Planet Crusher: Mine & Attack

Review by eFreeware

Most space mining games ask you to settle in for a long haul. Planet Crusher: Mine & Attack takes the opposite route: you drop onto a hostile planet, drill toward its core while alien swarms close in, and if your ship blows up, the run ends and you start over with whatever you learned. Gryphon Games launched it in December 2024, and it has since passed a million installs on Google Play with a 3.8 average from more than 12,000 ratings.

That combination of a ticking run and a ship you rebuild afterward is the whole pitch, and it is the reason I would point this at players who enjoy roguelikes but want something lighter than a full strategy campaign. You get a mining rig, a planet full of resources, and a run that keeps the pressure on. What appeals to me is how neatly the two halves fit: the run gives you the tension, the upgrades give you the reason to go back in.

It is a free download with ads and in-app purchases, and it carries an Everyone rating. If you have bounced off mining games because they turned into idle waiting, the structure here is different enough to be worth a look.

Drilling, dying, and drilling again

A run starts with a ship and a planet. You drill deeper for rare resources, and the deeper you go, the more the planet pushes back. Alien waves arrive to interrupt the work, and the developer frames the goal simply: reach the core before your ship explodes. That single sentence does a lot of work, because it tells you the run is a race, not a sandbox.

Each attempt hands out new perks and modifiers, so the build you had last time is not necessarily the build you get this time. You adapt, refine, and try again. I like that the failure state is built into the premise rather than bolted on: losing a ship is not a punishment, it is the loop feeding itself. Runs that end badly still feed into the next attempt, which is what keeps a roguelike from feeling like a treadmill.

The controls are described as easy to pick up and hard to master, which is the usual way these games are pitched and, in this case, plausible given how much of the difficulty sits in decisions rather than inputs. Choosing when to push for the core and when to bank what you have mined looks like the real skill here.

Building a rig that can fight back

Between runs, the mining rig becomes the project. You upgrade drills, lasers, missiles, shields, and boosters, and you can also set up loadouts aimed at player-versus-player fights. The developer claims millions of possible build combinations, and while I would treat any number like that as marketing, the categories listed are broad enough that specializing in mining power, combat strength, or sheer survival should all be viable directions.

Progression stretches past a single ship. New ships, rare gear, and advanced upgrades unlock over time, and permanent bonuses stack so that every run feeds long-term growth. The September 2026 update added an Exchange Market where you can buy high-tier gear, sell spares, and combine ship parts into higher rarities, plus 25 new planets and 20 new adventures. There are also five artifact levels, a Platinum Star tier, and Power Modules that now reach Mythic +3.

The Research Facility now holds five loadouts with lockable slots, which matters more than it sounds: once you are running different builds for mining and for arena fights, being able to save them separately saves a lot of fiddling. This is the part of the game I would expect to hold people longest, because it turns each run into material for the next build rather than an isolated attempt.

Arena fights, guild wars, and the wider galaxy

Competition runs alongside the mining. There is asynchronous PvP, and an Arena with leaderboards to climb. Wins earn rewards, and the ranking structure gives you a reason to keep tuning a loadout even after the mining side is comfortable.

Guilds add a social layer on top. You can join one, chat with players, and coordinate in large-scale Guild Wars for exclusive rewards and guild rankings. The developer also points to an official Discord community with more than 10,000 members where players share strategies and recruit for those wars. If you like the idea of a game where the meta is discussed outside the app, that is a meaningful part of the package.

Beyond the competitive side, there is a galaxy to open up. Stronger planets carry higher rewards and greater danger, with rare minerals, exotic materials, and gear to find as you go deeper. Daily missions, PvP events, and global leaderboards for mining, combat, and survival give each session a set of targets, and the game is updated regularly with events, balance changes, and competitive seasons. The recent rework to daily rewards, which now include gems from planet rewards, fits that pattern.

One detail worth noting for anyone curious about where this comes from: the project was funded by the German Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space under the country's federal games funding program. It does not change how the game plays, but it is unusual context for a free arcade title.

Free to start, with ads and purchases

Planet Crusher is free to download. It contains ads and offers in-app purchases. I would go in expecting the usual free-to-play shape rather than a one-time purchase, and treat the presence of purchases as part of the deal rather than a surprise.

What I appreciate is that the progression systems described, from permanent bonuses to gear rarity upgrades to guild rewards, are all framed as things you earn by playing. Whether the pacing feels generous over months is something only time in the game will tell you, and it is the main thing I would watch if you are sensitive to how free games meter their rewards.

Suits players who like a run with a deadline

The clearest fit here is someone who enjoys roguelikes in short doses and wants a competitive layer waiting at the end of each attempt. If you like the rhythm of a run, a death, a rebuild, and a slightly better ship, this is built around exactly that. The mining theme gives it a setting that stands apart from the usual fantasy and dungeon roguelikes.

It should also appeal to players who enjoy guild politics and leaderboard chasing. Between Arena rankings, Guild Wars, daily missions, and global boards for mining, combat, and survival, there are several ladders to climb, and the Discord community suggests an active crowd discussing builds. That social dimension is often what turns a decent roguelike into a long-term habit.

The 3.8 average across more than 12,000 ratings tells you it is well liked without being universally adored, which is typical for a game with competitive systems and free-to-play monetization. I would not read it as a warning so much as a sign that opinions vary once players get deep into the progression. If you want a calm, solitary mining game with no opponents and no timers, the design here is pointed in another direction.

A free roguelike with a competitive edge

Planet Crusher: Mine & Attack is a well-defined free arcade roguelike: mine a planet under pressure, lose the ship, rebuild it stronger, then take that build into arena fights and guild wars. The loop is tight, the upgrade options are wide, and the ongoing updates, from the Exchange Market to new planets and artifact tiers, show a game that is being actively developed rather than left to sit.

The caveats are the ones that come with the territory. It is free with ads and in-app purchases, the competitive side assumes you want to be ranked against other players, and the guild content only pays off if you join one. None of that is hidden, and none of it undermines the core run.

If you want a space mining game with a deadline and a reason to care about your next build, this is easy to recommend trying at no cost. If you would rather mine in peace with no leaderboards and no opponents, the game is built for a different appetite.

What's new in version 0.36.0

- Added Exchange Market: buy S-tier gear, sell spare gear, and combine ship parts into higher rarities. - Added 25 new planets and 20 new adventures. - Added 5 artifact levels and a new Platinum Star tier. - Power Modules can now reach Mythic +3. - Research Facility now has 5 loadouts and lockable slots. - Reworked Daily Rewards with bigger rewards. Planet rewards now include Gems. - Improved performance and stability, and fixed various bugs.