Before reviewing this game let me provide a little background. I live in the Southern United States (the South will rise again!!!) and am very familiar if not downright fond of a a personality type known as Rednecks.  According to my wife, I have even sired one! Carl, my redneck youngest son, is a typical redneck in that he talks with a southern drawl and hunts or fishes at every opportunity.  He wears overalls at every opportunity (even to church if they are a new pair and without holes in them) and thinks that duct tape will fix anything. It is his voice I hear when I play Space Miner.

At its core Space Miner: Space Ore Bust is a space mining game although there are also side missions that your Uncle Jeb gives you occasionally. While I have never been a fan of space mining games (they typically lack any king of personality and get very redundant very fast) this game is a real joy to play due to a couple of things.  First, the incredible sound track (I haven’t heard this much banjo music since I watched Deliverance and the Jews Harp and whistling only serves to make the music that much better…) Secondly, the redneck humor and puns will have you busting a gut with laughter at times.

Much like the stereotypical space mining game you utilize the on-screen controls to pilot your ship around space blasting away at asteroids and retrieving oar with your tractor beam.  You also are given the opportunity for side quests such as rescuing tourists.  Like many other space mining games you are also given the opportunity to advance by purchasing upgrades for your ship although you need to make sure that, even if you can afford the upgrade, you have enough energy to use the upgrade.

Instead of using Open Feint, which seems to be becoming more and more prevalent in iPhone games, Space Miner uses a Plus+ interface to track your achievements and post them on Leader Boards.

Originally priced at $4.99, the game  is currently 60% off and, for what may be only for a limited time, you can snatch it up for $1.99.  To give you an idea of the popularity of the game, there are currently 245 comments of the game on iTunes and 234 of them give the game 5 stars. I totally concur.  If you are a space mining fan or simply love a good arcade game then this game is for you. If you have never tried space mining games before then this one will be a great one to start with for the humor if for nothing else.

If I were allowed to make one change to the game it would be to add an option for audible voices (either male or female based on your profile) so that folks like me that have poor eyesight could more easily enjoy the game.  Of course those outside the Mason Dixon line might find a redneck drawl hard to understand…. LOL