Is there a Motherload 2?

The official sequel is Super Motherload by XGen Studios, released in 2013 for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 and in 2014 for Windows. It keeps the mining pod and Mars and adds local co-op for up to four players.

XGen Studios, a Canadian studio, released Motherload as a free Flash game in 2004. XGen was founded by Skye Boyes, who led the team that made it.

Can I play Motherload on my phone?

Not really: the original was made for a computer and a keyboard, and CrazyGames lists it for desktop only. InkMine has the same dig-down, get-back-up loop and plays in a phone browser with touch controls.

What games are like Motherload?

InkMine, which you can play free in a browser, plus Super Motherload, SteamWorld Dig, SteamWorld Dig 2, A Game About Digging A Hole, Dome Keeper and Mr. Driller.

Is InkMine made by the makers of Motherload?

No. InkMine is our own game, made at 16bit.ink, and it is not made by or connected to the makers of Motherload. We name Motherload only to compare.

Games like Motherload

Games like Motherload you can play today

If you loved Motherload, try InkMine: you drill down for ore and climb back before your drill energy and air run out, on small alien moons, with a story. It plays free in any browser, with no ads. For more, try Super Motherload, SteamWorld Dig and Dome Keeper.

By Hayk, who makes the games at 16bit.ink · Updated October 27, 2026

1. InkMine

16bit.ink, 2026 · Web browser: computer, phone or tablet · First world free · full game $4.99 one-time

InkMine is our own take on the same push-your-luck loop. A wormhole threw you onto a small moon no chart has. Every block costs drill energy and every trip costs air, so you are always weighing one more vein against the climb home.

There is no money and no shop: what you dig is what you build with. You print the parts your wrecked lander needs, meet aliens who speak no language you know, and fly on from world to world. It runs in any browser, on a phone too, with no ads: the first world is free and the rest is a one-time $4.99.

Play InkMine free More about InkMine

More games like Motherload

Super Motherload
XGen Studios, 2013 · PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3 · Paid
The official sequel. Same mining pod, Mars again, now with local co-op for up to four players and a new world every game. The Steam version comes with the original Motherload Goldium Edition.
SteamWorld Dig
Image & Form, 2013 · PC, Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, 3DS, Wii U · Paid
The closest in feel: dig straight down, carry your ore back up to a little mining town, sell it and upgrade your tools. A western-flavoured robot story ties it together.
SteamWorld Dig 2
Image & Form, 2017 · PC, Switch, PlayStation, Xbox · Paid
The same dig, sell and upgrade loop, grown into a bigger adventure with new tools that open up new areas and hand-made puzzle caves.
A Game About Digging A Hole
DoubleBee, 2025 · PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch · Paid
Motherload in first person, in your back garden: dig, sell what you find, upgrade and dig deeper. Players on its Steam forum call it exactly that.
Dome Keeper
Bippinbits, 2022 · PC, Mac, Linux, Xbox Series X|S · Paid, with a free demo
Mine under your dome and haul resources back to upgrade it, then race up to defend it from the next wave of monsters. A roguelike, so every run starts fresh.
Mr. Driller
Namco, 1999 · Arcade, then many consoles · Paid
Pure drilling against an air meter that keeps running down, while blocks fall in from above. No shop or upgrades, just how deep you can get.

Motherload vs InkMine

	Motherload	InkMine
Made by	XGen Studios, 2004	16bit.ink, 2026
Where	Under the surface of Mars	Small alien moons, after a wormhole crash
What runs out	Fuel, and your hull wears down	Drill energy and air
What you dig for	Cash for upgrades and items	Ore to print repairs and gear: there is no money
Story	Light, with a twist deep down	A crash-landing, aliens to meet and a way home to find
Plays on	Computer browsers, through a Flash emulator	Any browser: computer, phone or tablet
Ads	In the free browser versions; the paid Goldium Edition has none	None, ever
Price	Free in a browser; Goldium Edition $9.99	First world free; full game $4.99 one-time

What was Motherload?

Motherload is a free Flash mining game by XGen Studios, released on September 29, 2004. You pilot a mining pod down through the rock of Mars in search of the Motherload, a fabled cache of rare and valuable minerals.

Every trip down is a gamble. The pod burns fuel as it digs and flies, the hull takes damage from lava and hidden gas pockets, earthquakes can wreck your tunnels, and the cargo bay only holds so much. Back on the surface you sell what you carried at the mineral depot and spend the cash on upgrades and on items like reserve fuel tanks, hull repair nanites and dynamite. XGen says it tips its hat to Dig Dug and Boulder Dash.

XGen’s own counter puts it at over 19 million plays, and many players remember it from Miniclip. Deep down it has a story twist people still talk about; we won’t spoil it here.

Can you still play Motherload?

Yes. Flash itself is gone: Adobe ended support for Flash Player on December 31, 2020 and began blocking Flash content on January 12, 2021. But XGen Studios now runs the original on its own website through Ruffle, a Flash emulator, and CrazyGames hosts it the same way for desktop browsers.

For a copy to keep, the Goldium Edition ($9.99, Windows) adds more upgrades, a challenge mode and hidden easter eggs with no ads, and it comes free with Super Motherload on Steam.

Miss other Flash games too? See the Flash games you can still play, and where.

Questions

Is there a Motherload 2?: The official sequel is Super Motherload by XGen Studios, released in 2013 for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 and in 2014 for Windows. It keeps the mining pod and Mars and adds local co-op for up to four players.
Who made Motherload?: XGen Studios, a Canadian studio, released Motherload as a free Flash game in 2004. XGen was founded by Skye Boyes, who led the team that made it.
Can I play Motherload on my phone?: Not really: the original was made for a computer and a keyboard, and CrazyGames lists it for desktop only. InkMine has the same dig-down, get-back-up loop and plays in a phone browser with touch controls.
What games are like Motherload?: InkMine, which you can play free in a browser, plus Super Motherload, SteamWorld Dig, SteamWorld Dig 2, A Game About Digging A Hole, Dome Keeper and Mr. Driller.
Is InkMine made by the makers of Motherload?: No. InkMine is our own game, made at 16bit.ink, and it is not made by or connected to the makers of Motherload. We name Motherload only to compare.

Sources

Motherload and the other games named here belong to their makers. InkMine is our own game and is not connected to them.