When does Drill Core get good?

Give it 10 hours. In the first 2 hours almost 1 in 2 reviews are negative (41%); after 15h it's 1 in 9 (11%). Fully opens up by hour 15.

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IndieStrategy

Drill Core

Jul 17, 2025 Steam: Very Positive

Give it 10 hours

Gets good by 10h then rated almost like by veterans

Fully opens up by 15h rated like by long-time players

Started playing 96% of owners

Steam reviews 85% positive of 2,493

What the data shows

In the first 2 hours almost 1 in 2 reviews are negative (41%); after 15h it's 1 in 9 (11%).
Fully opens up by hour 15.
Few early reviews, so this is a rough estimate.
The game has no story achievements, so drop-off points can't be measured.
96% of owners got the first achievement.

When it gets good

Share of positive reviews by how many hours the reviewer had played when writing the review.

before it gets good opening up fully opened up

Based on all 2,513 Steam reviews in every language. Median playtime in a sample of 297 reviews: 20.4h for positive, 8.9h for negative. Almost every game is rated lower in the first 2–3 hours: that window includes refunds and quick first impressions. What matters is how deep the dip is and how fast the game recovers.

Where players quit

Share of players who started the game and reached each story milestone. 100% is the most common achievement (95.5% of owners), so people who bought the game and never launched it don't count.

This game has no story achievements, so we can't tell where players quit.

All achievements (83)

story milestone ending side

Bug-Buster Survive the first night 100%
Pest Control Kill 100 Aliens (cumulative) 97%
Small-Sized Business Have a team of 8 or more 95%
Survival At All Costs Survive 10 nights 93%
Welcome to Drill Core Finish your first contract 92%
Investment Strategist Buy an upgrade 87%
Days Without Incident: 0 Lose more than 6 employee in a day 84%
Passed Probation Period Upgrade your Division to level 3 84%
Ripley's effect Kill 1500 Aliens (cumulative) 83%
What Day Is It Today? Survive 20 nights 75%
Earthcrusher assistant Upgrade Earthcrusher platform to level 4 74%
Pest Management Specialist Complete 3 contracts 70%
You're Cold as Ice Unlock Frozen Planet 70%
Certified Beginner Complete 3 qualifications 68%
Sparks Of Luck Get 5 technologies with 1 star in a contract 67%
It Was Self-Defence Kill Arachnor for the first time 66%
Exemplary Core Maintenance Complete a contract so that the core's health is greater than 90% 60%
Descending Deeper Reach 300 meter depth 59%
Employee Attrition Expert Lose 100 workers (cumulative) 52%
A Core Part of Business Have at least 30 available iron 52%
Architect of Anarchy Build 100 buildings (cumulative) 49%
Professional Manager Upgrade your Division to level 10 49%
Geological Operative Complete 6 contracts 47%
The Law of Nature by Drillus Corus Kill 10000 Aliens (cumulative) 46%
HR Overdrive Hire 200 workers (cumulative) 46%
Accredited Specialist Сomplete 6 qualifications 46%
The Star Contract Get 5 technologies with 2 stars in a contract 46%
Gun Show Enthusiast Build 100 turrets (cumulative) 43%
Earthcrusher technician Upgrade Earthcrusher platform to level 8 42%
The Jungle is Inside You Unlock Jungle Planet 40%
Corporation Have a team of 20 or more 37%
Extreme Conditions Complete a contract with under 10% core health remaining 36%
There Are Never Too Many Bonuses Get 10 technology bonuses during the contract 36%
The Ice Age is canceled Kill Icewarden for the first time 33%
Employee Of The Month Сomplete 10 qualifications 31%
Rush Hour Complete a contract in less than 10 days 31%
Extermination Executive Complete 10 contracts 30%
I'm Not Afraid Of The Dark Survive 40 nights 29%
Earthcrusher expert Upgrade Earthcrusher platform to level 12 26%
Fire In The Hole! Blow up underground monster with a bomber miner explosion 26%
Jungle Conqueror Kill Sporelord for the first time 24%
Novice Collector Find 5 collectible items. 22%
Company Leading Expert Upgrade your Division to level 20 22%
Safety First Complete a contract without losing a worker 21%
Certified Core Expert Сomplete 15 qualifications 21%
Are We There Yet? Reach 600 meter depth 18%
Cave Raider Complete Difficulty level 5 contract in Cavernous biome 17%
Breaking the Ice Complete Difficulty level 5 contract in Frozen biome 16%
Full Star Power Get 5 technologies with 3 stars in a contract 16%
Growing Collection Find 10 collectible items. 16%
The Dwarves' Assistant Upgrade Dwarves platform to level 4 14%
Path of the Predator Complete Difficulty level 5 contract in Jungle biome 13%
Awakening of the Swarnids Upgrade the Swarnid platform to level 4 13%
Qualified Enough Сomplete 22 qualifications 12%
Bombs, Bombs, Bombs! Blow up 4 blocks with a bomber miner explosion 12%
Core Operations Manager Complete 20 contracts 12%
Growing Collection Find 20 collectible items. 9.4%
Other Side Of The Planet Reach 1000 meter depth 9.1%
We've Gone Too Far... Upgrade Department of Unethical Innovations to level 7 9.0%
Explosions And Ale! Upgrade Dwarves platform to level 8 7.9%
Aggressively Polite Upgrade Department Of Aggressive Negotiations to level 7 7.9%
Infinite Evolution Upgrade the Swarnid platform to level 8 7.9%
Filthy Rich (Emphasis on Filthy) Upgrade Department Of Excessive Wealth to level 7 7.0%
Overqualified Сomplete 29 qualifications 6.8%
Accidentally Invincible Upgrade Department Of Accidental Safety to level 7 6.1%
I'M A DWARF! Upgrade Dwarves platform to level 12 5.3%
I'm Not Going Anywhere Survive 70 nights 5.2%
Planetary Engineer Complete 30 contracts 5.1%
You Can’t Stop The Swarm! Upgrade the Swarnid platform to level 12 5.0%
Knock Knock Drop a worker 4.9%
Seasoned Collector Find 40 collectible items. 4.7%
It Works... Somehow Upgrade Department Of Chaotic Optimization to level 7 3.9%
Could’ve Been Easier Upgrade Department Of Overly Dramatic Solutions to level 7 3.9%
Core Keeper Unlock all cores 3.4%
It's Too Easy Complete last Difficulty contract in Cavernous biome 3.1%
What Was The Difficulty? Complete last Difficulty contract in Frozen biome 3.1%
What Do We Say To The God of Death? Not Today! Survive 100 nights 2.8%
The Best of the Best Upgrade your Division to level 50 2.6%
No Tarzan Needed Complete last Difficulty contract in Jungle biome 2.5%
The Show Must Go On Get a message from the CEO of Drill Core Corp 2.3%
Perfectionist Complete 40 qualifications 2.2%
Keeper of Corporate Relics Find 70 collectible items. 2.2%
Drill Core Museum Director Find all collectible items. 1.5%

Steam page Updated: 2026-10-20.