mouse-controlled mining (weight 0.04): The mining mode allows mouse-controlled wall breaking, adding a manual element to resource extraction. This gives players direct control.
- Resource gravity system (weight 0.04): Resources have a gravity system that affects how they fall, adding a physics-based challenge during mining operations.
- Coal deposit exploration (weight 0.04): Players can explore different coal deposits, adding variety to resource locations. This encourages exploration beyond the initial mines.
- Unbuildable rails (weight 0.04): Rails exist in the mine but cannot be built by the player, suggesting missed opportunities for infrastructure development or rail-based transport.

Performance notes:
- Frequent crash occurrences (weight 0.19): The game crashes frequently, including during the tutorial and when exiting the mine, indicating stability issues.
- Strong FPS drop event (weight 0.03): A strong FPS drop is noted, indicating a sudden performance hit.

Recommendations:
- Do not buy (weight 0.47): Players strongly advise against buying this game due to bugs, lack of updates, and poor value. Clusters 1-4 summarize widespread sentiment that the product is essentially abandoned.
- Wait for patches (weight 0.24): Reviewers advise treating the game as early access and waiting for patches before purchase. Clusters 9, 10, 22, 24, and 27 all recommend delaying purchase.
- Cautious recommendation (weight 0.22): A minority of players recommend the game with specific caveats, such as waiting for patches or buying on sale. Clusters 7, 12, 20, 25, 32, and 38 represent this cautious endorsement.
- Try demo first (weight 0.11): Players suggest trying the free demo or prologue first before deciding to purchase. Clusters 17, 19, and 31 recommend this risk-free approach.
- Niche genre appeal (weight 0.11): Fans of simulation or mining genres specifically may enjoy the game despite its flaws. Clusters 26, 40, and 42 tailor their recommendation to niche audiences.
- Has potential (weight 0.08): Players acknowledge the game has potential but is not worth buying in its current state. Clusters 23 and 24 express this tempered hope.

Other player notes:
No miscpoints

Emotions:
- Frustration (weight 0.54): Players are extremely frustrated due to numerous bugs that break gameplay, such as crashes, vehicles getting stuck, and soft locks, combined with a lack of updates and poor optimization. The repetitive grind, lack of automation, and confusing, broken controls for machines and worker AI further exacerbate the experience, making the game feel unplayable.
- Disappointment (weight 0.33): Players feel deeply disappointed as the full release fails to meet high expectations set by the prologue or trailers, offering a repetitive, buggy, and unfinished experience with missing features. The game feels abandoned and not worth its price, with poor graphics, physics, and a lack of content or meaningful updates.
- Boredom (weight 0.1): Players are bored by the highly repetitive gameplay loop that lacks progression or variety, with all content being exhausted in just a few hours. The tedious tutorial and absence of engaging goals or motivation lead to a quick loss of interest.
- Satisfaction (weight 0.08): A small group of players is satisfied with the interesting gameplay, smooth performance after patches, and the rewarding business development loop. The low price and developer responsiveness to fix issues also contribute to a positive experience.
- Anger (weight 0.06): Players are angry over feeling scammed by a broken, unfinished game that wastes their money with lost progress from crashes and unresolved issues. The low quality and overpricing, especially for a 2023 release, create a sense of betrayal and exploitation.
- Hope (weight 0.05): Players express hope that the developer will continue to fix bugs and expand the game with new features like hunger/thirst systems or family mechanics, acknowledging the game's potential. They trust active developer support to improve the experience.
- Hope (weight 0.05): Players express hope that the developer will continue to fix bugs and expand the game with new features like hunger/thirst systems or family mechanics, acknowledging the game's potential. They trust active developer support to improve the experience.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.04): Some players enjoy the game for its great concept, smooth gameplay, and the endless mining option, especially at a promotional price. The fun experience and appreciation for the mining genre contribute to their positive sentiment.
- Sadness (weight 0.04): Players feel sad that the game was abandoned after a promising start, with no further updates following the first patch. Long-time fans who had the game on their wishlist for years are disappointed by its poor execution.
- Annoyance (weight 0.03): Annoyance stems from persistent worker bugs, overly sensitive controls, minor translation errors, and forced motion blur. Unit measurement issues and excavator height limitations also detract from the experience.
- Hopeful (weight 0.03): Some players remain hopeful about the game's potential and are excited for future updates that could fix current issues.
- Hopefulness (weight 0.01): Players feel hopefulness that the game could become good if further developed, indicating a belief in its underlying potential despite current shortcomings.
- Dissatisfaction (weight 0.01): Dissatisfaction arises from subpar graphics and a lack of realism in equipment, which fails to meet expectations for a mining simulation.
- Excitement (weight 0.01): Excitement was generated by the appealing rail feature in the mine and the full release of a hardcore coal mining simulator that promised depth.
- Interest (weight 0.01): Players show interest in the game's potential to become engaging with future updates, suggesting the core concept holds appeal despite current flaws.
- Caution (weight 0.01): Caution is advised due to sound issues and ongoing worker management problems, warning potential buyers of these persistent technical and gameplay flaws.
- Disgust (weight 0.01): Disgust is expressed at the low quality compared to older games, with awful vehicle physics and dreadful sound design ruining the experience.
- Regret (weight 0.01): Regret is felt over wasted money on a game that did not meet expectations, as players find it less enjoyable or functional than anticipated.
- Appreciation (weight 0.01): Appreciation is given for the refreshing mining simulator idea, which brings a unique concept to the genre that some players find valuable.
- Pleasure (weight 0.01): Pleasure comes from enjoying the core gameplay loop of buying cars and mining coal, which provides a satisfying and immersive experience for some players.}