When indie video game company Re-Logic put out Terraria, they were hoping that its similarities to the cultural phenomenon Minecraft would allow them a few sales. Unbeknownst to them, Terraria would go on to sell 50,000 units in its first day and 200,000 units over its first week of availability (PC Gamer, 2011).
So what exactly is Terraria? Is it a digging game, an adventure game, a collecting game? Terraria is a single player and multi-player adventure title that spans the deep vastness of the underground to the floating open skies above. You dig for objects such as sand, dirt, mud, iron, and gold, and craft these objects to create items to dig faster and fight more effectively. Terraria has become a sort of phenomenon in the indie game community, and since its May 2011 release, has spawned thousands of players eagerly awaiting the countless updates and competitive multiplayer aspect (Re-Logic, 2011).
For 9.99 US dollars, you can become a Terraria member as well. Dig your way to open caverns, or elevate yourself by building ladders and reaching floating islands high and above the cavernous underground. But if you choose to dig deep enough, you’ll come across lava or diamonds, which you can craft to make a diamond sword, one of the most coveted objects in the game. Terraria also has a blossoming recording community, where players record their activities in the game and upload them onto mass media video sites such as Youtube.
The game, in its simplest form, creates the most mind-ravishingly addictive gameplay in its digging aspects, where every section dug could offer a mysterious hidden underground. The game is dynamic in its alteration, changing each time you revamp a new world and choose to start over.
Terraria has almost ushered in a new type of interactivity within a video game title, being offered at low cost and updating consistently to offer new content to the players. With a wide open community and a nearly unlimited open-roaming gameplay style, Terraria could go on forever through its impeccable marketing and superior simple gameplay mechanics- Terraria remains the most cultivating game of 2011.