Top 10 Alternative Minecraft Games

Top 10 Alternative Minecraft Games

Top 10 Alternative Minecraft Games

Here are ten video games you’ll want to play if you love Minecraft!

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Minecraft has been available since 2009 and while the game has received its fair share of updates, the core remains the same. After all, why mess with the formula that just works so well? We’re not sick of Minecraft by any means but it’s tempting to take a break and enjoy some video games that make for a great alternative. Luckily there are plenty of great titles worth playing if you loved the gameplay and style from Minecraft. From clones that add their own unique spin on the Minecraft gameplay to titles that were developed highlighting the creators influences, here’s ten must play Minecraft alternatives.

Terraria

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Developer: Re-Logic

Platforms: PC, Android, iOS, 3DS, PS3, PS4, PSV, Wii U, Windows Phone, XB 360, XBO

Terraria and Minecraft are often compared to each other as they play out very similarly. This title was developed by Re-Logic in 2011 for the PC but has since released to several platforms such as the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Much like Minecraft, Terraria is an endless title where players explore, collect resources and battle enemies within a randomly generated world.

While collecting resources and defeating enemies, players can build structures which can eventually be filled with NPCs where in return these characters can offer gamers items or services to purchase. One key difference Terraria has from Minecraft is that the game is featured in a side-scrolling 2D world. Regardless, Terraria has been picked up over ten million times and it’s available for practically every current platform.

Rust

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Developer: Firepunch Studios

Platforms: PC

You may have heard of Rust before early in the development process, Firepunch Studios went for a title that played out similar to DayZ though the developers later scrapped the idea of fighting strictly zombies and worked for a more wilderness survival game. Much like Minecraft, Rust tosses players into the wilderness with the goal of surviving. At first, players are equipped with very basic tools though as they progress, players will find new blueprints to craft more advanced items and weaponry.

Unlike Minecraft, Rust only contains an online multiplayer mode which is one of the key aspects that keep Rust a tough game to master. Not only will gamers have to face against wild animals as the gather resources and blueprints but they may be pinned against other hostile players.

It’s highly advised within the world of Rust to join or start a clan in order for further protection against other groups along with having the luxury of housing with clan members as you prepare for raids and looting. Besides hostile players and animals, gamers will have to keep track of other minor daily occurrences to keep alive such as maintaining how much their character consumes food and their body temperature.

Fortnite

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Developer: Epic Games, People Can Fly

Platforms: PC

Fortnite is an upcoming co-op sandbox survival title that is described as Minecraft meetsLeft 4 Dead. This video game will have players working together in a randomly generated world in which their overall goal of  the game is to build a structure for protection from the swarms of monsters that come each night. Players can build a structure to their liking and imagination along with constructing to better suit their needs for fighting off the hordes of monsters that appear at night. A total of four classes will be available to choose from, each of which will have their own unique attributes such as the Ninja class which are characters best suited for melee based weapons such as a Katana.

As players progress through the game and level up, new aspects will become available. After each round, players can further tweak their structure and decide on what resources such as wood, stone, or metal should be swapped out for another. Furthermore, players may find new spots to fortify or to rig a hidden trap.

Landmark

Landmark

Developer: Daybreak Games

Platforms: PC

Landmark is a small fragment of the upcoming EverQuest Next. Within the game ofLandmark, players are tasked with exploring and building whatever they please and so far we’ve seen some truly remarkable creations. While the game does offer some resources and items to collect, Daybreak Games mainly wish players to make creations which may be used for the upcoming EverQuest Next video game. Another aspect of the game is the DGC Marketplace where gamers can buy or sell items within the game. Currently, Landmark is in closed beta with no clear indication when the game will become open for everyone.

RoBlox

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Developer: Roblox Corporation

Platforms: PC, iOS, Android, XBO

RoBlox has been available since its beta in 2006 and since then the game has continued to go strong with new players interested in one thing, creating. The heart and soul of RoBloxis about creating whatever a gamer can imagine with a heavy influence of social gameplay. Players can meet together, build their own incredible world, and do as they like within that world. This is one title that’s a must play if you’re into the creation side of things withinMinecraft.

DayZ

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Developer: Bohemia Interactive

Platform: PC, PS4, XBO

We’ve mentioned about DayZ earlier within the game Rust. This is an open-world video game title that places gamers in a heavily populated post-apocalyptic world filled with zombies and other players. As a survivor, players will have to embark on a journey of collecting resources to further stay alive such as food, water, medicine, and weapons. An interesting aspect to DayZ is the permadeath which means when players die they start over with nothing leaving it tough to trust other players, especially those within groups.

As of right now DayZ is still very much in the development phase with Bohemia Interactive considering several new upcoming features to include in the game when it officially launches. We may see more buildings players can enter, the ability to build bases, security systems, and even programmable computers.  Although it’s uncertain just what features will make the official release launch.

Guncraft

Guncraft

Developer: Exatogames

Platforms: PC

It’s obvious the influences behind the development of Guncraft and even though it can be confused as simply a Minecraft clone, Guncraft offers a unique gameplay. Yes, players can build and construct their own creations but the heart of the game is a first person shooter. Players will duke it out with a variety of firearms and even vehicles such as helicopters and hover drones. Another key point with Guncraft is the highly destructible environments that you can first build for specific matches such as capture the flag or deathmatch.

Starbound

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Developer: Chucklefish Games

Platforms: PC, XBO, PS4, PSV

Starbound takes place in the future where players start off the game fleeing their homeworld. As their shuttle shoots off into the deep space our protagonist finds himself landing on a habitable planet where the players adventure truly begins. Though the game does feature quests and  story driven missions, players are free to explore and collect resources. However, besides the story missions, developers have started that players can choose their own path within Starbound such as farming to sell crops to building and managing places for rent for the various traveling NPCs.

There’s a total of seven playable races to go through the game as, each of which will have their own reasons in fleeing their homeworld along with their different beliefs and background information. Starbound released on December 4, 2013, as Steam Early Access title though it’s unclear just when we’ll see the game make its way to Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation Vita.

Don’t Starve

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Developer: Klei Entertainment

Platforms: PC, PS3, PS4, PSV, Wii U, Xbox One

Don’t Starve takes the elements of Minecraft by dropping a player into a dark dreary world with little instructions on what to do while the design looks as if it came directly from a Tim Burton film. Players control a scientist named Wilson as he must make his way through the night with monsters and supernatural enemies hot on his tail. Similar toFortnite, players will search and scavenge the world during the day in order to gather supplies for firewood and food to survive the nightfall. Gamers attempt to survive for as long as they possibly can while exploring the world and reaching the end island. Since the game released, there has been DLC which offers news characters, creatures, and seasonal effects.

Planet Explorers

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Developer: Pathea Games

Platforms: PC

Set in 2287 players are aboard the first colony ship sent out by Earth. As the colony ship approaches a planet known as Maria, a creature causes the ship to crash leaving the survivors stranded on a hostile alien planet. Within the game players will explore the alien world, build, gather resources, and claim their new home. There is an included storyline with NPCs and missions though it’s completely up to the player to go through the campaign or completely ignore it to create their own story. Multiplayer is another aspect within Planet Explorers where players can go through a coop of the adventure mode or a versus mode which is based on the amount kills, built objects, and resources mined by the contenders.

 

Top 10 Alternative Minecraft Games

AlunaGeorge to play virtual Minecraft concert  The band’s performance will be recreated live in the videogame world

AlunaGeorge to play virtual Minecraft concert The band’s performance will be recreated live in the videogame world

AlunaGeorge will perform a first-of-its-kind concert that will be recreated live in the virtual world of videogame Minecraft.

The actual concert is being held in Hamar, Norway as part of an annual tech festival, the Gathering, but the band will also simultaneously appear in pixelated form in the hit videogame.

A team of volunteers will control avatars modelled after the performers, matching their every movement in the game.

In a trailer for the event, a horde of boxy characters run towards the show while AlunaGeorge’s new single ‘I’m in Control’ plays in the background.

Ahead of the concert, users have created billboards and flyers inside Minecraft advertising the performance. Due to server constraints space will be limited, with enough room for a few thousand fans.

“I’m sure they’ll be able to accommodate around 2,000 to 3,000 people, so this will have the same sort of feel as seeing a show in small concert venue,” said Erik Heisholt, a Gathering organizer and founder of the tech company Heisholt Inc.

The concert is scheduled to begin at 8pm this evening (March 23). Watch below.

AlunaGeorge to play virtual Minecraft concert The band’s performance will be recreated live in the videogame world

Minecraft: Story Mode continues with three more episodes later this year

Minecraft: Story Mode continues with three more episodes later this year

Minecraft: Story Mode is getting three more episodes this year, Telltale Games announced today. That means Episode 5, which launches March 29, won’t be the last chapter of the series, but will instead bridge it with the rest of the story to come.

Those who want to play Episodes 6, 7 and 8 will need to have purchased at least the first episode of Minecraft: Story Mode, which debuted back in October.

The fifth installment, titled Order Up!, sends the player protagonist Jesse and his or her friends to an abandoned temple, where they are ambushed and find themselves in an entirely new world. The ruler is told the group of heroes, the New Order of the Stone, are up to no good, setting up the conflict and showdown of this story.

Minecraft: Story Mode stars voice actors Patton Oswalt and Catherine Taber as Jesse (depending on the player’s gender choice); Paul Reubens of Pee-wee Herman fame as bad guy Ivor; and Sean Astin of The Goonies (OK, OK, also The Lord of the Rings trilogy) as Reginald. Melissa Hutchison, who voices Clementine in Telltale’s acclaimed The Walking Dead adaptation, features in Episode 5 as a new character.

For more, see Polygon’s review of the first episode, “The Order of the Stone.” The game is available on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Mac, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation Vita, and Android and iOS.

Minecraft: Story Mode continues with three more episodes later this year

Piper: A Minecraft Computer For Budding Inventors

Piper: A Minecraft Computer For Budding Inventors

Who doesn’t like playing games? If your high school and college educations had been all playtime instead of studying, you probably would’ve liked it all a lot more. Well, even though you’re all grown up now, the child in you is going to rejoice that you can learn electronics and engineering using the fun of Minecraft, now for 18% off. Make learning awesome again with this hands-on, interactive way to master these essential computing skills.

Level by level, the game play here will walk you through the rungs of building a computer from scratch. You’ll get to tinker with buzzers, motion sensors, LED lights, switches and more and connecting these hardware pieces will bring you steps closer to the Raspberry Pi. From there you’ll build a totally self-contained computer that runs on a Raspberry Pi project board. All the hardware challenges can be played as Minecraft game levels, making it super fun to build at every stage. For extra levels and more sharing opportunities, simply connect to WiFi.

Knowing how to build systems like this can really amp up your career potential. Use this excuse to play games for hours on end because you can pretty much call it work or school, ramping up your engineering and electronics prowess. Playing Minecraft has never been so productive and now it’s all 18% off. Check out the link below for more details on how you can level up to a Raspberry Pi master.

Take 18% Off the Piper Kit in the Boing Boing Store.

Piper: A Minecraft Computer For Budding Inventors

‘Minecraft’ in VR is exactly what you’d hope it would be

‘Minecraft’ in VR is exactly what you’d hope it would be

If there’s one word that accurately describes the experience of slipping into a virtual realityMinecraft world, it’s “VAST.”

Minecraft has always been a huge game. Its randomly generated worlds stretch on forever, serving up new mysteries, new treasures and new dangers as you range further and further into the blocky landscape.

Incredibly, virtual reality makes all of that feel somehow bigger.

By now you know that Minecraft: Pocket Edition is coming to the Gear VR headset. It’s eventually coming to Oculus Rift as well, though Microsoft isn’t quite ready to get into those details.

The mobile version is more than up to the task of immersing you in Minecraft like you haven’t been before. Even if you’ve messed with the “Minecrift” mod, which makes the PC game work with Oculus dev kits, this is a step forward.

There are two ways to play Minecraft in a Gear VR. If you’re looking for something less intense, there’s always the option of playing the game on a virtual big screen TV in a Minecraftified living room.

IMAGE: MICROSOFT

It’s cool, but you can also give the Gear VR touchpad a tap to teleport yourself into that virtual TV, for more of a “full” virtual experience.

Here’s what you need to know: it works. This is Minecraft with console-style controls — you need a Bluetooth gamepad to play it — except the headset makes it feel like you’re inside the world.

The big difference with the controls is the camera, which moves from the right analog stick to your head. Sitting in a swivel chair helps if you want to completely rely on head tracking for turning inside the virtual space.

That’s not to say the right stick is useless. Moving it to the left or right turns you in that direction, but it’s not a smooth movement like you’d find in other first-person perspective games. It’s a stuttering turn, as if the frame rate dropped significantly.

“It’s almost like a palette cleanser for your eyes,” Minecraft development manager Mike Weilbacher told Mashable.

“It’s almost like a palette cleanser for your eyes.”

“We have some psychology behind it now. We … understand that, depending on how big the gap is, [that helps determine] how much more comfortable it can be. People have different gap sizes.”

The final game’s options menu will include a slider that allows you to adjust the gap size. If motion sickness isn’t a problem for you in VR, you’ll be able to turn off the gaps completely. In that situation, the right stick turns your perspective to the left or right smoothly, as it would in a standard first-person perspective game.

Other than that, the VR version of Minecraft: Pocket Edition carries forward all the features that the game currently boasts, and all the ongoing updates that fans have come to expect.

“It’s still Minecraft,” Weilbacher said. “You can still use Redstone, you can still make contraptions, you can still go online. It’s still the base game. We’ve just tweaked some of the edges to make it feel more comfortable.”

IMAGE: MICROSOFT

The game even allows for cross-platform play, just like the standard mobile edition. You can be running around in a Gear VR while your friend is playing the Windows 10 version on a computer. Once the Rift edition comes out, cross-platform with that will be possible as well.

But what about the Xbox One version of the game? Microsoft recently gave developers the go-ahead to add cross-network play support into their games, allowing Xbox players to link up with PC (and perhaps even PlayStation) users as well.

Will cross-network play allow Minecraft fans on Xbox One to connect with their VR-equipped friends?

“Potentially,” Weilbacher said. “We’re just not talking about it right now.”

Minecraft: Pocket Edition is coming to Gear VR sometime this spring. The build we sampled at the 2016 Game Developer’s Conference felt great, but there’s more work to be done.

“We’re doing some optimization to get the performance better and make it more comfortable,” Weilbacher said. “We really want it to be a polished experience.”

‘Minecraft’ in VR is exactly what you’d hope it would be

Microsoft is opening up the world of ‘Minecraft’ to Gear VR

Microsoft is opening up the world of ‘Minecraft’ to Gear VR

Microsoft is opening up the world of ‘Minecraft’ to Gear VR

Next step for the game: Samsung’s virtual reality headset.

The Oculus Rift isn’t the only virtual reality platform getting a piece ofMinecraft’s pie. Today, at a GDC 2016 event, Microsoft and Oculus are set to announce that the open-world phenomenon is also coming to the Gear VR, a spokesperson for the companies confirmed to Engadget. For many people, Samsung’s headset is a far more accessible option than the consumer Rift, so this is good news for anyone who wants to playMinecraft in VR without breaking the bank.

This new version is expected to be similar to the one from an Oculus Rift, which we played recently and found quite impressive. As of yet, there’s not any information on how much Minecraft for Gear VR will cost or when you can download it, but we’ll let you know as soon as we have those details. At least now you’re aware it’s official, not just a thought.

Microsoft is opening up the world of ‘Minecraft’ to Gear VR