100% Achievement Guide

Unlock every achievement for ARCADE GAME SERIES: DIG DUG!

Introduction

The goal of this guide is to help other players unlock ARCADE GAME SERIES: DIG DUG's Steam achievements. In addition, this guide now has a few helpful tips for beginners.

Game Settings

The Steam version of Dig Dug has some extra settings that make it easier to obtain some of the game’s achievements. To enable these settings, navigate to the Options screen, go to Settings > Game Settings, and change Starting Round to ON, Starting Lives to 5, and Extra Lives to 20000/60000/60000.

Please note that changing these settings will omit your score from the leaderboard, but you will still get the achievements.

Round 1 Cleared

Round 1 Cleared
(Clear round 1!)

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If you're a beginner at Dig Dug, the goal of the game is to simply eliminate the enemies before they eliminate you. You have two tools with which to accomplish this goal: your pump and falling rocks.

Your pump has a built-in turbo mode! You might be naturally inclined to hold down the pump button, but this is slow! Just mash the pump button while moving towards your victim to greatly increase your pumping speed.

Use falling rocks to your advantage. Dig a long vertical tunnel under a rock, then move to a side when directly under it. If done properly, you'll crush any enemies that were following you.

Round 2 Cleared

Round 2 Cleared
(Clear round 2!)

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An important mechanic: You can shoot your pump through thin walls of dirt. These thin walls of dirt are left over after the adjacent tiles are dug-out, and will block enemy movement when in physical form. Catch them as they move past you on the other side of the line for an easy kill. Watch out for enemies entering ghost form to cross over - pump them as soon as they cross. Also, a Fygar can breathe its fire through these thin walls. Be careful!

Surface Assassin

Surface Assassin
(Defeat an enemy on the surface.)

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Head to the surface and wait. Enemies will eventually head to you or the surface (and walk off-stage). Catch an enemy while both of you are above the dirt, and explode them.

Just Passing Through

Just Passing Through
(Pass through an inflated enemy!)

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Pump up an enemy 2-3 times, and simply walk through them. This achievement happens to illustrate that enemies cannot damage the player while inflated.

Carrot

Carrot
(Obtain the Carrot that appears after dropping 2 rocks in a certain Round.)

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The "certain round" the Carrot appears in is Round 1. Note that in order to spawn the vegetable/fruit you only need to drop two rocks (not defeat enemies with rocks).

Turnip

Turnip
(Obtain the Turnip that appears after dropping 2 rocks in a certain Round.)

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The turnip appears in Round 2. Note that in order to spawn the vegetable/fruit you only need to drop two rocks (not defeat enemies with rocks).

Mushroom

Mushroom
(Obtain the Mushroom that appears after dropping 2 rocks in a certain Round.)

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The mushroom appears in Round 3. Note that in order to spawn the vegetable/fruit you only need to drop two rocks (not defeat enemies with rocks).

Cucumber

Cucumber
(Obtain the cucumber that appears after dropping 2 rocks in a certain Round.)

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The cucumber appears in Rounds 4 & 5. Note that in order to spawn the vegetable/fruit you only need to drop two rocks (not defeat enemies with rocks).

Eggplant

Eggplant
(Obtain the Eggplant that appears after dropping 2 rocks in a certain Round.)

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The eggplant appears in Rounds 6 & 7. Note that in order to spawn the vegetable/fruit you only need to drop two rocks (not defeat enemies with rocks).

Green Pepper

Green Pepper
(Obtain the Green Pepper that appears after dropping 2 rocks in a certain Round.)

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The green pepper appears in Rounds 8 & 9. Note that in order to spawn the vegetable/fruit you only need to drop two rocks (not defeat enemies with rocks).

Tomato

Tomato
(Obtain the Tomato that appears after dropping 2 rocks in a certain Round.)

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The tomato appears in Rounds 10 & 11. Note that in order to spawn the vegetable/fruit you only need to drop two rocks (not defeat enemies with rocks).

Watermelon

Watermelon
(Obtain the Watermelon that appears after dropping 2 rocks in a certain Round.)

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The watermelon appears in Rounds 14 & 15. Note that in order to spawn the vegetable/fruit you only need to drop two rocks (not defeat enemies with rocks).

Pineapple

Pineapple
(Obtain the Pineapple that appears after dropping 2 rocks in a certain Round.)

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The pineapple appears in Rounds 18 & above. Note that in order to spawn the vegetable/fruit you only need to drop two rocks (not defeat enemies with rocks).

Clean Harpoon

Clean Harpoon
(Clear any Round without digging!)

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Traverse along the pre-dug paths. Head upward, defeating enemies as you go. Defeat the remaining enemies on the surface.

2 Enemies

2 Enemies
(Crush 2 enemies with one rock!)

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Start from a low point and dig straight up towards a rock. Try to bait enemies before triggering the rock to fall. Also, you can pump to immobilize them beneath the rock for an extra bit of insurance.

Rock And Roll

Rock And Roll
(Defeat all enemies in a Round using rocks!)

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This will take patience and a bit of luck. When the level starts, head towards an enemy that spawned with a rock overhead. Use the rock to dispatch the enemy, then head for the next rock. Start low, and head straight up at the rock. If you've successfully lured in enemies behind you, dig under the rock and move to the side, eliminating 2 enemies. The last enemy will try to escape, so it's useful to eliminate the higher-up enemies, then dig a vertical tunnel above the enemy, once again under a rock.

Note that you don't have to survive in order to earn this achievement. In other words, you can lure an enemy in, and have rock crush you both, if you find yourself in the right situation.

4 Enemies

4 Enemies
(Crush 4 enemies with one rock!)

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Same idea as 2 Enemies, but you’ll have to get crafty. Dig a long vertical tunnel beneath a rock after drawing aggro. You may find this easier on higher level, where more enemies are present. Also note that you don't have to survive to earn this achievement.

Dig

Dig
(Dig through the entire area on any Round!)

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Focus on clearing a quadrant of area at a time, so you won't have to backtrack as often. You'll need to keep two enemies alive, so try to inflate your pursuers to buy a bit of time. Clear as much dirt in an area as you can before you're killed, then continue clearing dirt after respawning. Repeat until complete.

Alternatively, if you defeat an enemy with a falling rock and harpoon at the same time, the game will glitch, causing enemies to despawn and time to freeze. This will allow you to dig freely, but will soft-lock your game on the current level. In Game Settings, make sure Version is set to OLD for this strategy to work.

Centurion

Centurion
(Defeat 100 enemies on a single playthrough!)

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Start on level one, and defeat every enemy on every level without letting any escape. You'll defeat your 100th enemy at the end of level 15. The Extra Lives and Bonus Lives settings will come in handy for this achievement.

Rambler

Rambler
(Dig 1000 spaces! (1 space is the same size as 1 character))

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Must be done in a single run. Each level has 196 "spaces". It won't be very easy to clear the entire area each time, so aim to dig as much as you can each level without losing lives. If you average about 125 spaces dug on each level, you'll dig your 1,000th space during level 8 or 9.

Update Log

• Mar 2023 - Added a few beginner tips.
  
• July 2022 - Added self-made guide icon art.
  
• Nov 2021 - Reorganized guide into chapters per achievement, added more tips.
  
• Sept 2021 - Game Settings and Update Log sections added.
  
• Sept 2020 - Images added.
  
• Feb 2020 - Guide published.

[Evil Tiger]

forest whitaker ghost dog playing dig dug...of course

[Homer Ludens]

DunkaROo - It's one playthrough. Good question - I'll update the guide to clarify.

[DunkarOo]

For the Rambler ahcievement, is it dig 1000 spaces in 1 playthrough or can i get it over time?

[Homer Ludens]

Dark Sun - Thank you very much for the insight. I did not have to clear it in this way to get the achievement but I will be testing this when I'm able.

[Κασσάνδρα ☣]

It seems like it either got updated or there is some glitch magic going one beause I could only complete "Dig" by clearing every little piece of dirt on the map that I was able to remove. Not just the pieces of dirt that are character sized

[Tristantine The Great]

I'll try again soon, if I prevail I'll let you know haha.

[Homer Ludens]

Tristantine - I feel your pain. For the later levels, I can say I tried to play closer to the top of the screen. Since the enemies get more aggressive the further you progress, this helped to not get surrounded. Then I would focus on whatever enemies are closer to the top so I could catch the last enemy on its way up before it escapes. Good Luck!

[Tristantine The Great]

This was really helpful, but man I cannot get Centurion to save my life. It gets hard quick when they throw a bunch of enemies at you, especially since they move faster than you and can travel through walls.

[CrityCrit]

Ok thanks cause i was so confused how it was possible would take like 20 mins and they would get too fast ima try now

[Homer Ludens]

Hey CrityCrit it's not a stupid question. You don't actually have to clear the lines to get the Dig achievement. As long as you clear the whole center area of each of the tiles, it should work. I hope this helps.