Gold Digger

Gold Digger is a recurring microgame in the WarioWare series. It appears in the Strange folder in WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! and returns in WarioWare: Touched! in the Retro Action stage, in WarioWare: D.I.Y. as one of Mona's microgames, Game & Wario in the Gamer mode and WarioWare Gold as one of Mona's microgames. A similar game is found in WarioWare: Snapped!, WarioWare: Smooth Moves as You Can Pick Your Friends and WarioWare: Twisted as Contact Lens Solution. Nose picking is a recurring theme in the WarioWare series, as it is one of Wario's various unhygienic habits. This microgame has appeared the most in the WarioWare series.

WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!
At the top of the screen, there is a large nose. At the bottom of the screen, there is a hand with a finger sticking up moving back and forth. The player must press the button when the finger lines up with a nostril to "dig for gold". If the player does so, the game is won. However, if the player doesn't put the finger into the nostril, or if time is up, the player will lose the microgame.


 * 1st level difficulty: The player must pick the nose with the pinky finger.
 * 2nd level difficulty: The player must pick the nose with the index finger.
 * 3rd level difficulty: The player must pick the nose with both the index and middle fingers.

WarioWare: Touched!
The WarioWare: Touched! version is based on the original microgame, and the level difficulties are the same. The objective is similar to the version in WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!; this time using the stylus to tap the button on the Game Boy Advance to pick the nose.

WarioWare: D.I.Y.
To win this microgame, the player has to put the moving finger in one of the nose's nostrils. To do so, they must tap the finger at the right time. If the player doesn't put it in the nostril or when time's up, they'll lose the game.

Game & Wario
A version appears in Game & Wario in the "Gamer" mode and can also be unlocked as a solo game in the "Cluck-A-Pop" machine. Like usual, the player must pick a nose to win the game.


 * 1st level difficulty: The player has to pick one nostril of a nose with a pinky finger.
 * 2nd level difficulty: The player has to pick one nostril of a nose with an index finger.
 * 3rd level difficulty: The player has to either pick two nostrils of one nose or one nostril each on two noses with two fingers.

Sometimes, the nose is replaced with a mouth. In this case, attempting to pick the mouth results in a loss.

WarioWare Gold
This microgame appears in WarioWare Gold as one of Mona's microgames, with the objective not changing from the original. This version has the same music and visuals as the Game & Wario version.


 * 1st level difficulty: The player has to pick one nostril of a nose with a pinky finger.
 * 2nd level difficulty: The player has to pick one nostril of a nose with an index finger.
 * 3rd level difficulty: The player has to pick two nostrils of one nose with two fingers.

There's also a chance the nose that has to be picked is a camel's instead. Sometimes, the nose is replaced with either a pierced nose or an open mouth. In either case, picking it will result in a loss.

Development
"I figured the player’s eyes would focus on the moving finger, and the act of pressing the A Button to make the finger thrust forward would read naturally as syntax for a game. [...] I made the thickness of the finger the same size as the nostril, thinking how satisfying it would be to have the finger go into the nostril when you succeed, and I made the nose deform a little bit when you fail."

- Goro Abe

"Gold Digger" was created by WarioWare developer Goro Abe, based on a whiteboard note made by the game's director depicting a finger, a nose and the caption "Pick!" After seeing the note, Abe thought up the concept of the game and believed the nose-picking premise would be immediately and universally understood by players, a necessity for the nature of WarioWare's gameplay. The first version of the game only featured the index finger; to make the game easier for beginners and make difficulty levels more interesting than simply increasing the speed at which the microgame is played, Abe created the smaller pinky finger for the first difficulty level and made the third difficulty level the insertion of two fingers into the nose. After feedback from testers stating that the game was still too difficult, Abe tweaked the earlier difficulties to have the finger start closer to the nose.