The Mines
The Mines can be found to the northeast of the Carpenter's Shop and west of the Adventurer's Guild. They can be accessed only after you receive a letter on the fifth day of gameplay, as they are blocked off by rocks before this.
The Mines are filled with rocks and dirt patches. Rocks can be mined with a pickaxe in order to obtain stone, ore and geodes. A hoe can be used on dirt patches to collect minerals, artifacts, ore, clay, and cave carrots.
To advance to a deeper level of the mine, you must find a ladder. A ladder will sometimes appear when rocks are broken or enemies are killed. If a level is "infested" or "overrun" by monsters, all enemies must be defeated on that floor before a ladder will appear.
If the player has reached at least level 2 in the Mining skill, levels can be skipped by using a Staircase, which costs 99 Stone to craft. A Staircase allows you to go down a level in the mines. After level 5, you gain access to the elevator, and it will record each 5 levels down, allowing you to quickly descend later on.
Dying in the mines causes you to 'forget' the highest several floors (generally around 5~11), and the elevators to those floors become inaccessible again until you revisit them. You also lose some of your money and items, which may include tools, weapons, and unique items (except for the Galaxy Sword and rings, as of 1.07). If tools are lost, they will be returned to you in your mailbox the following day (as of 1.02). Fishing poles and weapons are not returned.
A Minecart is located on the entry floor for quick travel to and from the mine. It is unlocked by completing the Community Center boiler room bundles.
Levels
The mines consist of 120 levels in which to collect ores and to fight monsters.
| Theme | Encompassing Levels | Enemies | Treasures | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brown Rock | 0 | None, this is the entrance level. | Rusty Sword | A Mine Cart terminus is located here.
Dwarf lives through the blocked passage to the east. A Steel Pickaxe or a Cherry Bomb is required to break the obstruction. |
| Brown Rock | 1 - 9 |  Green Slime
|
The gems you will find from the first floor onward are: Amethyst, Topaz, Quartz, and Earth Crystal | |
| Brown Rock | 10 | None. | Leather Boots | |
| Brown Leafy Rock | 11 - 19 | Green Slime
|
Level 19 is set in a spiral pattern. | |
| Brown Leafy Rock | 20 | None. | Steel Smallsword | Floor 20 has a pool of water. Ghostfish, Stonefish and trash can be caught there. |
| Brown Leafy Rock | 21 - 29 | Green Slime
|
||
| Brown Rock | 30 | None. | No reward | |
| Dark Grey Rock | 31 - 39 |  Bat
|
This section is dark. Consider bringing torches.
This is the best section for mining copper ore: more copper-laced rocks and other rocks frequently drop a single copper ore. This is the last section where regular Geodes are common. | |
| Cold Rock | 40 | None. | Slingshot | |
| Cold Rock | 41 - 49 | 24px Frost Jellies | Floor 41 is where Frozen Geodes and iron begins to appear. Aquamarine, Frozen Tear, and Jade become common. | |
| Cold Rock | 50 | None. | Tundra Boots | Floor 50 is where diamonds begin to appear (1 in 500 stones). Each floor after 50 increases frequency by .00016 (e.g. 1 in 100 stones on floor 100). |
| Cold Rock | 51 - 59 | 24px Frost Jellies | Coal is more common from here onward (from Dust Sprite).
Floor 52 has a bag of coal at the end of the path. | |
| Cold Rock | 60 | None. | Crystal Dagger | Floor 60 has a pool of water. Ghostfish, Ice Pip and trash can be caught there. |
| Cold Rock | 61 - 69 | 24px Frost Jellies | ||
| Cold Castle | 70 | None. | Master Slingshot | |
| Cold Castle | 71 - 79 | 24px Frost Jellies | This is the last section where Frozen Geodes are common.
This is the best section for mining iron ore. | |
| Hot Rock | 80 | None. | Firewalker Boots | |
| Hot Rock | 81 - 89 | 24px Sludge | Floor 81 is where Gold and Magma Geodes begin to appear. Emeralds, Fire Quartz, and rubies are common here. | |
| Hot Rock | 90 | None. | Obsidian Edge | |
| Hot Rock | 91 - 99 | 24px Sludge | Coal is less common from here onward (from Coal Sprites). | |
| Hot Leafy Rock | 100 | None. | A Stardrop | Floor 100 has a pool of water. Ghostfish, Lava Eel and trash can be caught there. |
| Hot Leafy Rock | 101 - 109 | 24px Sludge | This is the best section to mine gold ore. | |
| Very Hot Rock | 110 | None. | Space Boots | |
| Very Hot Rock | 111 - 119 | 24px Sludge | ||
| Very Hot Leafy Rock | 120 | None. | The Skull Key | This is the final floor. |
Combat in the Mines
You will face many Monsters in the mines. Be prepared. Make sure to bring lots of food that refill HP and energy, or craft life elixirs which refill all health when used.
Losing all your health in the mines is not ideal. You will lose money, items from your inventory and you will "forget" previous levels you've discovered (meaning you can no longer use the elevator to access them until you reach them again). The amounts of items, gold and knowledge lost vary.
You will either awake in the mine entrance.
If the screen becomes "Misty" or "Glowy" be prepared to fight. When this happens lots of the current biomes' flying monster will spawn and attack you.
Combat-only "skull" level
Occasionally you will enter a level with lots of monsters and no rocks, and a message saying "This area is infested".
You must continue to fight until you receive the message "An exit has appeared"; this is typically after the last enemy is defeated. The exit ladder will either appear directly in front of the entry ladder or at the location of the last monster killed.
Skull levels appear to be a random event.
Skull Key
On level 120 of the mines is the Skull Key. The skull key is used to open a door in a cave in The Desert, leading to the Skull Cavern. It is also used to unlock the Junimo Kart arcade machine for play in The Saloon.
Gallery
An example of the message upon entering an overrun area
A minecart stash filled with coal
