Blade of the Spade

Blade of the Spade is a daily metal detecting game you play in your browser – on your phone or your computer.

🚧 The game is an early alpha and still in development. Things will change, and your feedback really helps.

One site a day, the same for everyone

Every day there is one new site to search. It is the same field for every player in the world: the same finds, buried in the same places, at the same depths. You don't play against others in real time – everyone searches on their own, and the daily leaderboard shows who did best.

A new site opens every day at midnight UTC. Whatever you don't dig up by then stays in the ground.

How to play

• Walk and sweep. Move across the site and swing the detector coil from side to side.
• Listen to the signal. When the coil passes over metal, the detector beeps. Different metals sound different, and small or deep objects give only a weak, short signal.
• Pinpoint. The tone turns continuous and gets stronger the closer you are. Move the green target circle to where it is loudest.
• Dig. If nothing is there, you lose time and a few points – so don't dig blindly.
• Identify your find. Clear the dirt off the object and guess its period, material and type.

Points depend on how rare the find is, how deep it was, how accurately you pinpointed it and how well you identified it. Every find goes into your collection, with real photos and a short description. A short tutorial teaches you the controls before your first day.

A detector that behaves like a real one

The game is made by a hobby metal detectorist. A coin near the surface gives a loud, clear signal, a small button twenty centimetres down is just a faint blip, and iron junk is everywhere. The finds are real archaeological and everyday objects – coins, buckles, brooches, buttons, tools and plenty of junk – from prehistory to the present day.

Blade of the Spade started as a PC metal detecting simulator. The project has since moved to the web: this browser game is Blade of the Spade now.

Good to know

• Free, no account, nothing to install. Play with sound on – the detector talks to you through it.
• Your progress and collection are saved in your browser. Progress made here on itch.io is kept separately from the game's own website. To keep your collection safe, or to add the game to your phone's home screen, play at bladeofthespade.com.
• Found a bug or have an idea? Leave a comment below or join the Discord.