The arrow struck the shield with a impactful “thud!”. Steve peeked around the shield’s edge and saw the arrow was wrapped in a note! Steve excitedly pulled it loose to see what it said…
“You’re happy you had that shield, aren’t you?”
And yes, Steve was pretty happy.
Minecraft has been updated to 1.9! It contains a lot of changes. Most remarkably, the combat mechanics have been updated to make fighting more interesting and offer more map-making options. Here’s a almost complete list of the new and changed features:
Added shields
Attacking now has a “cool-down” delay, making it more important to time your attacks
You can now hold items in both hands (default quick key to swap items is ‘F’)
Swords have a special sweep attack
Axes have a special crushing blow attack
Added the elytra
New mob: Shulker
Expanded The End
Added Chorus plants
New Purpur blocks
New End Rod block
Added dragon head block
Ender Dragon can be resummoned
Added beetroot and beetroot soup (from MC:PE)
Added grass path block
Added igloos
Armor protection values have been lowered
Added tipped arrows
Added spectral arrows
Added Frost Walker enchantment and frosted ice block
Added a whole bunch of new sound effects
Added sound effect subtitles
Brewing Stand now requires Blaze Powder to activate
Added skeleton riders
We believe we’ve fixed MC-10 and a whole bunch of other issues
Minecraft: Pocket Edition, the mobile version of Minecraft was released for via Google Play and Android in the later part of 2011. Today, the Beta 0.14.0 edition is available for free downloading.
Mojang AB, the developers of Minecraft has announced on January 25, 2016, that it was offering a beta test of its Minecraft: Pocket Edition, which is available for download for Android gadgets.
The beta test is available only to Google Play users. Much to the dismay of other gamers. However, Mojang assured fans that the Minecraft: Pocket Edition and the Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition beta will be made available very soon, too.
Why join the beta test?
According to Mojang, the second phase of the game testing is a continuing journey towards exploring Redstone with Droppers, Hoppers, Dispensers, and such other new items.
How to join the beta test?
Since this is a test, Mojang strongly recommends gamers to store backups of their existing worlds before downloading the beta test version.
To join the test, first the gamer needs an Android device that supports Minecraft: Pocket Edition. Second, the gamer needs to purchase from Google Play Store Minecraft: Pocket Edition Android. And third, the gamer needs toopt in to the Beta testand become a tester.
The app automatically download and install on the gamer’s device after joining the beta test. Expect some downtime as it can take a couple of days to appear. Gamers joining the beta test may need to wait a little bit.
Beta updates
Meanwhile, future updates and changes to the beta will be available in the designatedsmall blog. Beta updates are available for free. Beta testers need to check out the small blog for any available updates.
The latest in the series of beta 0.14.0 updates includes more Redstone component including comparators, dispensers, droppers, hoppers, repeaters, trapped chests. There are also more Minecart types.
Then too there are Spooky witches and their huts where gamers can find cauldrons filled with varying potions and the ability to dye Armor. There is also additional Item Frames that gamers can use for displaying their best loot.
Other exciting new items include Slime blocks, Wearable pumpkins, Red sandstone, better chicken jockey mobs, and 15 new Redstone Specialists skins for engineering, mining, rail-riding, etc.
What makes Pocket Edition Different?
Minecraft is a video game that allows players to build their own virtual worlds in a sandbox-like environment. Pocket Edition is different from the PC version in that it has more vibrant images, adjusted terrains, and exclusive items.
According to the development team, Minecraft: Pocket Edition will start progressing diversely and on its own the moment it is up to date with the PC version.
This suggests that Pocket Edition is not just another version of Minecraft in a totally different platform. It can actually offer different gaming experience from the one gamers will get from PC.
So what are you waiting for? Be a Minecraft: Pocket Edition beta tester today and take part in refining your favorite video game!
If you want, you can tunnel all the way to the center ofPortal Knights’ floating island world. There’s just one problem: it’s hollow.
Portal Knightshit Steam Early Access yesterday, and it’s been in the top ten best sellers ever since. If you find yourself thinking, “Gee, that sure reminds me ofMinecraft, Terraria, Cubeworld,Trove,Starbound, and Mark Wahlberg’s upcoming foray into the genre,Blocky Block And The Voxel Bunch,” you’re not far off the mark.
Portal Knightsis a game where you explore, collect blocks and seeds of various sorts, craft weapons and armor, and build fortresses (or, if you’re me, a single, finger-like pillar that scrapes the sky and pops a pimple on the face of God Himself). You can bring three friends along for the ride, or you can fly solo.
Instead of adventuring through one infinite procedurally generated world, you traverse an endless procession of smaller ones, all of which are connected by portals that you have to activate with special blocks. So there’s your basic formula: go to a place, kill stuff, maybe find a dungeon or a special treasure or a boss, collect colored blocks, put them in a portal, move on to the next place, repeat.
On the upside, the game has gobs of personality. I mean, look at this character creation screen:
There aren’t all that many options, but there’s an excellent selection of facial hair, and you can put handlebar mustaches on ladies! It’s all just so charming.
Unfortunately, in its current Early Access state, the experience runs out of Steam fast. Everything is simple and repetitive: classes, combat, progression, exploration, etc. Pieces of its design don’t fit together, either. Case in point: why build an elaborate fort if you’re just gonna portal to a new area in 15 minutes? The developers plan to add More Content (worlds, bosses, recipes, etc) before the full release, but I feel like it’s the foundation that needs work. If nothing else, they say that deeper RPG mechanics are on the way. That’s good, because what’s there now is as barebones as it gets.
Here’s 30 minutes of me playing the game and discussing why, despite a wonderfully whimsical presentation, I’m disappointed:
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Minecraft: Wii U Editionis getting a Nether-sized update tomorrow. This digital vitamin shot should bring the Wii U iteration of Mojang’s tremendous adventure / building game up to speed with other console versions of the game (or at least close).
According to a press release distributed by Nintendo earlier today, we’re looking at “a long list of new potions, blocks, mobs and biomes. (…) Players can also purchase the new Biome Settlers Skin pack, which brings 24 new settler characters into the game and even more biome-themed skins they can use to role-play with their friends.”
The Wii U version of Minecraft is a humungo hit on the eShop,particularly in Japan. While any good news about the Wii U is inspiriting — Nintendo’s spunky console is an underdog if there ever was one — Minecraft: Wii U Edition’s success inspires conflicted feelings amongst Minecraft fans because it’s a standing example of wasted potential.
The first bullet point on the list of game updates should be “You can use the Wii U GamePad for inventory management now!” Obviously, it’s not there. Neither can you use the GamePad as a screen option when playing local split-screen with a pal.
Granted, one of the biggest selling points for Minecraft: Wii U Edition is its off-TV play, which prevents families from igniting a small war whenever someone wants to watch TV but someone else wants to play Minecraft. It’s a good option, but it’s theonlysecond-screen option for Minecraft Wii U, and that’s a darn shame. Someday game historians will write essays on the wasted potential of the Wii U GamePad, and Minecraft will be noted in the first paragraph (along with the Wii U’s baffling lack of Pokémon Snap 2).
But the list of disappointments for Minecraft: Wii U don’t stop at its lack of second-screen options. Nintendo should have latched onto the Minecraft property in the Wii U’s earliest days. It certainly didn’t have to do anything as drastic as buy Mojang (how ironic that we saw Minecraft on Wii U only after Microsoft snapped up the Swedish studio), but Minecraft’s Nintendo no-show until the tail end of 2015 is mind-blowing.
It also proved to be a bad business move. Minecraft is selling like crazy on the eShop, regardless of the fact the game has been around long enough to see release on PC, major consoles, handhelds, mobile, and electric toothbrushes (OK, not yet, but someday). What has Nintendo missed out on by not securing a Wii U version of Minecraft in 2012 or 2013?
Finally, Nintendo’s not doing a sufficient job of nurturing Minecraft: Wii U Editionnow, even though the game is funneling money directly into its mouth (after Microsoft gets its bite, of course). Any version of Minecraft living on Nintendo’s real estate should offer players official character skins and world builds from day one.
Mario, Peach, the Inklings, Hyrule, Zebes, the Mushroom Kingdom — why can’t we access glorious chunkified versions of these people and places? When will we be able to, if ever?
We may as well take solace in the hope that Nintendo will know better than to ignore Minecraft when the NX launches. Regardless of how you feel about Minecraft, no one is going to argue that a version of the game packed with official Nintendo locations / skins would turn some heads at the NX debut.
Lee—who produced The LEGO Movie—added his team is “also doing visual designs to show the studio what the world will look like.” And according toCollider, Minecraft developer Mojang will be “very involved” in the film’s development. Warner Bros. and Mojang will work in collaboration, sharing ideas so the film stays connected to updated versions of the game’s world.
“Minecraft would be part of a multiverse where humans can enter,” Lee said of the film, “that has the feel of what the live action version of a Minecraft experience.”
Warner Bros. Minecraft film is looking to target the same audience as Jurassic World. And asCollidernoted, it’s unclear whether this means it’ll be rated PG-13 like Jurassic World, or PG like The LEGO Movie.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia co-creator and starRob McElhenney will write and direct Minecraft. There is no set timeline as of yet, but Lee reported the movie should go into production later in 2016.
Independent game developer Mojang took the world by storm in 2011 with the release of open-world sandbox game Minecraft. Odds are, you’ve heard so much about Minecraft that you’re sick of it by now. For those that haven’t, here’s the gist. In Minecraft you explore a procedurally generated world in search of raw materials, which can be used to craft tools, weapons, or armor. You’re also able to build structures from the materials. It may not sound like much, but Minecraft has become one of the most popular games in the world. People were captivated by it’s open-ended gameplay and multiplayer capabilities, and it became a global hit.
Of course, with popularity comes imitators. Since Minecraft was first released, the gaming industry has seen a massive influx of games that are similar to it. Games that are open-world, multiplayer, and survival/crafting oriented. Some of these games are pretty bad. Others are fantastic. If you’re getting bored of Minecraft, and you’re looking for a new game that shares some of it’s core gameplay mechanics, then take a look at this list of a few games that are similar.
Top Five Games like Minecraft
5. 7 Days to Die
One of the most common complaints that I have heard from gamers about Minecraft is that it is too child-like. True, it is a more light-hearted game, and it’s very popular among children. If you’re looking for a game like Minecraft with a more mature twist, you may want to look into 7 Days to Die. 7 Days to Die is a survival/horror game, where players traverse an unfamiliar landscape and gather resources to protect themselves from hordes of zombies, who attack when the sun goes down. Sound familiar?
7 Days to Die has several mining and crafting mechanics that are very similar to Minecraft’s. You’re able to craft tools of varying effectiveness, which are used to mine different materials. These different materials, like clay and iron, can be smelted in a furnace to create weapons, armors, or other kinds of defenses. You don’t have to assemble items in a specific shape on a grid like you do in Minecraft’s PC version, but you still have to gather a specific amount of materials. I would argue that 7 Days to Die’s crafting system is more challenging than progenitor’s because it takes time for your items to be created. In Minecraft, you can craft a set of armor as quickly as you can click the button. In 7 Days to Die, you have to wait a certain amount of time (usually between 5 and 45 seconds) until the item is complete.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. The survival/horror Minecraft-esque genre is pretty oversaturated. Just off of the top of my head, there are games like Day-Z, H1Z1, The Forest, and many more. So what sets 7 Days to Die apart from its extensive competition? 7 Days to Die has a very active development team, who work hard to deliver regular, free updates on a regular basis. In my opinion, 7 Days to Die is currently the best in its overcrowded genre, if only because it’s constantly improving.
4. Lego Worlds
To me, the ability to create grand and magnificent structures has always been one of the best parts of Minecraft. Lego Worlds is one of the few open world sandbox builders out there that is able to capture that same level of creativity. As you can probably guess from the name, Lego Worlds is a game made by the fine folks over at Lego. Lego is already known for an expansive series of video games based off of movies and comic book characters, but Lego Worlds is very different from those games.
Lego Worlds is a game where you take third-person control of a character of your own making. You’re able to run around and explore a vast Lego world, fight skeleton monsters, and build structures. Since Lego World is brought to you by Lego, you can be sure that the building aspect of the game is absolutely phenomenal. There are so many different kinds of pieces to choose from, which allows you to create smaller, more detailed structures than you can in Minecraft. Lego Worlds will feel very familiar to the average Minecraft player, with other features like rideable creatures, pre-generated villages, and the ability to explore underwater biomes.
Lego Worlds, like 7 Days to Die, is still in early access. Certain aspects of the game are still a little glitchy. The game is prone to crashing unexpectedly, and there are a few key features that haven’t been made public yet. For instance, one of the biggest draws of Minecraft is its large and expansive online community. At the time of writing, Lego Worlds has yet to implement an online multiplayer mode. Still, the game is in active development. I think that if we give Lego Worlds another year or two, it could give Minecraft a run for its money.
3. Roblox
I don’t know if it’s completely fair to call Roblox a “game like Minecraft”, when it was released several years before it. If anything, Minecraft is a game like Roblox. Regardless, Roblox was a game that was wildly popular during the late 2000s, and it still boasts a fairly active user base. If you like the building and multiplayer aspects of Minecraft, you’ll love Roblox.
Roblox is a game that enables players to build their own worlds and levels, in an environment very similar to Minecraft’s creative mode. Roblox’s character customization is also roughly on-par with Minecraft’s, allowing users to equip different skins and hats and what not. Roblox doesn’t really have a single-player survival mode like Minecraft does, however. The bulk of Roblox’s success has come from its active and friendly online community, where groups of people will come together and build a massive city together. If you watch someone exploring a Roblox world, odds are it was all built by a few dedicated Roblox users.
One of my favorite things to do in early Minecraft was jump into a server with a few friends and work on building a skyscraper or a bird or something equally silly. Roblox captures that same level of camaraderie and teamwork perfectly, and they’ve been doing so for ten years now. Roblox also has a lot of PvP style arenas and games that bear a resemblance to the competitive PvP servers that we have seen in Minecraft. If you find yourself spending a lot of time playing with strangers in Minecraft, you should give Roblox a shot.
2. Subnautica
A common criticism of Minecraft is its percieved lack of graphical fidelity. While I can understand the complaint, I think it is arguable that the voxel-based simplicity of Minecraft’s visuals will stand the test of time. However, for those who can’t stand looking at endless piles of cubes, there’s Subnautica. It’s stylized underwater wonderland is breath taking. Each and every monstrous beauty you encounter a work of art. Few games can match the atmosphere of this survive ’em up.
Subnautica is your standard survival/crafting game, where you explore an uncharted world and do everything that you can to survive in it. However, there’s a twist. As you may have been able to determine from the name, Subnautica takes place almost entirely underwater. You spend the majority of your time exploring the unknown depths of the terrifying ocean. And trust me, as beautiful as the game seems, it can be pretty scary. The ocean is a really mysterious, quiet place. It can be pretty unnerving to be searching for food, knowing that a dangerous fish of some kind could be lurking behind any corner.
Crafting in Subnautica is obviously more science-oriented than Minecraft crafting. You wouldn’t have very much use for a set of iron armor at the bottom of the sea. Subnautica is a particularly refreshing game, because it manages to be similar to Minecraft despite being so fundamentallydifferent. Subnautica is still in early access, but the development team is very serious about delivering updates on a schedule, so I don’t think you have to worry about it being abandoned. Subnautica doesn’t currently offer online multiplayer, and there are some slight optimization issues currently, but the dev team promises that fixes are coming soon.
1. Terraria
No surprise here. If Terraria got a dollar for every time it was put at the top of a “Games like Minecraft” list, it… would have a lot of money. Terraria was released around the same time as Minecraft, and its fundamental gameplay elements are pretty simple, which means that it was one of the first games to have been compared to Minecraft since the moment it was released. (I don’t envy them.)
At first glance, Terraria looks really different from Minecraft. To start off with, Terraria is entirely two dimensional. There is no first or third person, because you view your character from the side, platformer-style. Combat in Terraria is also completely different from combat in Minecraft. In my opinion, it’s vastly superior. In Minecraft, combat often consists of strafing in a “strategic” manner while mashing the same button over and over again. Terraria’s combat feels much more Metroidvania-esque, and it’s an absolute blast.
What makes Terraria and Minecraft similar is that they both place a strong emphasis on crafting, mining, and exploration. When you play both games, you’ll realize that your general strategies are similar. You mine to craft and level up your gear in order to take on a larger boss. In both Minecraft and Terraria, you can’t really get by without crafting and mining, and you’re rewarded for taking risks and exploring dangerous areas of the world. Although certain aspects of their gameplay are radically different, the fundamental values are pretty much the same.
The Future of The Open World Survival Sandbox
As I mentioned before, Minecraft is really popular among younger gamers. It’s the game a lot of the world’s budding game developers will grow up on, and so I think it’s safe to expect more Minecraft-like games to come in the future. Even today, games like Guncraft, Unturned, Starbound, and Don’t Starve, are pretty successful and borrow heavily from the central mechanics that once made Minecraft unique.
Personally, I’m happy with the popularization of this genre of game, if only because it’s constantly being tweaked. There are very few popular games out there that are just likeMinecraft. Games like Lego Worlds and Subnautica are very similar to Minecraft, but they still manage to feel brand new. Minecraft’s core mechanics are married with other unique ideas, creating something both expansive and innovative. If people are making games where incredible worlds can be explored, terrible beasts can be defeated, and friendships can be forged over the construction of a mighty fortress…I think that there are far worse directions for video games to go.
7 Days to Die has several mining and crafting mechanics that are very similar to Minecraft’s. You’re able to craft tools of varying effectiveness, which are used to mine different materials. These different materials, like clay and iron, can be smelted in a furnace to create weapons, armors, or other kinds of defenses. You don’t have to assemble items in a specific shape on a grid like you do in Minecraft’s PC version, but you still have to gather a specific amount of materials. I would argue that 7 Days to Die’s crafting system is more challenging than progenitor’s because it takes time for your items to be created. In Minecraft, you can craft a set of armor as quickly as you can click the button. In 7 Days to Die, you have to wait a certain amount of time (usually between 5 and 45 seconds) until the item is complete.
Lego Worlds is a game where you take third-person control of a character of your own making. You’re able to run around and explore a vast Lego world, fight skeleton monsters, and build structures. Since Lego World is brought to you by Lego, you can be sure that the building aspect of the game is absolutely phenomenal. There are so many different kinds of pieces to choose from, which allows you to create smaller, more detailed structures than you can in Minecraft. Lego Worlds will feel very familiar to the average Minecraft player, with other features like rideable creatures, pre-generated villages, and the ability to explore underwater biomes.
Roblox is a game that enables players to build their own worlds and levels, in an environment very similar to Minecraft’s creative mode. Roblox’s character customization is also roughly on-par with Minecraft’s, allowing users to equip different skins and hats and what not. Roblox doesn’t really have a single-player survival mode like Minecraft does, however. The bulk of Roblox’s success has come from its active and friendly online community, where groups of people will come together and build a massive city together. If you watch someone exploring a Roblox world, odds are it was all built by a few dedicated Roblox users.
Subnautica is your standard survival/crafting game, where you explore an uncharted world and do everything that you can to survive in it. However, there’s a twist. As you may have been able to determine from the name, Subnautica takes place almost entirely underwater. You spend the majority of your time exploring the unknown depths of the terrifying ocean. And trust me, as beautiful as the game seems, it can be pretty scary. The ocean is a really mysterious, quiet place. It can be pretty unnerving to be searching for food, knowing that a dangerous fish of some kind could be lurking behind any corner.
At first glance, Terraria looks really different from Minecraft. To start off with, Terraria is entirely two dimensional. There is no first or third person, because you view your character from the side, platformer-style. Combat in Terraria is also completely different from combat in Minecraft. In my opinion, it’s vastly superior. In Minecraft, combat often consists of strafing in a “strategic” manner while mashing the same button over and over again. Terraria’s combat feels much more Metroidvania-esque, and it’s an absolute blast.