Minecraft Dungeons takes the smash hit construction game into an action-packed new genre, but keeps the friendly aesthetic and accessibility kids love.
Considering the massive popularity of Minecraft, we’re surprised developer Mojang and corporate overlord Microsoft don’t exploit it more ruthlessly. Sure, there is plenty of Minecraft merchandise, but the core construction sandbox is pretty much it when it comes to games. The only exceptions are experimental one-offs, such as the augmented reality game Minecraft Earth and the narrative-driven Minecraft: Story Mode from Telltale. However, Minecraft gets arguably its most ambitious spin-off yet with Minecraft Dungeons, an action-RPG that trades the fun of building with the fun of collecting loot. After playing this PC game, we can say the transition was pretty smooth. Diablo, With Blocks
Minecraft Dungeons makes the bold prediction that kids will enjoy Diablo’s loot gathering, dungeon crawling, and other action-RPG antics. They just need a game without all the violence and Satanism of Blizzard’s classic franchise. Instead, the game takes place in the Minecraft universe as players travel the land fighting monsters, saving villagers, and confronting the evil Arch-Illager. The game strikes a nice cheeky fantasy tone. However, aside from the narrator, don’t expect any of the strong voice work of Minecraft: Story Mode. Don’t expect much of an actual story, either.
From the tutorial through the first few levels, I was surprised how well the core tenets of Minecraft shifted over into this new framework. Minecraft already has a whole menagerie of monsters to draw from. The Creeper Woods is full of zombies and the familiar exploding jerks. Sniping them from afar before they blow up in my face is second nature. Although they have consistent objectives, exploring the randomly generated dungeons feel like watching some omniscient child creator rebuild their own Minecraft world over and over again. Even the loot is an organic extension of Minecraft’s survival and resource-management mechanics.
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However, Minecraft Dungeons isn’t about building stuff. It’s about smashing stuff, specifically monsters. To do so, you’ll need to craft a hero to complement your playstyle. Instead of choosing a class (or buying from auction houses with real money) character abilities are solely determined by the gear collected in the game. This gear includes a melee weapon, a ranged weapon, a piece of armor, and three additional artifacts each with their own effects governed by cooldowns. Artifacts include secondary weapons like exploding bottle rockets, spells like a charm that makes monsters love you, or temporary buffs like a mushroom that boosts your speed.
