Prospecting!

Prospecting is a relaxed, progression-driven mining and resource-gathering game on Roblox developed by the Prospecting! group and launched in May 2025. It has surpassed 221 million visits and maintains over 5,000 concurrent players daily with a 96.4% approval rating from nearly 300,000 votes - one of the most positively received simulation games on the platform.

The core loop is tactile and methodical: select a digging area, use a Shovel to fill a Capacity meter with dirt, carry it to a river, and pan by clicking repeatedly to reveal hidden minerals. Minerals range from Common (around $500) up to Exotic ($50M-$100M), and the gear you bring into the field determines how many you find and how much they are worth. The Toughness stat is the primary progression gate - raising it by upgrading Shovels unlocks richer digging areas across a world that expands from the starter Rubble Creek out to time-gated endgame zones:

• ⛏️ Shovels and Toughness - each Shovel tier raises Toughness, unlocking higher-value areas from Crystal Caverns (Toughness 4) to Azuralite Oasis and Magma Furnace (Toughness 5)
• 💎 Luck - the most impactful income stat; each Luck point rerolls mineral values toward higher rarities, making 2x Luck boosts (the primary code reward) one of the highest-efficiency strategies in the game
• 🗺️ Zones - themed areas from Rubble Creek to the time-gated Infernal Heart (open 30 minutes per hour at XX:15), the only source of the Exotic Dinosaur Skull
• 🏠 Sluice structures - deployable in flowing water to collect minerals passively while offline; each Sluice tier has individual upgradeable stats funded by Meteor Shards
• 💰 Crafting - the Blacksmith NPC combines minerals into better Shovels, Pans, and Ornaments (Ring, Charm, Necklace accessories providing passive stat boosts); crafted items have a rare chance of gaining a Mutation bonus modifier
• 🏆 Museum - donating minerals toward collection milestones rewards permanent passive boosts, providing a long-term completionist goal alongside the core progression loop

Meteor Shards are the secondary currency - earned from quests, Geodes, and codes - used to upgrade Vault Storage capacity and individual Sluice stats. The Museum, NPC questlines from the Lightkeeper, Old Prospector, Paleontologist, and others, and the craftable Ornament system layer meaningful goals on top of the core mineral loop.

Prospecting occupies a distinct niche compared to Mining Simulator 2 through its grounded geological aesthetic, deep crafting system, and the meaningful passive income driven by Sluice structures.