V1.1 made the game much more playable (no nasty hitches and no crash in Strategy Mode going to the third level).The wall of blocks keeps coming at you and you can only fight off the on rush by toss your pick-axe at a group of 2 or more same colored blocks to knock them out. While the game feature 4 different colored blocks, the ONLY ONE that really matters is the gold ones. You'll have to knock the other groups out but unless there is some nifty treasure is buried inside, clearing even a wall of 16 connected red bricks is worth a whopping 0! In the Standard Mode you just need to survive so many columns of bricks advancing at you and, if successful, you receive a bonus for every empty space and move onto another faster moving level with more columns.In the Bottomless Pit Mode you are just seeing how long you can last in an endless level.In the Archeology Mode your objective is to see how quickly you can uncover all 20 of the game's unique artifacts.In the Strategy Mode it plays much like the Standard Mode but without a timer. The columns simply move forward based on your throws of the pcik-axe. At first every several throws will cause the wall to advance but eventually it will advance a column with each throw.Finally, in Dynamite Mode, it plays just like Standard Mode with the addition of three sticks of dynamite you can throw in when things get tough.

This is exactly the game I was looking for. I wanted something I could just pick up and play, but would have some depth for me to keep playing. The graphics are fun and the animation is clever. There's actually a lot of strategy to the three mines on the right. (I swear I'll beat them all soon!) But perhaps the best thing is the price. I honestly can't think of another game I got this much bang for the buck out of.

Gold Strike is a pretty entertaining game that could be made better with a few changes (which could surely be implemented in the near future) and a price drop. On first trial, performance was terrible, and it was overall very quirky. However, within days, a new update was released that greatly improved performance. That bodes pretty well for development. It's a bit finicky trying to select blocks that are in the bottom row due to the jagged ground covering part of the blocks. The different game modes aren't terribly diverse, but I must say I found myself playing this game a lot more than I thought. A big drawback is the lack of save option. I'm not going to lie... my bathroom trips don't always last the duration of an entire game. I'd like to be able to pick-up where I left off :)Overall, not a bad game.

They asked me to review again. I find that I agree with myself ( see comment below). Make the startup music optional so I never have to hear it again and I can give it another star.I enjoy this low key game and win the artifacts mode often enough to keep playing. Usually the pattern will permit the player to remove the game pieces to score. There are few chance set ups that prevent wins. So, it feels like a fair game. The colors are bright and make interesting patterns. My only complaint is the obnoxious music. You can turn it off to play, but you have to be quick to avoid it on startup.