Terraria

Terraria is a game with a similar concept to Minecraft - to collect resources and build things. It's available for handheld devices and computers. I play it on my Android tablet. I paid about $6 for the full game but you can get a trial version for free. The trial version has limited areas and resources, whereas in the main version, you can have three characters in three separate worlds.

The goal of this game is to build your world and character  up enough to defeat the biggest boss - who is called "The Wall of Flesh." When you defeat him, it will unlock hard mode, where you can access stronger materials and fight harder monsters.

Unlike Minecraft, Terraria runs in third person view, where you watch your character running around the screen. The graphics are pixel-like, giving it an "old-fashioned" style but more detailed and clear. the backgrounds are varied and very well designed, scrolling along as you explore. On the tablet, controls are touch based. The bottom left controls movement; the bottom right uses tools. Across the top is a hot bar for choosing items and the top right has your health and menu.

Sound effects and music are balanced very well. Musically, the games has different styles of music based on the zones you are in and the actions you are doing. When you fight a boss, the music changes to become more action based. I really enjoy the music of the game. If you love the music, you can even download a soundtrack separately.

One of the fun things of this game is that you get to build your own village and home. you can make them very complex if you want, such as adding electricy, crafting furniture and other items that you have to defeat monsters in order to earn.

Terraria has a lot more adventure based features than Minecraft - including worlds to explore, a map, a wide variety of monsters and bosses, items and rewards, accessories for your character such as a sky sword, and more. If you play on the computer, I think you can even add mods to make the game better. There are plenty of things to keep the game fun and keep you busy.

Multiplayer in this game is fun too. You can work together to build stuff and collect resources, or you can fight each other and have a war. The only downsides are that all players have to be on the same wifi to access the game and there is no chat option.

If I could add a feature to the game, I would make a way to edit text on signs so it could become like a chat room.

So far, I've found no glitches or bugs. Everything runs smoothly and works well. However, the company has a forum where you can provide feedback if you need to. There's also a wiki app you can download for Android that gives you detailed information on all the items in the game. I like to use it to randomly give myself personal goals for the day, such as "today, I'm going to work on getting a Raven Staff."

All in all, my opinion of this game is that it is fun and enjoyable. I really like this game - even more than Minecraft.

--
This post was co-written by Lisa Marie and her 10½ year old son, William - both online gaming enthusiasts. William worked hard to earn himself enough money to buy his own tablet and has been testing all sorts of game apps.