About the Game

Industrial Revolution: Coal Miner

A 2D game about running a coal pit in Britain between 1837 and 1850. You start cutting coal by hand, then hire workers and buy a steam engine, and grow a small hole in the ground into a big pit — while the real dangers and new laws of the day get in your way.

How the game works

• Mine by handSwing the pick yourself. Each swing uses stamina and takes time.
• Hire workersTrappers, hewers and a steam engine bring up coal without you.
• Sell coalCoal sells on its own for 2.2 shillings a ton.
• Get strongerBuy better food, a better pick, and better rest.
• Survive eventsBad air, floods, strikes and new laws shut the pit for a while.
• WinBring up 30 tons a second — more than any other pit.

The real story behind it

• Trappers

  Children as young as five sat alone in the dark, opening and closing a door so air could move. They were paid almost nothing.

• Coal hewers

  Grown men cut the coal with a pick, lying on their sides in the dark. They were paid for what they cut.

• Steam pumping engines

  Steam engines pumped water out of wet mines, so men could dig much deeper than before.

• Bad air in the mines

  Gas in the tunnels could stop men breathing or blow the whole mine up. The safety lamp helped, but bad news was still normal.

• The Mines Act of 1842

  In 1842 a new law said women and boys under ten were no longer allowed to work underground.

• Chartism

  Miners joined a big push in the 1830s and 40s to get the vote and fair pay. Soldiers were often sent to break a strike.

What the game shows

Coal made the Industrial Revolution run, and the price was paid underground: children at work, bad air, floods, and long fights over pay and the vote. Machines brought far more coal, and slowly, new laws changed who was allowed down the pit.

Bharathi · Benji · Roy · Jack