SMALL-SITE INCREMENTAL / A SINGLE SITTING
The Excavation Project
Dig up pebbles, sell what you find, and improve the tools that take you deeper. Plan one sitting: the creator explicitly says there is no save system.
Browser · Creator’s site
Visit Basilium's excavation gameOpens the creator’s page in a new tab. This Joywisp page is a guide; the browser player is hosted by the creator.
A tiny patch, a repeating exchange
The creator describes starting with your hands, finding pebbles to sell, and spending the proceeds on tools that dig deeper and faster. Read an upgrade as a change to that loop: what would it let you reach, or how would it change the work you are doing now? The source gives the direction of progression, rather than a price table. This guide does not invent deposits, income values or a tested fastest upgrade order.
Separate the view from the tool
Use the left mouse button for the selected tool. The right mouse button rotates the camera, and WASD moves the camera; number keys 1–7 select tools through hotkeys. A useful setup step is to become comfortable framing the patch before focusing on speed. The creator also lists an interactive tutorial. Consult that tutorial for any further tool behavior, since the exact reach, camera limits and touch equivalents have not been tested here.
Let the next find shape the next purchase
The attraction of digging deeper is the possibility of finding what lies under this small site. Compare the tool information available in the game with the work you are currently doing: do you want faster digging or access farther below? Keep that question close to the sell-and-upgrade cycle. Automation appears in the creator's tags, but the captured description does not explain its machinery or timing, so no specific automated setup is prescribed here.
Choose a session you can finish
The creator explicitly states that the game has no save system and estimates a run at 15–30 minutes. Give it a sitting in which you can follow the excavation without relying on a later reload to restore it. That duration is a creator estimate, not a Joywisp stopwatch result. Basilium describes finishing the game as a seven-day learning challenge; the guide presents its small scope as published, without inventing a longer campaign or promising future updates.
Creator notes & dates
Basilium’s official The Excavation Project page is the source for availability, price and the described mechanics. Checked .
- itch.io Published field
- Not shown on the checked page
- Creator release statement
- The captured metadata displayed Published 20 days ago and Updated 5 days ago. Neither value supplies an exact timestamp or proves a first release within the listing's last-seven-days filter.
- First worldwide release
- Unknown
- Found by Joywisp
Found in itch.io’s New & Popular listing with its last-seven-days filter. Listing position reflects that snapshot; it does not establish a first release in that period.
This guide is based on the creator's description and metadata. Joywisp has not played a run, tested the controls or tutorial, measured tool balance, verified phone input or reproduced the creator's 15–30 minute estimate. The creator states that no generative AI was used in the game. The illustration was drawn for Joywisp. No creator screenshots, game files or playable embeds are used here. External links and privacy.