Genre: 2D Sandbox strategy game, with tower defense elements
Platform: PC
Developer: Dekovir
Release Date: Early Access 19. Nov. 2013
In the past couple years we've seen so many Minecraft and Terraria copies, clones, almost same games but with other names, in 2D and in 3D as well... So what's the difference between all these games and Craft The World? You have you're Worms style dwarves, a world like Terraria, crafting and tasks like Minecraft, but all these together fit so well in this game, and it has a certain unique style in it's graphics, that I think it deserves to be raised on higher ranks from all those games (except of course Minecraft... come on that's the founder of the genre).
The game is not too famous, the ads are not full with it, and there is only an early access release date on Steam, which was last year. It's still full of bugs, but once it will be finished I think it will be an entertaining game.
Game Mechanics
The player begins the game with a dwarf worker, and has to assign to him what to do next. The dwarves need shelter, food, comfort, defenses, and many other things. At night enemies spawn, and attack the shelter, castle, house, whatever the you decide to build, and you gain experience from it. Every level you get one new dwarf, who can help further expand your territories.
You have every resource you need on the map, maybe on the surface, maybe deep into the ground, and you have a crafting system similar to Minecraft (placing the ingredients in the craft zone). You get tasks to complete, which is mainly guide you through the tech tree, plus a couple other like building a shelter or cutting down 20 trees, etc. And there is the ither problem, exploring the deeps, buidling undergound mines, tunnels, maybe even houses, exploring secret places and treasures, and finding the portal to the next world.
Besides assigning duties, you can take control of individual dwarves, and work with them faster. There are some things for you have to pay attention to, like always having enough food and beds, the waves of enemies that come every 50 minutes, and some randomly appearing goblin camps. Besides this, it is a relaxing, gathering game. There are a variety of enemies and bossess, and the waves get more and more challanging while you level up. The magic part of the game adds a nice plus to the game experience, and sometimes the spells can be a huge help.
It has the an interesting combination of gameplay elements from Minecraft, Terraria and Dungeon Keeper, all in 2D, a sandbox, platformer, strategy, rpg, tower defense mix.
The perks of being a sandbox gamer
A great advantage in sandbox games like this, is that you have to begin out of nothing. You chop down your first tree, you catch your first fish, you mine your first dirt... All these lead to start building a dirt shelter to keep you away from the dangers of the night, and slowly build it into a huge castle. And the variety of things you can craft and explore makes this game a very long and exciting game. Another great aspect of sandbox games, that they offer hours of fun with lengthy gameplay.
Sounds of the night and colors of the sky
The graphics are pretty simple, but still look way more better than in Minecraft (with no texture packs and other mods), and not to talk about Terraria (which has awful graphics, even for a 8bit game in my opinion). Although they could have made some more variety in the dwarves appearances and their equipments, that's just a very small minus. When the night falls, we can see the sky turn into darkness, and if we are underground a menacing sound warns us.
All in all...
This game is enjoyable, and you can cach yourself playing it for hours, taking care of your little dwarves, and building your castle. It is worth buying the early access and supporting the developer, but keep in mind that it still has many bugs, so if you are easily fired up beacuse of this you better wait till the game is properly released.
