Many factors influence game development timelines, but one indisputable fact remains: creating games often consumes years. Initially, major video game productions took about four years to complete, a timeframe that has recently stretched to five or even six years, as games grow in scale, budgets, and complexity. For indie developers, a two-year period is typically the baseline, a claim few would contest.

Despite this, German studio Cyberwave has achieved an extraordinary feat with the release of A Game About Digging a Hole, launched after only a few weeks of development.

As the name suggests, the game revolves around digging a hole in one’s backyard, starting with a trowel, collecting ores, and using resources to upgrade tools. Surprisingly, it has captured players’ imaginations on Steam, achieving a ‘Very Positive’ rating with over 3,000 reviews and even overtaking established titles like Dynasty Warriors: Origins in sales rankings.

The game’s success can be credited to Ben, an artist at Cyberwave, who, instead of taking a holiday, spent 14 days developing the game during his free time. Ben’s full-time job involves working on a survival game called Solarpunk. The project utilized pre-existing voxel terrain technology initially created for Solarpunk.

The game’s initial announcement in December last year resulted in over 100,000 wishlists on Steam, and after just three weeks of dedicated work, Ben revealed a release date of February 12. While Cyberwave has not disclosed specific sales figures, its rapid ascent up the Steam charts indicates significant success.