On Terraria and Minecraft

 

A few months ago, if you saw Terraria you might've thought it was a cash-in copy of Minecraft. But that's not really fair, nor is it accurate.

My friend also blogged about it on Tumblr and someone reblogged his post with a very adequate analogy. Minecraft is a mining game with RPG elements. Meanwhile, Terraria is an RPG with mining elements. Sheer. Brilliance. That is exactly how I feel about Terraria and it explains why it's so addictive. The RPG elements are much more pronounced in Terraria while mining is a secondary function that serves to enhance it.


For example, I don't craft everything I want like in Minecraft. Sometimes you'll find treasure chests with nice loot like a new boomerang or some useful bombs. And if the chest is gold, then you know the loot will be epic, like a spear or a quality accessory like the Cloud in a Bottle. You'll also find crystal hearts to increase your health and the more quality items you get and extra hearts you get, the stronger you'll be to plunder more dangerous environments like jungles, dungeons, or even corrupted landscapes.

Something else that contributes to Terraria is the multiplayer. My friend's sister hosts games most of the time and I oftentimes arrive with 2 or 3 other friends for a grand old adventure. We may go spelunking deep into the Earth, draining reservoirs and penetrating to the deepest depths of the underworld. Other times we'll go off exploring for a dungeon for interesting loot and maybe even come across something else entirely, like a meteorite impact crater.

One important thing to note about the multiplayer in Terraria is that it is a Steam game. So despite Minecraft having multiplayer in place, playing with friends in Terraria drew me in much faster because I would be notified that my friends were playing Terraria via Steam as well as chat with them over Steam before getting on their server.

The progression in Minecraft is not quite as clear cut. You merely acquire better tools which further makes your exploration and crafting easier. In Terraria, you don't just acquire better tools but rare accessories and armor, which all help you explore more dangerous terrain which would normally kill you.

So why should you play Minecraft now that Terraria is out? Minecraft gives you more creative freedom than Terraria. You can build entire cities, rollercoasters, mine shafts, and all sorts of different electronic structures with red stone. And this creative pleasure can be magnified with the company of several friends on a server. While building structures can be fun in Terraria, most things you can build are only buildings rather than the statues, docks, underwater palaces, or replicas you can build in Minecraft.

Tonight, Ill probably persuade my friends to join my host so we can explore the underground jungle I've found. I'll try fighting off jungle hornets with the lightsaber I've crafted with meteorite ore and gemstones, and hope to find some epic loot like a diving helmet one of the treasure chests strewn across the underscape.