MoonQuest is an attractive Terrariabut that just ventured onto early access

How many buts is too many buts? MoonQuest is a swell-looking "procedurally-generated adventure game with roguelike and minecraftian gameplay" that's screaming to be placed in the Terarribut genre, which is itself a subgenre of the Minecraftbut. Which is fine.

When I say MoonQuest reminds me of Terraria but with more wizards and weirdness, that's high praise. I dug how Terarria blended base building with adventuring, luring me into new zones with the promise of game-changing gear and bosses to beat up. A prettier and stranger version of that could be right up my street, though I might wait until it's taken a few more steps along the early access road.

With complete disregard for the environmental impact of such a radical change, your quest in MoonQuest is to turn the moon on. You're a hero summoned by a wizard, tasked with finding "the fallen moonstones that will power a great moon machine". Like this:

Watch on YouTube

I like that the trailer makes "embiggening yourself" look like an important mechanic. It's a pleasingly literal way of measuring progress, and I can imagine returning to an area where the locals once dwarfed me being immensely satisfying.

Along with various resource types and playable characters, the features list offers:

• A new world to explore every game, with frozen forests, hollow mountains, dangerous dungeons and populated towns;
• Strange alien creatures, wandering merchants, and relentless enemies;
• A rich environment with destructible tiles, ambient wildlife, and weather effects;
• Strange moons that influence the game in unique ways (e.g., the Giant moon spawns giant versions of animals and enemies);
• Hundreds of items including weapons, tools, hats, armour, shields, blocks, toolbenches, and so on

MoonQuest is the work of Ben Porter's Wizard Mode, and has been in development for the past seven years. Here's his advice on how to ensure your game takes just as long to reach beta stage.

Porter says it'll spend a further 12 months in early access, during which time they'll add randomised quest goals along with new areas, items, characters and game modes.

I saw a few Steam reviews complaining about the current lack of a tutorial, so you might want to take a peek at these tips from Porter. That post also includes the welcome patch note "you no longer explode when climbing ladders".

MoonQuest is available on Itch and Steam Early Access for £9/$12/€10.