Dig Dug II

The digging goes topside — and this time you can sink the whole island. Dig Dug II is Namco's 1985 sequel — swapping underground tunnels for an overhead island where you crack the land apart to drop enemies into the sea — and the whole NES port plays here for free, with no cartridge and no sign-up involved. Pump, drill, and reshape the island to win. Hit the Play button to drop onto the island, and read on for how the fault lines work, the full control map, and scoring tips.

What Is Dig Dug II?

Dig Dug II (subtitled Trouble in Paradise for the American NES port) is the arcade sequel to Dig Dug, released by Namco in 1985 and brought to the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in North America in 1989. It keeps the original's enemies — the round red Pookas and the fire-breathing Fygars — but completely reinvents the playfield.

Instead of digging underground, Dig Dug II takes place on an island seen from above. Your goal each round is simple: wipe out every enemy on the island. The twist is how — you can pop them the old way, or literally break off chunks of land and sink them into the ocean.

How the Gameplay Works

Taizo Hori is armed with two tools, and choosing the right one is the heart of the game:

• The pump — the classic Dig Dug weapon. Latch onto an enemy and inflate it until it bursts. Pookas die by touch only; Fygars also kill you with horizontal fire.
• The jackhammer — drill at fault lines marked on the map to create cracks. When both ends of a fault system reach the water, the enclosed section of land sinks into the ocean, drowning every creature on it — but be careful not to stand on a sinking piece yourself.
• Mass elimination — sinking land with several enemies on it at once scores big, making the jackhammer the key to high scores.
• Bonus vegetables — once three pieces of land have been cut away, a bonus vegetable appears on what remains for extra points.
• Escaping enemies — when only a few enemies remain, they head for the island's edge and jump into the water themselves, denying you the points — so act fast.

After the 31st round, the rounds repeat the layouts of the first sixteen, ramping up the challenge with faster, more numerous enemies.

How to Play

Getting started is instant. Press the Play button on this page and Dig Dug II starts at its title screen; press Start and the first round begins on an island ringed by water. Then:

1. Move around the island in the overhead view.
2. Pump enemies until they pop, just like the original.
3. Drill fault lines with the jackhammer to crack the land.
4. Sink sections of island (with enemies on them) into the sea for big points.
5. Clear every enemy to finish the round — before they jump in the water themselves.

Desktop and mobile both work. The keyboard covers everything, and if you plug in a USB or Bluetooth pad the page finds it and maps it to the NES buttons without you configuring anything. A phone gets an on-screen NES pad instead — fine for pumping, slightly fiddlier for parking yourself exactly on a fault line, which is the one thing this sequel really asks of you.

Controls

Use your tool on enemies to pump them, or on fault lines to drill cracks. A connected gamepad uses the same mapping, and its D-pad helps when you need to line up exactly on a fault line.

Tips for New Players

• Sink groups for big scores. The jackhammer's land-sinking is worth far more when several enemies are on the chunk you drop — herd them together first.
• Don't go down with the ship. Make sure you're not standing on a section of land when it sinks, or you'll drown too.
• Pump when sinking isn't set up. The pump is your reliable fallback when no fault line is positioned to trap enemies.
• Watch the Fygars' fire. Just like the original, Fygars breathe fire horizontally — approach them from above or below, or from behind.
• Finish before they flee. When a couple of enemies are left, they'll jump into the sea to deny your points — close in quickly to claim the kill.

Why Play It in Your Browser?

Dig Dug II is a clever reinvention of an arcade classic — the island-sinking jackhammer mechanic gives it a strategic flavor all its own. Finding a cartridge and a console that still turns on is the hard part; here it is one click. Because it's the genuine NES build, you get the overhead islands, the pump-and-jackhammer strategy, and the bonus scoring exactly as Namco designed them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Dig Dug II free to play here? Yes. Press Play and Namco's full NES port — retitled Trouble in Paradise in North America — runs here for nothing, with no account required.

When did Dig Dug II come out? It released in arcades in 1985 and came to the NES in North America in 1989 (subtitled Trouble in Paradise), developed by Namco. The version here is the NES release.

How is it different from the first Dig Dug? Dig Dug II swaps underground tunneling for an overhead island. Alongside the pump, you get a jackhammer that cracks fault lines to sink whole sections of land — and the enemies on them — into the sea.

What's the jackhammer for? Drilling fault lines to create cracks; when both ends reach the water, that piece of island sinks, drowning everything on it. It's the key to high scores.

Can I play it on my phone? Absolutely. The on-screen NES pad handles the pump and the jackhammer fine, and on desktop the keyboard or a connected gamepad gives you the precise positioning that land-sinking rewards.

Ready to reshape the island? Press Play and start drilling.