Deep Trouble

About the Game

Deep Trouble is a love letter to the golden age of arcade puzzle games. Inspired by the legendary Boulder Dash (1984), it drops you underground as a lone adventurer with one goal: find the exit and get out alive.

Sounds simple. It isn't. Boulders tumble with merciless physics, bats patrol dark tunnels, and every decision ripples through the cave. Master the art of controlled chaos — use falling rocks to crush enemies, carve safe paths through packed dirt, and race against the clock through 30 uniquely crafted levels.

How to Play

Objective

Find the exit door and reach it before time runs out. You start with 10 lives — when you run out, the game is over.

Controls

The HUD

Tap the control icon to switch between d-pad and joystick. Tap the speaker icon to mute or unmute. Both preferences are saved — they carry over between sessions.

Scoring

Per level: time remaining × 5. Scores stack across all 30 levels. Racing for S rank means finishing every level as fast as possible.

Final grade thresholds: S ≥ 70,000  |  A ≥ 40,000  |  B ≥ 15,000  |  C below 15,000.

Physics

Boulders obey gravity — they fall when unsupported, roll off rounded surfaces, and slide off the edge of walls. A boulder dislodged from above will crush anything underneath, including you and your enemies. Learn to use this. It's half the game.

Tips & Tricks

1. Level 1 is your practice ground. The first level has a generous lives safety net — game over refills your hearts to 10. Use it to experiment with boulder physics without consequences.
2. Dig sideways before digging down. A column of dirt directly beneath a boulder is a death trap. Carve a horizontal channel first so falling boulders have room to roll clear.
3. Bats go straight first. Bats prefer to go straight, then turn right if blocked. They're predictable on narrow corridors — memorize their loop and walk past them, or trap them.
4. Stuck? Shake to restart. If there's no way forward, shake the device to restart the level. You'll lose a life, so use it when you're truly trapped.
5. Skipped levels come back. Long-pressing skips a level to the end of the queue — it does not remove it. You must complete all 30 to reach the final score screen. Skip strategically, not habitually.
6. Game over sends you to a checkpoint, not the beginning. If you lose all your lives, you restart from the last level that's a multiple of 5 — so dying on level 8 puts you back at level 5, not level 1. Keep that in mind when deciding whether to push your luck.
7. Speed is everything. Your score is purely time-based — every second you shave off is points in the bank. Learn the level layout, commit to the fastest route, and move.
8. Scan before you move. Spend a moment mapping the level. Locate the exit, spot enemy patrol zones, and identify which boulders are about to fall. One moment of observation beats three wasted lives.
9. Watch your path to the exit. A boulder can seal the door while you're navigating around enemies. Always keep the exit route in mind, not just the immediate threat.
10. Patience beats panic. Enemies have fixed, repeatable patterns. Watch a bat for two full cycles before committing to a path. Rushing through a patrol zone is how most lives get lost.

Game History

Deep Trouble stands on the shoulders of a giant. Boulder Dash, created by Peter Liepa and Chris Gray and published by First Star Software in 1984, was one of the first games to fuse real-time physics with puzzle design. It sold over one million copies in its first year on the Commodore 64, Apple II, and Atari platforms, and spawned a genre that endures to this day.

Deep Trouble is Underground Kidz's take on that legacy — a ground-up reimagining that preserves what made the original great while building on top of it for modern iPhones and iPads.

What's Next

Deep Trouble is just the beginning. If there's demand, version 2 is already taking shape in our heads — more levels, a level editor so you can build and share your own underground nightmares, treasures, and bonus items to discover along the way.

And keep an eye out for more games featuring our hero Delulu. The delulu adventure is far from over.

FAQ

Privacy Policy

Effective date: June 2026  ·  Published by Underground Kidz

Deep Trouble does not collect, store, transmit, or share any personal data — ever.

What we collect

Nothing. Deep Trouble has no user accounts, no login, no registration, and no profile of any kind. The app does not include analytics SDKs, advertising frameworks, crash reporters, or any third-party tracking code.

On-device data

Game state (your current level, lives, and score) exists only in memory while the app is running. Nothing is written to disk between sessions — closing the app resets the game. No data ever leaves your device.

This website

This page uses no cookies, no tracking pixels, and no third-party scripts. No personal data is collected by visiting it.

Contact

Questions about privacy? Email support@deeptrouble-game.fneumann.com — we'll respond promptly.

Deep Trouble's privacy declarations are also documented in the app's PrivacyInfo.xcprivacy manifest, which is reviewed by Apple as part of App Store submission.

Support

Found a bug? Got a question not answered above? We read every message and use the feedback to improve the game. Deep Trouble is a small indie project — your reports genuinely matter.