We Love It's Guide to…
Dig artifacts from a highway route, upgrade your excavation operation, and help Mayor Dog campaign across the Animal Republic.
Released 19 Oct 2026
Excavate Highway Routes
Uncover Buried Artifacts
Build an Artifact Museum
Big Dig is a short incremental narrative game about digging up artifacts to help Mayor Dog win the election! Recover artifacts, grow your museum, and upgrade your tools while building a highway across the Animal Republic!
Developed by Dan Schumacher, Hjalte Tagmose · Published by Dan Schumacher, Hjalte Tagmose, Bird Gang, Gamersky Games
Themes from a helpfulness-selected sample of Steam reviews, not the aggregate Steam score.
In the Animal Republic, Mayor Dog is campaigning on a plan to build a highway. You take on excavation work along its route, digging up historical artifacts that obstruct construction as the election story unfolds.
Dig through layered sites to uncover artifacts and earn money, then invest in research, tools, and helpers to improve excavation. New areas and equipment—including machinery, batteries, and bombs—expand how you clear ground, while fishing offers a side activity.
Recovered finds can be displayed in a museum that you renovate with new rooms and decorations, helping it earn more income. Story-driven resets carry some research progress forward as you move through successive locations toward the campaign's conclusion.
Supplied reviewers often enjoy the humorous election story and its political satire, along with the charming art and characters. Many also praise the satisfying digging-and-upgrade loop and appreciate that the experience is compact rather than built around endless idle grinding. Some reviewers report that progress slows late in the game when upgrades run out, and others dislike the story-driven resets or wish there were more content and an easier way to see another ending.
Big Dig is a short incremental narrative game about digging up artifacts to help Mayor Dog build a highway across the Animal Republic!
Mayor Dog's campaign is in full swing! He needs YOU to dig out any pesky historical artifacts in his way!
Mayor Dog's highway will stretch through beaches, suburbs, lakes, middleschools, and more! Unfortunately, the land is filled with wonderous artifacts that Mayor Dog desperately needs removed.
As the road grows, so will your need for seriously capable tools. You can hire a crew of helpers, get new equipment like an excavator, and renovate your museum for increased profits!
You will get to showcase all the mysterious artifacts you find along the way, from tennisballs to dinosaurs! As the museum grows, you'll be able add decoration, new rooms and more!
Big Dig is created by two indie devs with some help from their friends! We're making Big Dig because we wanted to take a beloved genre and add a meaningful narrative with a (hopefully) satisfying conclusion.
Big Dig is designed to be played in approximately 3-4 hours, perhaps even in a single sitting. It does not feature infinite prestige loops or time-gated idle grinding. It tells a complete story with a proper conclusion that'll make you laugh along the way.
| Platforms | Windows |
|---|---|
| Achievements | 45 |
| Age ratings |
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| Controller support | PlayStation, Xbox |
| Controller required | No |
| DLC / extras | 1 listed on Steam |
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