Dig Your Way to an Interplanetary Past When Alien Archeologist Releases Later This Year
Recover Strange Artifacts and Unearth Secrets Long-Buried in the Depths of Mars
Kraków, Poland (July 22, 2026) – Black Lantern Collective is proud to announce Alien Archeologist, a game about digging deep, restoring alien artifacts, and searching for whatever your employers are so desperate to find hidden in the crust of Mars. Alien Archeologist is primed for fans of A Game About Digging a Hole and PowerWash Simulator, as you obsess over clearing away each speck of dust, and the uncovered mysteries keep you descending ever further. It’s coming to PC October 12, 2026, and you can get a first look in our reveal trailer.
In the distant future, you find yourself stationed at a lonely dig site on the surface of Mars, equipped with a rusty shovel and a handful of TNT. Chipping away, one scoop at a time, you’ll fill your backpack with ore that you’ll grind down and sell to purchase new tools and upgrades. When you do find something definitively ancient, you’ll take the artifact to a cleaning station, where you use several tools to wash away the dust, pick out rocks, and polish the object to a shiny finish.
There’s more down there than just a few knick-knacks, though, from solar panels to the skeletons of job crews who came before. Just like in Donkey Kong Bananza, there’s a whole world of buried secrets to find as you unearth (un-Mars?) more and more of the soil beneath your feet.
Key Features
- DIG - There’s a soft patch of soil behind the shack the company put you in. Grab a shovel, start scooping, and pick out anything that glimmers. There are valuable artifacts down there, and who knows what else?
- RESTORE - Find an artifact? Bring it topside and clean it up. Spray off the dust, pick off the rocks, and spit-shine it so it doesn’t look a thousand years old.
- UPGRADE - Fill your bag full of ore, shake it into the grinder, and use the earnings to get better gear. Improve your shovel, your lamps, the blast radius of your TNT, and all of the tools you use to clean up the artifacts after you find them.
- GOOBER - What kind of company would leave you alone on a desert planet? For all your social needs, we’ve provided GOOBER, a spiffy little vacuum bot, who can assist you with all sorts of chores like finding spare materials, building extra TNT, and… murder? Nevermind that. GOOBER can be augmented with a number of customizable features, including bow-ties, mustaches, and top hats. Nothing to fear.
Alien Archeologist is due to release on PC October 12, 2026, so if you dig it, be sure to give us a wishlist on Steam.
Trailer
Steam Page
Release Date: October 12, 2026
About Black Lantern Collective
Black Lantern Collective is a group of experienced horror specialists that works with artists from around the world to provide the support and expertise necessary to make a splash in today’s saturated market, as well as developing their own games.
Find out more and see all the current and upcoming releases from Black Lantern Collective on Steam and join the Discord server to connect with the community.
Press Contact
All media inquiries can be made to pr@ukiyostudios.com
