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Episode 376: The Dig (Patreon)

Published:
2021-05-07 07:01:01
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

Our ongoing LucasArts retrospective continues with an adventure game of theirs that's no one's favorite—which it's one of the last ones we're covering. The Dig started its life in 1989 as an idea Steven Spielberg couldn't translate to the silver or small screen, and six years and several iterations later, entered this world as a heavily compromised game that was nonetheless commercially and critically successful. On this episode of Retronauts, join Bob Mackey and John Walker (of Buried Treasure) as they explore the ins and outs of this unique-but-uneven adventure game.

(And if you're looking for the only Dig memes on record, they're right here.)

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Comments

SilverHairedMiddleAgedTuxedoMask

Up until last year I thought The Dig was basically The Thing based solely on its box art and the slightly similar names, about astronauts going to an alien planet and getting infected by aliens.

Ryan M

I remember getting up at 5am so I had time to play The Dig before middle school. It was engrossing, but I never beat it.

Paul

I played through a very good adventure game last week that's from last year and had only one action for clicking, no verbs. Or more accurately my son played through it, There Is No Game. Very good puzzle design with no verbs to speak of, just clicking and dragging a limited inventory over. Though this places you in the persona of a computer user from the perspective of looking at a screen, so you have an in built real world expectation of what clicking things would generally do.

Normallyretro

The guest for this ep is really great!

Guillaume Veillette

Really enjoyed this conversation. I have fond memories of playing this game, though I never revisited it since playing through the copy that came in a Lucasarts Archives box. Like John, I really appreciated the atmosphere and drew parallels with whatever pondering sci-fi media I was into at the time (for me, it wasn't Solaris, but the Rama books). You guys talk at length about the frustrating puzzles, and to be sure, I do remember to this day being frustrated by that damn turtle. But a puzzle that stuck with me in a good way all these years is certainly "use the jawbone on Brink". I had a friend playing with me at the time and I remember realizing what I had to do before he did and going "Oh no" out loud, in disbelief. "They wouldn't." Well they did. In 2021, it wouldn't be such a shocking moment. But for a teenager who hadn't seen a whole lot of media where sawing a limb off without anesthetics was in the realm of what's possible, it sure made an impression.

Guillermo Jiménez

Great episode, though hearing Bob repeat the name "Moriarty" in a non-negative way sure was confusing.

Cajun Baz

From a marketing standpoint, it's amusing how powerful that Spielberg brand was. I'd say that today Ryan from Ryan's World, Pewdiepie, and Ninja probably have more sway over video game purchases than the septuagenarian director.

crystalhearts

Just listened to this, really liked it! This retrospective series has been really fun and illuminating. I also just realized that you saved Maniac Mansion and Day of the Tentacle for last, which: excellent choice. Makes perfect sense to go out on the first one and the best one.

Eino Keskitalo

Great episode with an excellent guest! It was nice to have John playing the sincere apologist. Haven't played The Dig but I remember the reviews and so on back in the day. There was one review which downright spoiled the story and some puzzles in the screen shots. Maybe that wasn't wrong! Not sure if it's high up in my to-play list, but perhaps with the walkthrough then, sounded interesting enough.. This series of going through the Lucasfoo adventures has been very successful in my opinion.