All kinds of developers have tried to replicate the magic that transformed Minecraft into a worldwide phenomenon and there is something very particular about this game. Minecraft was officially released in 2011, and it became one of the most commercially successful video games of all time. After more than a decade, it still remains popular, and several similar games have emerged.
These games, often called spiritual successors, share combinations of voxel worlds, building mechanics, and survival gameplay that made Mojang’s Minecraft a hit. There are titles that focus a lot on remaining alive, others on creative building, and then there are titles that have entirely different gaming mechanics like RPG features or defensive strategy ones.
Mobile Platforms Embrace Voxel Construction
Pocket Craft: Survivor Mode
Pocket Craft was launched in May 2014, and it was an exclusive game for the iOs platforms. Also, it introduced the voxel-building experience to mobile. Moreover, it happened at a time when the pocket adaptation was a significant innovation. Bunbo Games made this game primarily for its survival mechanics rather than a creative sandbox game.
Players must create defences and gather resources to survive the onslaught of the undead at night. Mobile gamers can have a Minecraft-like experience travelling thanks to this game actively adapting essential survival concepts to touchscreens.
Minebuild: Worldcraft Survival
Android users discovered a sandbox mobile game to do with Minebuild in June 2015. Made by Pixelbox Studio, this game has greater emphasis on building and sandboxing features compared to survival-oriented ones.
Minebuild came out after Minecraft mobile was launched in late 2014. Nevertheless, it proved to be extremely popular by offering features that the official mobile version missed at launch. The mobile game was creative and offered many possibilities.
PC Gaming Breakthrough Innovations.
Total Miner
Total Miner is a sandbox game from SamplerState Games LLC. Originally released on the Xbox 360, it was later released on PC in December 2017. The game is different from the usual voxel building games as it has character progression systems.
Total miner allows up to 24 players to play with each other in working together in a single map, gives both sand box games aspects you are familiar with and something you are not.
FortressCraft Evolved!
FortressCraft Evolved is an innovative project by ProjectorGames!This game, First Person Trader, launched in November 2015. It brings together voxel construction, defence strategy mechanics and industrial assembly systems to construct a unique hybrid.
Set on an alien world where players crash with some basic supplies, players must gather resources while fighting against aliens. A mix of familiar building blocks with careful defensive play opens up a new avenue for sandbox ideas.
Role-Playing Game Influenced Adventures
Cube World
Designed by the independent video game studio Picroma, Cube World entered early access in July 2013 and became publicly available in September 2019. The game is reminiscent of Minecraft but instead offers a fully-fledged role-playing game experience. Character customization, focusing on fighting, with colorful surroundings containing the fort and underground rooms.
A game with a title that emphasises discovery and battles over construction, Monster Hunter gives players the opportunity to engage a variety of creatures across its vibrant, angular environments.
Dragon Quest Builders 2
Dragon Quest Builders 2 is an action role-playing game with a sandbox environment and real-time fighting. Square Enix and Omega Force developed and published the game. It was released in July 2019. The game modifies the previous classic turn-based structure of Dragon Quest.
The game cleverly mixes beloved role-playing storytelling with building systems influenced by Minecraft to create a unique blend for fans of both.
Multi-Platform Survival Adventures
CastleMiner Z
CastleMiner Z is a survival horror game that takes on a voxel environment with co-operative gameplay. Players can set their landscape preferences before confronting zombies.
The most popular entry in the CastleMiner series, this game has a lot of replay value because of its focus on the undead and varied environments for survival gameplay.
Cube Life: Island Survival
Cypronia’s Cube Life, first released for Wii U in June 2015 and later ported to other systems, places players on the island of a wrecked ship. The game offers survival, creative, multiplayer with boss fights and hostile tribe meetings at night.
The shape of the island environment creates a more traditional survival gaming setting than in Minecraft.
Creative and Technical Breakthrough Features
LEGO Worlds
Travelers Tales got into the sandbox genre with LEGO Worlds in June 2015. The game presents gamers with environments that are procedurally generated. As players roam across various planets, they must collect golden bricks and do missions to become the master constructor.
This title allows the LEGO building experience to become digital while maintaining the brand’s unique characteristics and imaginative possibilities.
Minetest
Minetest is a free open-source development platform for creating voxel games. The Minetest team released it back in November 2010. Minetest looks like Minecraft but is not a game but a development framework.
Due to its voxel game mechanics, many community-made games and mods have been developed on this platform.
Two-Dimensional Alternatives
Starbound
Chucklefish’s Starbound, released in July 2016, brings sandbox survival to outer space in 2D. The title is often likened to Terraria, with star systems and missions generated procedurally and plenty of modding.
The 2D mechanics and sci-fi atmosphere give the game a very unique feel while keeping sandbox and survival elements that Minecraft fans love.
Terraria
Re-Logic’s Terraria is arguably the most successful Minecraft wannabe, being released back in May 2011 and maintained a large community ever since. The begining of this 2D adventure mixes sandbox construction and action adventure.
The game offers a complex crafting system that is far more complex than Minecraft while providing a completely different visual and gameplay experience. Terraria keeps getting better, with new players also coming in with its veterans.
Minecraft is so interesting that it inspires game developers to come up with new takes on voxel, sandbox, and survival gameplay. These alternatives reveal that although the basic idea is appealing, there are lots of creative opportunities in the genre.