Terraria

So recently I have been sinking a ton and a half of time into Terraria.
For those of you unenlightened about this game I'll explain.

Terraria is a little indie game by Re-Logic. People call it a Minecraft clone but it really isn't, this a little beast all in itself.

You play the game in a 2D side scrolling fashion, you can mine almost all the blocks you see and pick them up as an item and the place them back into the world. In this way you can fashion castles, houses and villages if you wish it. You can mine deep into the earth and uncover minerals and metals that will allow you to craft better weapons and armor. At night the world is invaded with zombies and flying eyeballs.

The graphics are deliberately retro but the aesthetics of the game are immensely pleasing, with diverse biodomes and more then a hand full of different enemies and npc's.

But that's probably where the similarities with Minecraft end. Terraria is a true RPG, the entire point of the game is to develop your own character. You can build all you want but that's not what the game truly revolves around.

Terraria has a early game, a mid game and an end game. During early game you are just trying to get by, build a house, get some potions and get a sword. Slowly you start expanding, making more houses and attracting NPC vendors to your little village or castle. Then as you expand more you can start to see the late game coming closer and closer.

During mid game you upgrade your gear further and further, you get better weapons and if your the adventurous type you can probably find a few hearts and stars to permanently upgrade your health and mana.

But as with all RPG's, end game is where it is at. Once you got yourself kitted out there are a couple of options, you can go down below the earth, farther then you should and you'll land yourself in a hellish underworld filled with demons and rare epic items. If you'd rather stay above ground you can go to the very edge of the world and find a dungeon with bosses and more loot.

Unlike Minecraft, Terraria has a clear ending the player can see, you know that once you've finished looting the dungeon and exploring the under world you're more or less done. It gives one a goal to work to, sure you can stay after you did all those things and create a bigger city, but that's in the same way you can continue playing Oblivion after you finished the main questline, there is little challenge in the whole endeavor.

Where Minecraft has no clear plot beyond mid game, Terraria has a more purposeful drive to it, a more action adventure then simple crafting, and that has made it all the more addicting to me.