The loop
Every Dome Keeper run splits into two halves. By day you dig for resources and carry them back to the dome. By night you sit in the dome and shoot what comes. The tension is time: every second underground is a second you are not upgrading or reinforcing.
Pick a dome and a keeper before you start. The dome decides how you defend; the keeper decides how you mine. If you want the gentlest start, the Engineer mines with a simple single-tile drill and the Laser Dome is unlocked by default. The dome and keeper database lists all 8 with what each one brings.
What to do in the first minutes
- Dig a short shaft straight down, then branch toward visible resource clusters. Do not tunnel blindly — the map is mostly hidden until you reveal it.
- Carry resources home early. A half-full trip that lands before the wave beats a greedy haul that strands you underground.
- Spend before night. Unspent iron is not defence. Open the upgrade screen and buy mining speed or carry capacity first; both compound.
- Be in the dome when the wave hits. The single most common death is being one tile too far from home.
The two mistakes that end runs
Most runs die to one of these, not to a hard wave:
- The greedy last dig. The vein looks good, the wave timer is close, and you take one more tile. Distance is the cost that kills you — not the monster.
- No defensive answer. A dome weapon alone is thin. One combat gadget (Auto Cannon or Buzz Saw) and one delay gadget (Furnace) turn a scary night into a manageable one.
The gadget database holds all 26 gadgets with slot and type. Skim it before you spend a slot you cannot take back.
What to learn next
Read the mining guide for the distance trade, the gadgets guide for which slots to fill first, and the defense guide for how to survive the night.
Related guides
- Gadgets Guide — which of the 26 gadgets earn a slot.
- Dome and Keeper Guide — how the 4 domes and 4 keepers differ.
- Mining Guide — depth pays, distance costs.
- Co-op and Versus Guide — the April 2026 multiplayer update.