FACEMINER – More Than Just a Weird Name

• DEVELOPER: Wristwork
• PUBLISHER: Wristwork Ltd
• PLATFORMS: PC
• GENRE: Clicker / Idler / Simulation
• RELEASE DATE: February 27, 2025
• STARTING PRICE: 7,79€
• REVIEWED VERSION: PC

Despite its weird name, FACEMINER is a surprisingly thought-provoking game. It blends resource management, idle progression, and constant upgrading. It’s not only about digging for faces. Instead, the game dives into something much more abstract: extracting and refining “social currency” from a digital landscape. This isn’t just about clicking buttons; it’s about building an empire on something we usually don’t think about.

You play as a contract employee for a company that deals in biometric data. Your job is to use some special software to refine those biometric datasets. Basically, you’re clicking on photos in a three-by-three window tool. For every face you “harvest,” you get paid based on how accurate you are and how “pure” the dataset is. You can buy these datasets from third-party sellers, and, naturally, the purer they are, the more they cost.

More than just clicks

At its core, FACEMINER is an infinite clicker game, so yeah, there isn’t a ton of traditional gameplay here. You’re buying datasets, manually clicking through these CAPTCHA-like images of faces, and trying to figure out how to maximize your profits.

The big difference is that FACEMINER constantly forces you into this balancing act, where you also cut down on operating costs by upgrading (and sometimes downgrading) your hardware, infrastructure, and software. And you have to react quickly to unexpected problems, like viruses.

“While it’s not graphically rich, the game looks really smooth.”

As you keep your data mining operations going, you’ll get occasional emails in your inbox. These come from supervisors, co-workers, and even outside groups like journalists and activists, all commenting on your work. As you complete more and more datasets, you’ll unlock different certification levels. These, in turn, unlock upgrades that you can pay for right out of your digital bank account.

The game looks minimalistic, but really effective, blending abstract visuals and a clean user interface. While it’s not graphically rich, the visual cues for your computer, and network connections are super intuitive. Plus, the music is really nice and fits the game’s atmosphere perfectly.

Cheap and perfect for idling

However, the game isn’t without its rough edges. Late-game progression can sometimes feel like a slow burn, requiring a lot of time to unlock the most advanced tech and truly dominate the digital world. And while the “idle” elements are convenient, they can sometimes overshadow the active choices, leading to periods where you’re just passively waiting.

But here’s what I really like about the game: You have three different modes. One is for quick sessions, the second for a normal grind, and the third feels pretty slow. I was personally a big fan of those quick playing sessions where you don’t have to wait ages to get promoted. In the end, FACEMINER is a fantastic piece of art masquerading as a clicker game. I highly recommend it if you’re looking for a 2-3 hour experience on the default pacing and is quite cheap. It definetly deserves a 4/5 rating from me and it’s definetly a game you can keep coming back to.

Review copy provided by the publisher

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