I first joined DRG a few months after its launch on steam, almost 3 years ago. It has changed a almost unbelievable amount since then, going from an ugly duckling to its current more polished state. With the activity and focus of the devs, there will probably be major updates every couple months for years to come. If you like co-op or wave defense games, you will probably like DRG.

Unless you really dislike some core part of the game, you can expect to get 50 - 100 hours out of it. All of the DLC is cosmetic but there is so much great looking stuff in the base game that the DLC probably isn't worth your money unless you really like one set or want to support the devs.



I look at DRG from the perspective of a veteran. It has been a long time since the caves of Hoxxes IV have held any surprises for me and while I enjoy helping new players I don't know what their experience is really like. I don't agree with the dev's focus (I want a major update of just minor bugfixes and QOL improvements) but the vast majority of players like the current focus of new content.

Strengths:
New weapons, biomes, enemies, mission types, and even mechanics have been added over the years and all have been for the better.
As a new player, the amount of content is staggering and you will find things to surprise you even 50 hours in. Even after a 1000 hours of playing, the caves don't feel repetitive.
The community is super nice and many veteran players like myself will go out of their way to join missions with new players (greenbeards) and teach them. The most toxic it gets is kicking players without saying anything but unless you really go looking for trouble, you will almost never find anything but nice, friendly players.
Frequent major updates. (cosmetic DLC is added occasionally but most of the best looking gear is in the base game)
Everything can be obtained on any difficulty. Unlocking everything will take longer as rewards scale with difficulty but everything can still be obtained.
If you don't like multiplayer, DRG has a surprisingly strong singleplayer. A lot of the fun comes from your teammates but nothing is locked behind multiplayer.
All the classes are well balanced and the best players on the highest difficulties often run one of each class but no one is going to mind if you duplicate classes.
The server browser makes it easy to find a game in seconds. Even if you are very very picky, it never takes more than a minute. (And you can just host a game and have other players join you if you don't find what you want)
(Almost) no cheaters. In my 1000 hours of playing I have only found 2 cheaters.


Weaknesses:
If you get bored easily you can find the missions repetitive. Different biomes, hazards, enemies and events can keep missions interesting but (as of writing this) there are 7 mission types. If you just focus on the objective they can get a little old at times.
The game does a poor job of explaining everything. A miner's manual was added to explain how everything works but it is pretty inadequate for everything but the very basics.
Some of the upgrades are very vague on what they actually do. If you like min-maxing like me this can be pretty annoying. Most upgrades are ok. As of writing this there is no firing range or other way to test builds. The devs have stated that they would like to add one but it has been on the list of things to add for at least 2 years now.
After you progress far enough, some of the content is locked behind weekly missions. This includes game-changing weapon upgrades that are basically given out randomly. It can take weeks or months of playing the weekly missions (about 3 hours a week) until rng drops you something good. This isn't helped by the fact that many of these upgrades are mediocre and some are almost unusable. I believe that I heard that these will be getting a balance pass sometime in the future but as of now they are pretty unbalanced.


Things to be aware of:
DRG is not a very try-hard / competitive game. You can join lobbies specifically for that but even on the highest difficulty most players are pretty chill. If you want to get all sweaty try-hard you may need to hunt for players a bit. I don't mean that people just throw games or screw around the whole time, just that most don't have mics and sometimes want to do silly stuff.
If you are self-conscious about your skill and worry about bringing other players down, don't worry. Pretty much everyone is willing to help teach you and won't judge. Just pay attention to the hazard level. Higher hazards get difficult quickly.
If your graphics card isn't too strong, you probably can't run DRG. When a giant pile of bugs explode and turn into ragdolls it tanks your fps. I have a Radeon RX 570 and it is probably the minimum strength you can get away with. DRG has grown more and more graphics hungry as it has gone on and will probably continue to do so. Originally, I could run it at max settings with over 180fps. Now, I struggle to get a consistent 60 at minimum. It does look a lot prettier though.




In reality though, none of that matters because It is the best mining themed beard simulator that has ever existed or ever will exist.

[h1]Short version:[/h1] I first joined DRG a few months after its launch on steam, almost 3 years ago. It has changed a almost unbelievable amount since then, going from an ugly duckling to its current more polished state. With the activity and focus of the devs, there will probably be major updates every couple months for years to come. If you like co-op or wave defense games, you will probably like DRG. Unless you really dislike some core part of the game, you can expect to get 50 - 100 hours out of it. All of the DLC is cosmetic but there is so much great looking stuff in the base game that the DLC probably isn't worth your money unless you really like one set or want to support the devs. [h1]The long part:[/h1] I look at DRG from the perspective of a veteran. It has been a long time since the caves of Hoxxes IV have held any surprises for me and while I enjoy helping new players I don't know what their experience is really like. I don't agree with the dev's focus (I want a major update of just minor bugfixes and QOL improvements) but the vast majority of players like the current focus of new content. [b]Strengths:[/b] New weapons, biomes, enemies, mission types, and even mechanics have been added over the years and all have been for the better. As a new player, the amount of content is staggering and you will find things to surprise you even 50 hours in. Even after a 1000 hours of playing, the caves don't feel repetitive. The community is super nice and many veteran players like myself will go out of their way to join missions with new players (greenbeards) and teach them. The most toxic it gets is kicking players without saying anything but unless you really go looking for trouble, you will almost never find anything but nice, friendly players. Frequent major updates. (cosmetic DLC is added occasionally but most of the best looking gear is in the base game) Everything can be obtained on any difficulty. Unlocking everything will take longer as rewards scale with difficulty but everything can still be obtained. If you don't like multiplayer, DRG has a surprisingly strong singleplayer. A lot of the fun comes from your teammates but nothing is locked behind multiplayer. All the classes are well balanced and the best players on the highest difficulties often run one of each class but no one is going to mind if you duplicate classes. The server browser makes it easy to find a game in seconds. Even if you are very very picky, it never takes more than a minute. (And you can just host a game and have other players join you if you don't find what you want) (Almost) no cheaters. In my 1000 hours of playing I have only found 2 cheaters. [b]Weaknesses:[/b] If you get bored easily you can find the missions repetitive. Different biomes, hazards, enemies and events can keep missions interesting but (as of writing this) there are 7 mission types. If you just focus on the objective they can get a little old at times. The game does a poor job of explaining everything. A miner's manual was added to explain how everything works but it is pretty inadequate for everything but the very basics. Some of the upgrades are very vague on what they actually do. If you like min-maxing like me this can be pretty annoying. Most upgrades are ok. As of writing this there is no firing range or other way to test builds. The devs have stated that they would like to add one but it has been on the list of things to add for at least 2 years now. After you progress far enough, some of the content is locked behind weekly missions. This includes game-changing weapon upgrades that are basically given out randomly. It can take weeks or months of playing the weekly missions (about 3 hours a week) until rng drops you something good. This isn't helped by the fact that many of these upgrades are mediocre and some are almost unusable. I believe that I heard that these will be getting a balance pass sometime in the future but as of now they are pretty unbalanced. [b]Things to be aware of:[/b] DRG is not a very try-hard / competitive game. You can join lobbies specifically for that but even on the highest difficulty most players are pretty chill. If you want to get all sweaty try-hard you may need to hunt for players a bit. I don't mean that people just throw games or screw around the whole time, just that most don't have mics and sometimes want to do silly stuff. If you are self-conscious about your skill and worry about bringing other players down, don't worry. Pretty much everyone is willing to help teach you and won't judge. Just pay attention to the hazard level. Higher hazards get difficult quickly. If your graphics card isn't too strong, you probably can't run DRG. When a giant pile of bugs explode and turn into ragdolls it tanks your fps. I have a Radeon RX 570 and it is probably the minimum strength you can get away with. DRG has grown more and more graphics hungry as it has gone on and will probably continue to do so. Originally, I could run it at max settings with over 180fps. Now, I struggle to get a consistent 60 at minimum. It does look a lot prettier though. In reality though, none of that matters because It is the best mining themed beard simulator that has ever existed or ever will exist.