Mineshaft ending walkthrough
Buy the shovel (25 Rolls), spatula (45) and trowel (80), dig the seven layers under your cell, and outrun the guard through the mineshaft — follow the sparkles and climb the ladder.
What the mineshaft ending needs
The mineshaft is the default escape: dig the floor of your cell through every layer, drop into the tunnel system under the prison, and outrun the guard to the ladder. The only shopping required is the tool ladder — 150 Rolls for all three upgrades.
| Tool | Price | Approx. dig speed | Layer it unlocks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spoon | free | baseline | Green grass, just under the carpet |
| Shovel | 25 Rolls | +16 | The first dirt layers |
| Spatula | 45 Rolls | +17 | The middle dirt layer |
| Trowel | 80 Rolls | +19 | Grey rock and the yellow sand at the bottom |
Buy each one before the layer that needs it — digging at the wrong tier barely scratches the blocks, and the game makes you feel it.
The seven layers
The dig meter under your cell splits the ground into seven sections: grass, two dirt layers, three grey rock layers and the yellow sand floor that opens into the mineshaft. Tools map onto the layers like this: spoon in grass, shovel through the upper dirt, spatula through the deeper dirt, trowel through everything below.
The dig, step by step
- Start digging in the morning with a full energy bar. Lunch refills it once; do not be back at the surface at noon for nothing.
- Sell everything each trip up. Bank 25 Rolls, buy the shovel, go back down.
- Keep a rhythm: dig until energy is low, surface, sell, eat, buy the next tool the moment the shop has it, and dive again.
- If you can spare the Rolls, buy dynamite before the rock layers. One charge opens a wide pocket instantly, hurts nobody, and does not alert the guard.
- Break the last layer and the floor gives way — you drop into the mineshaft with a cutscene of the guard falling in behind you.
The chase
The tunnel run is short but it is a run: there is no sprint here to save you, so clean movement is the whole skill.
- Walk onto the tracks to start the escape proper.
- Do not look back. The guard is scripted behind you; stopping to sightsee ends the run.
- Follow the sparkles when the tunnel splits — the marked branch is the way out.
- Climb the ladder at the end for the clear.
The clear pays 15 Diamonds and the Dug To Escape badge, equipable in the lobby.
If it goes wrong
The two choke points are energy and the chase. Run out of energy mid-dig and you are simply walking, not digging — eat before that happens. Get caught in the tunnel and the run resets to your cell; your tools and rolls for that run are gone, but Diamonds and badges already earned stay on the account. There is no penalty to starting the next run immediately — the floor resets and the sellers restock each day.
Cleaner, faster, richer
Once the route is routine, trim it: buy only the trowel past the second layer, keep dynamite for sand, and sell in bulk on lunch trips to save surface time. Experienced players shave the dig down to well under an hour with a clean tool order, but the relaxed version — the "30–60 minutes" the game advertises — is where the Diamonds are comfortably farmed.
Now that the tunnel is done, the shorter exits: the janitor route needs a keycard, and the rooftops route needs a keycard and a crowbar.
