Stone Miner is a specific truck simulator where you crash and collect stones on various islands and upgrade your truck to do it more efficiently. You can download Stone Miner for free for Android and iOS and enjoy its simple and engaging gameplay wherever you are. 

Graphics

When it comes to islands and resources, you can expect the game to be Minecraft-inspired. Though it’s not as pixelated, the overall feel is similar. The pseudo-3D looks primitive, but it contributes to the charm this old-school manner has always had. The truck looks powerful, and the stones break very convincingly, with a tasty cracking sound.

The game has no demands on your phone screen, CPU, or GPU. It works well even on old or low-budget devices, just like its style suggests. We had no trouble with it on whatever we used to run it. 

Gameplay

The process is simple: you run over a stone mine (virtually the entire island) and crush the stone, then collect it and deliver it to the store where you sell it for coins. These coins can be used for upgrades: you can make your grinder stronger by adding spikes, rings, or rotation speed, increase truck speed and capacity, or upgrade your auxiliary rail cart. Sometimes you can find gems, though getting them is harder. You may even need a good old pickaxe to do some mining manually (usually for some unusual reward). 

There isn’t even a place for the virtual joystick: it appears wherever you place your finger (unless it’s an advertising banner). Drag your finger around to control your truck. No, you cannot fall out to the sea or break your truck, even if the crusher looks red hot on an especially hard stone. 

Sometimes you can find a powerup behind the stones. It may increase the speed or the capacity of your truck, making it easier to breakthrough. Taking it, though, is only possible through watching an ad unless you buy an ad-free version. 

Replayability

The thing is that the game has literally no aim. You cannot win or lose at all, but the process is a sort of meditation. There is some progress that is required to unlock extras like the factory or the pet shop, but the game is playable even if you don’t bother. Stone Miner is a great time-killer that does your nerves good, so if you don’t own a pop-it or any other fidget, this game will do. You better see it as a sort of meditation rather than a challenge. 

Is It Fun to Mine?

Though the game lacks some challenges (like, for example, survival mode or race against time), its meditative qualities are fantastic. You run around in your truck, collect and sell various stones, and do this as long as you like. You don’t need a super fresh flagship smartphone to install Stone Miner: it runs on almost any device with iOS 11.0 or Android 5.0 and above.