Have You Played... Terraria?
A favourite of mine
Terraria astounds me. It astounds me because it is bottomless. I mine materials for hours, finally smelt some armour, then the developer saunters over and refills my glass. Just when I think I’m done for the evening, another one slides across the table. Oh, go on then.
Before I touched the game, I thought it was just 2D Minecraft. If you, like younger, sillier me, think this is the case, you are mistaken. Minecraft lets you off the leash in a voxel sandbox, then just walks off. Terraria pops you in an equally expansive world, helpfully gifts you a few tools, then gently pushes you forwards.
As I’m a big, impatient baby, this is perfect. Terraria constantly drip feeds you a dizzying array of new ores, or mysterious NPCs, or bizarre new biomes and trusts you’ll make sense of how it’s all linked together. And that’s the thing, every action leads to a new discovery, which will then lead to a cascade of lightbulb moments.
“Oh! That’s what the green ore is used for!”
“Oh? The green ore can make this?”
“Oh! That’ll let me open the door!”
This never stops, and it is both insanely addictive and mind boggling. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a game so jammed with stuff to do. And that’s without mods...