For the ZX Spectrum Next

AIR POCKET

An underwater digging game. A diver, a drill and one tank of air. Tunnel through the sea floor, trap what lives down there in bubbles, and get back up before the air runs out.

In development · 30 rounds
See the screens

The reel has sound: unmute it for the AY music.

// The game

Dive, drill, breathe

The boat drops you over the reef. Below the sand lie four layers of sea floor, each harder and darker than the one above, and every tunnel is one you drill yourself.

Anglerfish, jellyfish and sea serpents roam the tunnels and drift through the rock. Shoot an air bubble and trap them in it. Burst the bubble for points, or let it float up to the surface for double. Drill out under a boulder and it drops on whatever is below.

And keep an eye on the oxygen. The deeper you dig, the faster it goes. Only the open water under the surface fills your tank again.

30Rounds in three acts
4Layers of sea floor
50 fpsHardware sprites
AYMusic and effects

// One diver, one tank

How it plays

Trap them in bubbles

Your shot is an air bubble. A monster caught in it floats up. Burst it, or let it reach the surface for double points.

Watch the air

Oxygen runs out faster the deeper you go. Swim up to the open water to fill the tank, then dive again.

Drop the boulders

Drill out under a boulder and it wobbles and falls. Take two monsters with one rock for a bigger bonus.

Down in the deep:

// Thirty rounds

Three acts, deeper and deeper

Act 1, the shallow reef: turquoise sand over blue coral and violet rock, the diver drilling in round 1, the air gauge and depth meter beside the field
1 · Shallow Reef · rounds 1-10
Act 2, the wreck field: green silt, rust and iron grey, round 14, the Cargo Hold, its tunnels shaped like a ship's holds
2 · Wreck Field · rounds 11-20
Act 3, the vents: deep blue, violet and maroon layers, round 28, Pressure Ridge, the depth meter showing silt, shale, basalt and vent rock
3 · The Vents · rounds 21-30

Every round has its own name and its own sea floor. The monsters get faster, the air goes quicker and a bubble holds for less time, with a breather round now and then.

// Screens

From the boat to the deep

The AIR POCKET title picture: a fishing boat at sunset, a diver with a helmet lamp and a drill descending to the sea floor, an anglerfish, a jellyfish and a sea serpent below
The title
Round 2, Twin Shafts: the diver bursts a trapped monster for 600 points, the brass air gauge and the depth meter on the right
Twin Shafts
Round 3, Coral Ring: a bubble bursts for 400 points near the surface, a jellyfish below
A bubble bursts

// ZX Spectrum Next

Made for the Next

AIR POCKET is drawn for the ZX Spectrum Next: a full-screen title picture, a tilemap sea floor that changes as you dig, every creature a hardware sprite, 50 frames a second, and music and effects on the AY chips. Play it with a Kempston joystick or on the keys.

Q A O PDrill
SpaceBubble
HPause
MMusic on/off
KempstonStick · Fire

// In development

Keep me posted

AIR POCKET is in development for the ZX Spectrum Next. Leave your details and I'll email you when it is ready.

On itch.io