Terraria

Hover mouse over screenshots for commentary.

January 2014

Terrarria is on a few platforms, but I played it mostly on my Vita. Terrarria is kind of like Minecraft, only it's 2D, has a smaller emphasis on building, and a much broader range of objectives, items, enemies, and minerals.

You can dig up any piece of the landscape you come across, combine materials to create new objects, and build a variety of things based off of the materials you have. Unlike in Minecraft, there are a variety of Non-Playable Characters (NPCs) that you can interact with, including by buying and selling items. In order for NPCs to arrive you need to build them a house - or at least their own suitable room as part of a bigger house.

Though the game is 2D there are actually 2 planes - the plane with the bricks and another plane with walls. So if you want to build a house you not only need to create two walls and a roof, you need to place walls in order to seal off your house.

There are a variety of tools of the trade, including axes, picks, swords, bows, magic spells, and even flamethrowers. In addition to various armor, you can also find other items which grant special abilities - such as a balloon to help you double jump and boots which help you to run fast. There are also boss monsters that give large rewards and can further your progress in the game. If you dig deep enough you may even find the Underworld, inhabited by the dreaded Wall of Flesh.

I really enjoy Terrarria and think that it is full of fun and adventure. If you like Minecraft then I think there is a pretty decent chance that you'll find something to love in Terrarria.

Minerals like silver glint a little bit so that it's easier to find.	Things like water and lava are physics-based and drain from pools if a hole is cut out.	A crazy staircase I made to help me explore downward in a place with hard stone.
	Probably the first boss monster you will encounter.	This is inside a house I built. I have shot some magic around to light up the place.
That's a lot of lava flowing down that hill . . .	You gradually get better materials with which to build items, including armor.
My guy is about to fall into a giant waterfall of lava.	You leave a tombstone each time you die. Looks like I had some trouble at this part.	I made some armor made of lava rocks, and it leaves a trail of embers behind me.
Obsidian forms when lava meets water.	Various events happen. In this case, my town was attacked by snowman mobsters.
I was displacing so much water that the game glitched out.	This is the map screen that shows everywhere I have explored. This also shows that I have drained most of the ocean down into the underworld.	This isn't supposed to happen, but I drained the whole ocean into the underworld so water was able to stay down there despite the heat. The game quickly righted itself and got rid of the water.
A pretty strong sword.	I used a trick to create limitless goldfish. Why, you ask? Tsk, for my own reasons . . .	A self-made soul generator. Create corrupt bunnies over a shallow pool of lava and collect their souls.
	"Mike was murdered by The Destroyer." Indeed!
I made these boomerang-disc weapons that work pretty well in tight quarters because they bounce off of surfaces.		Another boss.
If you provide an electric current to some statues, they generate items. I'm just testing out some statues.	Built my flamethrower!	That's a lot of copper . . .
I decided to build a nice, pretty house for all of the NPCs. Most of the walls are stained glass. I also made a little balcony with a potted plant for each room.	More of the stained-glass house.	I made the attic a dining area with grass on the roof.
	Ocram is the final boss and will kill most players very easily. That is, unless they use my patented "boss smiting" system. See, Ocram does like 4 hearts worth of damage per hit. What I've done to deal with this is create a floor of meteorites. The meteorites are radioactive and do constant damage, but only about a quarter of a heart per second. If you are being damaged by the meteorites, then you can't be damaged by Ocram! To help, I have some heart statues pumping out fresh hearts.	Flame throwing.
Me and my friend, Draper, playing together.

The Therapist Gamer

Terraria

Minerals like silver glint a little bit so that it's easier to find.

Things like water and lava are physics-based and drain from pools if a hole is cut out.

A crazy staircase I made to help me explore downward in a place with hard stone.

Probably the first boss monster you will encounter.

This is inside a house I built. I have shot some magic around to light up the place.

That's a lot of lava flowing down that hill . . .

You gradually get better materials with which to build items, including armor.

My guy is about to fall into a giant waterfall of lava.

You leave a tombstone each time you die. Looks like I had some trouble at this part.

I made some armor made of lava rocks, and it leaves a trail of embers behind me.

Obsidian forms when lava meets water.

Various events happen. In this case, my town was attacked by snowman mobsters.

I was displacing so much water that the game glitched out.

This is the map screen that shows everywhere I have explored. This also shows that I have drained most of the ocean down into the underworld.

This isn't supposed to happen, but I drained the whole ocean into the underworld so water was able to stay down there despite the heat. The game quickly righted itself and got rid of the water.

A pretty strong sword.

I used a trick to create limitless goldfish. Why, you ask? Tsk, for my own reasons . . .

A self-made soul generator. Create corrupt bunnies over a shallow pool of lava and collect their souls.

"Mike was murdered by The Destroyer." Indeed!

I made these boomerang-disc weapons that work pretty well in tight quarters because they bounce off of surfaces.

Another boss.

If you provide an electric current to some statues, they generate items. I'm just testing out some statues.

Built my flamethrower!

That's a lot of copper . . .

I decided to build a nice, pretty house for all of the NPCs. Most of the walls are stained glass. I also made a little balcony with a potted plant for each room.

More of the stained-glass house.

I made the attic a dining area with grass on the roof.

Flame throwing.

Me and my friend, Draper, playing together.