Cantera — Algorithmic Generation

⛏️ How to Play

Extract all artifacts before your fuel runs out.

Key Rules

Objective: Extract all artifacts before your fuel runs out. Every artifact crushed is a mission failure — you can't win with a lost artifact.

Gravity: After any clear, blocks fall down to fill empty space. Empty columns remain as permanent shafts — the rock doesn't slide sideways. Plan carefully: clearing an entire column splits the board in two.

Crush Rule: A block that falls 2+ tiles and lands directly above an exposed artifact destroys it instantly — immediate mission failure. Clear gently around exposed artifacts.

Fuel: Cluster clear = 1 · Sandstone hit = 1 · Dynamite = 2. Hit zero before extracting all artifacts = mission failed.

Tools (limited uses)

🖌️

Brush — free

Remove any single clearable block — including Sandstone in one hit instead of two. Great for breaking isolated tiles that block a cluster.

🧨

Dynamite — 2 fuel

Destroys a 3×3 area including granite. Warning: artifacts caught in the blast are lost. Hover to preview the blast radius before placing.

Block Types

Color Blocks

Dirt, Clay, Sand, Moss & Slate. Click a cluster of 2+ touching same-color blocks to clear them all at once. Bigger cluster = more points. Costs 1 fuel.

Sandstone (badge: 2 or 1)

A two-hit block. Click once to crack (2→1). Click again to remove. Each click costs 1 fuel. Not part of color clusters — must be clicked on its own. Brush removes it in a single use.

🪨

Granite

Indestructible. No tool or action removes it. It blocks falling pieces and permanently shapes the excavation path.

🔥

Lava

Obstacle tile. Lava cannot be clicked normally, but Brush can remove it. Like other non-granite tiles, it can still fall if unsupported.

💎

Artifact — your goal

Cannot be clicked directly. Extracted when it reaches the bottom row via gravity (+100 pts). Pulses when exposed because exposed artifacts are vulnerable to crush damage.