This game originated as a mini-game in The Garden of Hades, where I decided to include a couple of 'retro' arcade style games.   For one of these I adapted a similar game that I had used in Adventure Island, and  for the other my friend, who assisted me in making The Garden of Hades, suggested an old game that she had enjoyed playing called Heartlight.  In this, a little gnome-like figure had to collect hearts while avoiding falling rocks.

I recognised this as similar to the classic game, Boulder Dash, in which a little miner collects gems while dodging rockfalls.  I decided to make my own simplified version of this featuring a small miner, who my friend christened Ned.  I made only one level as the objective was to allow players to receive an object needed in the main game.

During a delay to finishing The Garden of Hades I experimented with designing more levels for the Gem Collector game.  Encouraged by one of my testers, who also liked arcade style games, I developed my ideas into a complete version of the game, with seven levels and new hazards, including bombs, electric barriers and even giant spiders!

In the 2022 AGS awards Gem Collector was nominated for two awards: Best Non Adventure Game Created with AGS and Best Programming.