Fossil Dig
Puzzle game · Read the numbers, brush the bones, never crack a fossil
Fossil Dig
Read the numbers, brush the bones, never crack a fossil
- Tap any soil to dig. The first dig on every site is safe and opens up an area.
- A number shows how many of the 8 cells around it hide bone. Hold a cell (or right-click it) to brush it as bone.
- Uncover every soil cell to complete the site, and its bones assemble into a dinosaur skeleton.
Keyboard: Arrows move the cursor · Space or Enter digs · B or F brushes · T switches tool · S uses sonar · Mouse: click digs, right-click brushesTouch: Tap to dig · hold a cell to brush it, or use the Dig / Brush toggle · tap a number whose bones are brushed to dig around it
© 2026 Rankeno. All rights reserved.
How to play Fossil Dig
Dig a fossil site cell by cell: every number counts the bones hidden around it. Brush the bones, uncover all the soil before sunset, and watch each site assemble into a dinosaur skeleton.
- Tap any soil to dig. The first dig on every site is safe and opens up an area.
- A number shows how many of the 8 cells around it hide bone. Hold a cell (or right-click it) to brush it as bone.
- Uncover every soil cell to complete the site, and its bones assemble into a dinosaur skeleton.
- Digging into a bone cracks it and costs one of 3 journal pages; so does letting the sun set. The run ends when all three are gone.
- Keyboard & mouse
- Arrows move the cursor · Space or Enter digs · B or F brushes · T switches tool · S uses sonar · Mouse: click digs, right-click brushes
- Touch
- Tap to dig · hold a cell to brush it, or use the Dig / Brush toggle · tap a number whose bones are brushed to dig around it
Press P or Esc to pause. Scores from signed-in players go on the leaderboard.
Fossil Dig is an original Rankeno game. © 2026 Rankeno. All rights reserved. The game, its code, artwork, sounds and name are protected by copyright; copying, re-hosting, embedding or redistributing them is not allowed. See our Terms.
About Fossil Dig
Fossil Dig is a number-deduction puzzle on a dig site strung out into a grid. Each soil cell you dig shows how many of its eight neighbours hide fossil bone, and a blank cell opens the ground around it on its own. Work out where the bones lie, brush them so they cannot be dug by accident, and uncover every other cell. When the last soil cell comes up, the site's bones fly together into a skeleton, one of six species from Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops to Stegosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Parasaurolophus and Velociraptor.
Fossil Dig was created for Rankeno Play and first came out in 2026; it is free to play in any browser on a phone or a computer. A run is a chain of sites that grows from 8×8 to 12×16 cells, packs in more bones and gives you less daylight per cell as it goes, and the highest totals compete on the Rankeno Play leaderboards.
Fossil Dig tips and strategy
- Every site is checked by a logic solver before you see it, so it can always be finished without guessing. When the easy cells run out, compare two numbers that share hidden neighbours: the difference between them usually proves a cell is soil or bone.
- Brushing is optional for scoring, but a brushed cell cannot be dug by accident, and once every bone around a number is brushed, tapping that number digs all of its other neighbours at once.
- Speed pays at the end of a site: the sun dial starts with your first dig, and the daylight bonus is 3 points for every whole second left before sunset, so finishing the 8×8 opener in a dozen seconds is worth more than 100 extra points.
- Watch the sun dial on later sites. Site 1 gives you 47 seconds of daylight, but the allowance per soil cell shrinks with every site up to site 5, and a sunset costs a journal page just like a cracked bone (a new day then begins, without the bonus).
- Keep sonar for the big 12×16 sites. You start with one charge and earn another for every second site you complete, holding at most two, and each use digs a cell that is proven safe near your last dig.
- The bones-left counter is the total minus everything brushed or cracked. If your brush marks are right and it reads 0, every hidden cell that is left is soil and can be dug without a second thought.
Fossil Dig FAQ
What happens when I dig up a bone in Fossil Dig?
The bone cracks and you lose one of your three field-journal pages, but the run goes on. The cracked bone stays visible, counts as found and is worth 5 points instead of 25 when the site is complete. Losing the third page, by cracking bones or by letting the sun set, ends the run.
How is a site scored in Fossil Dig?
Every soil cell you uncover is worth 1 point straight away. Completing a site adds 25 per intact bone, 5 per cracked bone, 3 per whole second of daylight left (none after a sunset) and a site bonus of 50 times the site number, up to 500 from site 10 on.
Is Fossil Dig free to play?
Yes. Fossil Dig is free on Rankeno Play and runs in your web browser, so there is nothing to download or install. You can play straight away as a guest; a free account is only needed to save scores to the leaderboards.
Can I play Fossil Dig on my phone or tablet?
Yes. It runs in mobile and desktop browsers, and the portrait stage scales to fit your screen. On a touchscreen: tap to dig; hold a cell to brush it, or use the Dig / Brush toggle; tap a number whose bones are brushed to dig around it. On a computer: Arrows move the cursor; Space or Enter digs; B or F brushes; T switches tool; S uses sonar; Mouse: click digs, right-click brushes.
How do the Fossil Dig leaderboards work?
When you are signed in, every finished run is submitted automatically; guest scores are not saved. Boards rank one best score per player (highest points first) for Today, This week and All time, globally or among your friends. Today and This week reset at midnight UTC, and the week starts on Monday.
