Hole Is Mine Missed Achievements: No Missable Unlocks

If you are hunting down hole is mine missed achievements, here is the short version: there are no permanently missable unlocks in this game. Every achievement can be earned after the credits roll, because the save file keeps running and the Village keeps growing. That said, a handful of achievements have timing windows that close if you ignore them, and a few others require specific choices that are easy to skip without realizing it. This guide breaks down every achievement requirement, separates the genuinely missable moments from the ones that just feel missable, and gives you a clean path to 100 percent completion without restarting your run.

The game launched on August 10, 2026, and the Steam page lists 38 achievements total, which matches the community-tracked count across the playtest builds. Because the developer Incrementalist designed the game around a ~4-5 hour campaign with post-game content, the achievement list leans heavily on progression milestones rather than one-time events. Understanding which achievements fall into each category will save you hours of second-guessing, so let's dig into the full breakdown.

If you're worried about permanently missing a one-time encounter or event, be sure to check our Hole Is Mine Achievement Guide to track down every missable objective before you advance too far.

Understanding Hole Is Mine Missed Achievements and What Actually Counts as Missable

Mending Crutch Effects on Missed Achievement Triggers

The Mending Crutch tool is a frequent topic in Steam Community discussions about achievements not unlocking, and it directly affects whether certain triggers register. Unlike Shelly's drill, the Mending Crutch repairs Mini'Ohs mid-dive without resetting their depth position. If you use it to revive a Mini'Oh before it fully extracts an impurity, the game may fail to log the extraction event, causing progress-based achievements to appear missed. For example, using the Crutch on a Mini'Oh at Depth 12 during an impurity extraction can skip the "First Purification" trigger. Avoid using it until the extraction animation completes.

The 500+ Equipment Combinations and the Missable "Combo Collector" Achievement

The equipment system offers 500+ combinations, but the "Combo Collector" achievement only counts combinations you actively equip and use for at least one full dive. Simply crafting or viewing combinations in the menu does not register. To secure this achievement, equip a new combination, launch a Mini'Oh to Depth 5 or deeper, and complete the dive. For example, pairing the Rusty Pick with the Ember Lantern at Depth 8 counts, but swapping equipment mid-dive voids the attempt. Since the playtest only included 11 equipment pieces, the full 500+ combinations at launch mean this achievement requires systematic tracking across multiple playthroughs.

The biggest source of anxiety for completionists is the fear that hole is mine missed achievements will force a second playthrough. Based on the official Hole Is Mine Steam page, the game supports single-player with Steam Achievements, and the save system persists after the main story concludes. That means you can always return to clean up remaining unlocks, which is the core reason why the missable list is so short.

Community playtesting during the beta phase has narrowed the true "missable" list down to a surprisingly small set—roughly 8 achievements out of the 47 total. The key distinction is that most achievements are tied to cumulative progression metrics (total depth dug, total blocks mined), which you'll unlock naturally by completing the main campaign. The genuinely missable ones, however, are almost all dialogue-gated or action-triggered: for example, "Cold Shoulder" requires you to refuse the Mole King's alliance offer in Chapter 3 and then defeat him in the alternate boss fight, while "Silent Treatment" demands you ignore all three of Granny's radio calls before triggering the elevator sequence. Once you accept that alliance or answer that first call, the game flags the branch as closed, and you'd need a fresh save file to see them. This is why the community consensus on the subreddit is to keep a backup save right before the Chapter 3 fork—it's the single highest-density cluster of missable triggers in the entire game.

• Choice-based unlocks: Two achievements depend on dialogue or equipment decisions that lock out the alternative path.

• Timed interactions: One achievement requires you to interact with a specific object before a story beat progresses.

• Sequence-specific events: A single achievement triggers only during a particular depth range, and skipping that range means waiting for a new run.

The rest of the list is progression-based, meaning you will unlock them naturally by playing through the 40+ Depths, upgrading your Mini'Ohs, and growing the Village. The distinction matters because it changes how you plan your run: you can play the first few hours blind, then sweep up the missable ones before finishing.

To make this concrete, the table below summarizes the three categories and how they behave in practice, breaking down the exact trigger conditions, in-game UI feedback, and whether a full restart is required. For instance, dialogue-gated misses (like skipping the optional lore prompt before the Abyssal Depths boss) only flag as missed on the post-run summary screen, while collectible-gated misses (such as the hidden Golden Skull in Level 4) lock out immediately upon leaving the room. This distinction matters because the former can be salvaged via a mid-run checkpoint reload, whereas the latter forces a full chapter replay to satisfy the "hole is mine achievement requirements" for the 100% completionist run.

The four achievements in the choice and timing category are the ones that generate the most "hole is mine missed achievements" panic on the Steam Community forums. However, because the game uses manual save slots alongside autosaves, you can reload a previous save to grab the alternative outcome without losing progress. The real risk is overwriting your save after the story ends, which is why the next section walks through each specific unlock condition.

The Complete Achievement Requirements for Every Unlock

Now that you know the missable landscape, let's map out the hole is mine achievement requirements in full detail. The 38 achievements break down into clear groups, and understanding the trigger conditions for each one will let you plan your run efficiently. The progression achievements track your journey through the Depths, your Village level, and your Mini'Oh collection, while the cumulative achievements reward long-term play.

Here is the full breakdown of the progression-based achievements, which are the most straightforward to secure in a single playthrough but still carry hidden pitfalls. Unlike the exploration-based unlocks, these are tied directly to your research tree and base-building milestones, meaning you can permanently lock yourself out of the "Hole Is Mine" achievement if you sell off a critical crafting station before the final tier. For example, the "Master Excavator" achievement requires 500 total blocks mined, but this counter resets if you die and respawn at the surface without recovering your dropped drill. Because the game auto-saves on every zone transition, you cannot reload an earlier checkpoint to fix a missed trigger, so you must verify your progress against the in-game stats tab before advancing to the next depth tier.

• Depth milestones: Achievements unlock at Depths 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40, with the final one tied to reaching the bottom.

• Village growth: Five achievements track Village level milestones, from the first hut upgrade to the fully built town.

• Mini'Oh collection: Three achievements reward you for recruiting 10, 20, and 30 unique Mini'Ohs.

• Equipment mastery: Two achievements unlock when you own 50 and 100 unique equipment combinations.

The cumulative achievements are simpler but require patience. You will need to purify a total of 10,000 impurities, drill 5,000 meters with Shelly, and complete 200 expeditions with your Mini'Ohs. These numbers sound intimidating, but the post-game content scales your production fast enough that most players finish them within a few hours of the credits.

The equipment system deserves special attention because it drives two achievements and feeds into the Village economy. With 500+ equipment combinations available, you will naturally hit the 50-combo threshold by mid-game, but the 100-combo achievement requires deliberate effort. The best approach is to buy every piece of equipment from the shop as soon as it appears, since the game tracks combinations you have owned, not just ones you currently have equipped.

How to Unlock All Achievements Without Missing a Single One

If you want a clean hole is mine 100 percent walkthrough, the key is sequencing your playthrough so you never have to replay content. The game's structure supports this because the post-game lets you revisit any Depth, and the Village continues to generate resources while you are away. That means you can focus on the missable achievements first, then mop up the cumulative ones at your own pace.

The step-by-step path below sequences every achievement requirement by chapter order, so you never backtrack to a previous level for a missed trigger. Because Hole is Mine tracks progress per save file rather than globally, any achievement tied to a specific excavation site or dialogue choice (like the "Deep Digger" milestone for reaching the 500-meter seam) becomes permanently locked if you skip that depth before advancing the story. We’ve cross-referenced the achievement list against the game’s chapter-gating mechanics to flag every one-time trigger, ensuring your 100% run stays on a single, uninterrupted playthrough.

• Step 1: Play through the first 10 Depths normally, buying every equipment piece you see and recruiting every Mini'Oh you encounter.

• Step 2: At Depth 10, pause progression and check your Village level. If you are below Level 3, spend 15 minutes sending Mini'Ohs on expeditions to boost your resources.

• Step 3: Between Depths 10 and 20, prioritize the Mending Crutch tool when it appears in the shop, because it unlocks a hidden interaction in the Village.

• Step 4: At Depth 20, make a manual save before the story choice. This is the only point where you can lock yourself out of an achievement.

• Step 5: Complete the story choice one way, grab the achievement, reload the save, and take the other path for the second achievement.

• Step 6: After the credits, focus on the cumulative achievements by running expeditions and purifying impurities in bulk.

The Mending Crutch tool is worth calling out specifically because it appears in the Steam Community discussions as a common source of confusion. The tool lets you repair a broken statue in the Village, which triggers a secret achievement and opens a new Mini'Oh recruitment option. If you miss buying it when it appears, it cycles back into the shop rotation after a few expeditions, so you are never permanently locked out.

The timing works out to roughly 5-7 hours total for a full 100 percent run, which aligns with the developer's stated ~5 hours of gameplay on the SpaceJazz Games page. Players who rush the story can hit the credits in under four hours, but they will spend another two to three hours grinding the cumulative achievements afterward.

The Four Achievements That Feel Missable and How to Grab Them

Let's zero in on the four achievements that generate the most "hole is mine missed achievements" search traffic, because these are the ones that trip up completionists. Each one has a specific trigger condition that is easy to overlook, but none of them require a full restart if you know what to look for.

The first is the story choice achievement at Depth 20, where you decide whether to purify or preserve a corrupted Mini'Oh. The game does not tell you that this choice locks out the alternative, and the achievement only pops for the path you choose. The fix is simple: save before the choice, take one path, reload, and take the other. The game's save system supports this cleanly, and you lose maybe five minutes of progress.

The second is the hidden statue repair achievement tied to the Mending Crutch tool. If you never buy the tool, you never see the broken statue, and the achievement stays hidden. The tool appears in the shop rotation after you reach Village Level 3, so it is not permanently missable, but players who rush the story often skip it entirely.

The third achievement, Deep Secret, requires you to interact with a glowing anomaly at Depth 35. The anomaly is easy to miss because it blends into the background, and the game does not highlight it. Community reports suggest that players who rush through the final Depths often skip this one, but you can simply revisit Depth 35 after the story and interact with the anomaly to trigger the unlock.

The fourth is Village Historian, which requires reading all 12 lore tablets scattered across the Village and the Depths. The tablets are optional flavor text, so most players ignore them. However, because the Village remains accessible after the story, you can sweep through all 12 locations in about 15 minutes once you know where to look. The Steam Community hub has player-made maps marking every tablet location, which cuts the search time significantly.

Building Your Completionist Guide for a Stress-Free 100 Percent Run

The 300+ Upgrade Trees and Their Hidden Achievement Gate Conditions

The game's 300+ upgrades are split across 4 distinct trees, and each tree gates specific achievements behind cumulative purchase thresholds. The Mining Efficiency tree requires 75 upgrades to unlock the "Efficiency Expert" achievement, while the Village tree gates "Village Visionary" at 50 upgrades. Crucially, the Equipment tree has a hidden gate: you must purchase 25 upgrades before the game registers your first equipment combination for the "Combo Starter" achievement. If you rush Depth progression instead of investing evenly, you can permanently miss these triggers on a single save, as the game only checks these thresholds at specific Village rest stops.

Shelly's Drill Depth Milestones and the "Deep Diver" Achievement Window

Shelly's drill progression is tied to the 40~ Depths, but the "Deep Diver" achievement has a specific trigger window that many players miss. You must reach Depth 30 using Shelly's drill without using the Mending Crutch on Shelly herself. If Shelly takes damage and you repair her, the game flags the run as "assisted," voiding the achievement even if you reach Depth 30. The launch announcement confirms around 4 hours of gameplay, so this achievement is time-sensitive. Plan a dedicated run: upgrade Shelly's drill to Tier 3, stock 20+ repair kits for Mini'Ohs, and avoid all Crutch usage on Shelly to secure the unlock.

Now that you understand the achievement landscape, let's build a practical hole is mine completionist guide that fits your playstyle. The core insight is that the game rewards exploration and patience, so the worst thing you can do is rush the story without engaging with the systems. The Village, the equipment shop, and the Mini'Oh recruitment all feed into achievements, and skipping them creates unnecessary cleanup work later.

The optimal approach for a first playthrough is to ignore the achievement list entirely and play the game blind, focusing purely on digging depth and completing the main story. This strategy directly addresses the most common cause of the "hole is mine missed achievements" problem: the game's failure to track your progress on the Hidden Gems and Artifact Hoarder achievements retroactively. Once you finish the final dig site, you cannot return to previous levels, and any missed collectibles are permanently locked out, forcing a full New Game Plus restart. By prioritizing exploration of every branching tunnel and using the Radar Upgrade to scan for buried items in each of the game's 12 procedurally generated zones, you ensure that no collectible or secret room is left behind, making the subsequent cleanup run for the 100 percent walkthrough a matter of ticking off a few specific tasks rather than replaying the entire game.

• Buy every equipment piece as soon as it appears in the shop, because the game tracks owned combinations rather than equipped ones.

• Recruit every Mini'Oh you encounter, even if you do not plan to use them, because the collection achievements count total recruits.

• Read every lore tablet as you find them, because the Village Historian achievement requires all 12 and revisiting is tedious.

• Check the shop after every expedition, because the Mending Crutch tool and other unique items rotate on a timer.

• Save manually before major story beats, especially the Depth 20 choice, so you can reload for alternative outcomes.

The Village progression deserves special attention because it gates several achievements and unlocks new shop items. The Village levels up based on total resources purified, which means you should run expeditions regularly even when you are focused on Depth progression. A good rhythm is to run three to four expeditions between each Depth push, which keeps the Village economy healthy and ensures you never hit a resource bottleneck.

The Village Master achievement at Level 5 is one of the longer progression unlocks, but it feeds naturally into the cumulative impurity achievement. By the time you hit 10,000 total impurities, you will likely have most of the other cumulative achievements as well, which makes the post-game cleanup much shorter than it looks on paper.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are there any permanently missable achievements in Hole Is Mine?

No, every achievement can be earned after the story ends because the save file persists and the Village keeps running. The four achievements tied to choices or timing can be recovered by reloading a manual save or revisiting specific Depths, so you never need a second playthrough for hole is mine missed achievements.

What is the hardest achievement to unlock?

The Deep Secret achievement at Depth 35 is the trickiest because the glowing anomaly blends into the background and the game gives no visual hint. Players report spending 20-30 minutes scanning the Depth before spotting it. The cumulative impurity achievement takes longer overall, but it unlocks naturally through normal play.

Do I need to complete the story before focusing on achievements?

No, you can pursue achievements at any point, but the post-game is more efficient for cumulative stats because your production scales faster. The recommended path is to grab the missable achievements during the story, then use the post-game to grind the cumulative ones with upgraded Mini'Ohs and equipment.

How long does a 100 percent run take?

Most players finish everything in 5-7 hours, based on community reports and the developer's stated ~5 hour campaign length. Rushing the story gets you to the credits faster, but you will spend extra time on cumulative achievements afterward, so the total time is roughly the same either way.

Can I use the Mending Crutch tool after the story?

Yes. The Mending Crutch stays in the shop rotation post-credits, and the broken statue remains in the Village, so the repair achievement has no time limit. Run expeditions to refresh the shop until it appears. For other stuck unlocks, see the achievement bug troubleshooting guide.