So what do you do when your mining workforce is lazy, incompetent, stupid and bone idle? You hire Mandy, a plucky young girl who's determined to seek out the gold no matter what the situation is. And you'll be guiding her through some of the most treacherous underground passageways. Who said gold mining was easy?

The game utilises a control mechanic akin to the one found in Toki Tori. Simply tapping on an area will lead Mandy towards it. She'll take the fastest, least stamina consuming (more on that in a minute) route possible, so you don't have to touch every square on the map. This is also extended to your backpack - once it is filled, touching it will automatically plot out a route for the surface to return the gold there. Later on in the game, you can buy a mobile shop which you can plant in the mine, so that you can avoid stamina draining runs up to the top.

Stamina is consistent across all actions. Walking takes stamina, and mining takes stamina. You'll learn not to pickaxe your way through great chunks of rock - not only does this take time, but won't set you up for the long haul. The game will give you enough stamina to grab all the gold in the level, but if you're low, you can buy some rest from the shop, which will restore a little.

The shop also sells many different items. Explosives have many forms, but it's critical that you pick the right explosives for the job. Naturally, utilising these doesn't require stamina, and can blast away tough segments of the level. Use with caution though, because they can eat away at gold seams too. You'll know when you're near a seam, as exclamation marks will appear. If you get more than three then you're looking at a pretty big seam. Whilst gold fills your backpack (it can be upgraded to hold more) up and needs emptying, diamonds are credited immediately.

Mining is tough work. Collapses can happen at any point, especially so when there's heavy clusters of rock on top. You have supports to handle these, which are either found or purchased. Bedrock cannot be blasted through, whilst bats will appear and greatly annoy you by stealing a portion of your gold. You can take these critters out whilst they're sleeping, but sometimes you get several in a cluster. It would have been nice to have some kind of weapon that you purchase for killing them (why won't a pickaxe?). Further along the road, you'll encounter iron deposits which cannot be tunneled through, but can be blasted. Furthermore, lava springs are prevalent in the later levels, they spread and form new rock until they hit ice, or of their own accord after three squares. Ice will send you sliding until you hit earth again. Finally, gas will drain your stamina - however it can be blasted off the field.

Each of the adventure levels follow a strict map and are not randomly generated - however, the 'Gold Rush' mode is - a mini game where you'll be trying to get as much as you can lay your hands on within the time limit. We liked the inclusion of this mode as it gives variety to the gameplay. Trivia on the real life gold rush can be earned after level completion - three stars indicate how well you did (all three is the best you can do).

You can't exit out at any point though, which is disappointing as the levels can take a while to complete.

The presentation is really good - we liked the inclusion of the loose story that ties the levels together, and the quest to find all of the artifacts to unlock the real loot. The route map (level selection screen) is well done, showing your progress across all of the levels. And the levels sparkle and glisten with many gold seams, twinkles in the dark serve as hints, and blowing up chunks of earth is especially satisfying. You can't exit out at any point though, which is disappointing as the levels can take a while to complete. iPod soundtrack is supported, but the Western theme that the music has fits really well with the game. We wish there was a few more tracks in the game.

Overall, California Gold Rush is an easy recommendation. It's polished and has a great amount of content. Some kind of puzzle mode which expanded on the stamina/resource collection aspect of the game would have been nice, but what's here is more than enough for the price you pay. What you get is, ultimately, a professional game that's fun and involving.

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