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Dig Dug (rev 2)
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About Dig Dug (rev 2)
Excavate horizontal and vertical tunnels to trap Pookas and Fygars within the underground maze. Use an air pump to inflate these red and green monsters until they explode, or drop heavy rocks from above to crush them. Digging through the dirt allows the player to manipulate the environment to isolate enemies and clear paths.
Player layout in our catalog: 2P alt.
If you are exploring by feel rather than by title, jump from the tags above into the matching genre rooms, or return to the Arcade hall for the full wall.
Open Play on this page to start Dig Dug (rev 2). Keyboard, USB/Bluetooth pads, and the on-screen touch gamepad all work inside the emulator bar. Save states and fullscreen live on that same bar so you can pause mid-session and resume later.
Dig Dug (rev 2) — play guide
What Dig Dug wants from you
Dig Dug (Namco) is dirt-maze hunting: dig tunnels, inflate Pookas and Fygars with the pump, and drop rocks when geometry allows a real crush. Digging random tunnels into a monster’s face ends the credit. Your job is route and inflate timing—create space, pump when safe, rock when the path will actually crush. Treat each board as a geometry puzzle with a pump, not as a dig-everywhere tourism sim under cute dirt that still kills. Two threat types keep you honest: Pookas punish bad corners; Fygars punish tunnel vision with fire.
First minutes in Dig Dug
On board one, dig a short safe loop before inventing cross-board highways that cut into monster paths and leave you without an exit. Practice pump timing on a single Pooka without cornering yourself in a dead-end that gifts a touch death. Drop rocks only when the tunnel geometry will crush—whiffed rocks waste tempo and leave you exposed mid-dig. Early boards are inflate-and-geometry labs. One clean clear beats three dig-into-Fygar deaths that looked industrious until the fire arrived.
Core systems in Dig Dug
Dirt digging, pump inflate, rock drops, Pookas, Fygars, and board layouts define Dig Dug. Lives punish haste and dig tourism into faces. Continues fund pattern memory as boards tighten and tunnels leave fewer honest exits. Fruit appears as mapped—chase only when tunnels allow a return path. Fire-breathing Fygars punish tunnel vision while you pump a Pooka in a bad corner. Two threat types keep the geometry honest even when the dirt looks friendly on the cabinet art.
Score, continues, and resources in Dig Dug
Boards cleared with lives left beat dig tourism into monsters that looks industrious and still dies mid-pump. Continues while inflate timing becomes honest; cut them once random digging stops ending credits. Score for rocks and chains waits until survival geometry is boring. Extends follow score when present—clean boards beat farming board one forever for vanity rock drops that miss and leave you open.
Mistakes that burn credits in Dig Dug
Digging straight into monsters, pumping in a dead-end, dropping rocks that miss, ignoring Fygar fire, and fruit greed through crowded dirt are classic Dig Dug mistakes. Dig with an exit, pump with space, and rock with geometry that actually connects. Cute dirt is still Namco cruelty, and the pump will not save you from a tunnel you dug into a face. Panic dig highways are free deaths with extra dirt animation.
Next steps after Dig Dug
Mr. Do! is another dig-and-clear cousin with different verbs if you want related geometry under another mascot. Pac-Man is maze clear order without digging when you want loop literacy after pump timing sticks. Dig Dug II changes the island fantasy if you want a sequel twist once inflate discipline on the original finally becomes automatic. Keep playing until panic-pump empties stop ending sessions mid-board on later rounds. Clear one full board carefully before you chase vanity inflates again on denser dig cabinets, and keep rock peeks honest instead of tunneling into every Fygar blindly.
Sources cited below under Further reading.
Cabinet dossier
Dig Dug (rev 2) is filed in our catalog as a 1982 release.
Player layout on this cabinet: 2P alt.
Genre tags on Classic Arcade Games: Maze.
Credit line lists Namco as developer.
Screenshots
Next cabinets
Nearby cabinets you may also open from this hall (each on its own play page):Dig Dug (Gakken), Dig Dug II (New Ver.), Grobda (New Ver.), New Rally X, Pac & Pal, Rally X (32k Ver.?), Super Pac-Man, Tank Battalion, The Tower of Druaga (New Ver.), Boxy Boy (World, SB2), Exvania (World), Marchen Maze (Japan)
Explore more on this site
Same series
How to play Dig Dug (rev 2) online
- Arcade stick feel: Arrow keys for the joystick, X/Z (and nearby keys) for buttons, Enter=Start.
- USB / Bluetooth pads map cleanly; six-button fighters use the face-button cluster.
- On phones, open the on-screen pad from the emulator bar; rotate sits next to fullscreen.
- Save states, load, volume, and fullscreen stay on the emulator bar between credits.
Studio notes — Namco
Namco appears on this cabinet’s credit line. Browse more titles from the same studio on the developer shelf, or stay on this page and try the next cabinets in the same hall.
Dig Dug (Gakken) · Dig Dug II (New Ver.) · Grobda (New Ver.) · New Rally X · Pac & Pal · Rally X (32k Ver.?) · Super Pac-Man · Tank Battalion
Questions about Dig Dug (rev 2)
Can I play Dig Dug (rev 2) free in a browser?
Yes. Classic Arcade Games hosts Dig Dug (rev 2) as a Arcade cabinet you can start on this page. The emulator loads in the browser; you do not need to install a separate app.
What controls does Dig Dug (rev 2) support?
Arcade stick feel: Arrow keys for the joystick, X/Z (and nearby keys) for buttons, Enter=Start. USB / Bluetooth pads map cleanly; six-button fighters use the face-button cluster.
Are there other games in the same series as Dig Dug (rev 2)?
Yes — related series cabinets on this site include Dig Dug (Gakken), Dig Dug II (New Ver.). Each has its own play page with the same browser emulator path.
Further reading
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