Mario Kart World was properly revealed during the April Switch 2 Nintendo Direct, and as you'd expect, the next instalment in this racing game series looks like it'll be a must-have game when it launches alongside the Switch 2 on June 5. While all the familiar elements are in place for this motorized outing--from familiar faces to colorful courses--there are some interesting new additions to the kart-racing formula, like the option to take a detour off the track while you're racing.
You can even take a scenic tour with friends in the game's free-roam mode, and with each course taking place in various regions that are subject to dynamic weather conditions, you'll probably get plenty of mileage out of the photo mode as well. Mario Kart World will also launch with plenty of racers to choose from, ranging from Mario to a Moo Moo Meadows cow.
While we're not certain how many characters there will be on launch day, we have noticed that the starting grid allows for up to 24 racers to take part and so far we've seen 50 of them revealed through trailers and teasers. In case you want to see who has made the cut, you can check the list below for every Mario Kart World racer.
A whole bunch of other details have been revealed as well, so if you're looking to catch up, you can click the stories below for more information on the Switch 2 launch title:
The Mario Kart World Direct revealed many of the different things players can do in its open-world Free Roam mode.
Mario Kart World's big twist on the series' core formula is that all tracks are part of an interconnected world. Free Roam mode takes advantage of that by letting players drive wherever they want within this open world, but we didn't know what else players could do in this mode until now. Around the open world, players can find P-Switches, and pressing one will start a mission. These test players' skills with challenges such as collecting blue coins or driving past obstacles to reach a goal within a time limit. A press release teases that there will be "hundreds" of missions for players to complete. If players mess up, they can rewind and try again.
Nintendo did not reveal what the reward is for completing missions, but did tease that there are hidden collectibles, including medallions and hidden panels, for players to find. Free Roam also supports online multiplayer, so players can explore with their friends and mess around with them in photo mode. It's unclear if there are multiplayer missions, but Nintendo did confirm that it will always be possible to fast travel to your friends' location on the map. Multiplayer isn't restricted to free roam, though, as Battle Mode returns.
The Outlast Trials' next major update is coming on April 22, and with it comes the game's first foray into user-generated content (UGC). The game's Trial Maker tools will let players create and share their own missions for others to play alone or in co-op. The patch comes as part of Project Relapse, which follows the story update that came on April 8, in which players could take on an attempted escape from the Murkoff Facility with the help of Amelia, a former prisoner who sought to destroy the whole operation. Spoilers: That escape goes awry, and this season is all about the game's Big Bad, Dr. Easterman, punishing players for their unruly behavior.
With that comes a new major enemy, The Jaeger, which is a remote-controlled human-machine hybrid that darkly resembles Amelia. It seems Easterman has, uh, recycled the fallen hero's image. On the topic of offensive imagery, The Outlast Trials will now let players blur its depictions of nudity, which some have requested because of how the game's plentiful genitals can sometimes get content flagged on platforms like Twitch and YouTube.
The Outlast Trials' endgame is being reimagined, too, with story reasons to make sense of the change. Ending the "Rebirth" protocol that would give player-characters their "freedom," Easterman has instead begun the Relapse Initiative, a new mechanic available to players who reach the maximum therapy level, which is increasing from 75 to 99 with Season 3. Relapse Initiative is akin to prestiging in Call of Duty. Players who take on the opportunity will reset to level 1 but will choose one of several permanent upgrades and other rewards for doing so.
We got a look at all of the different tricks and abilities players can pull off in Mario Kart World during the game's dedicated Nintendo Direct, and the standout new addition is a rewind feature that allows players to erase their mistakes.
At any time in Free Roam or while racing solo, players can rewind a couple of seconds if they messed up and get a second chance to overcome a certain obstacle or make a turn exactly how they want to. The main downside to using Rewind is that other players will still race at normal speed, so players could potentially lose a lead if they decide to use it. The fact that it can only be used when playing races solo also makes it unclear if Rewind will work in multiplayer.
Rewind's presentation in-game is fairly minimalist, as a simple undo button appears on screen as players move backward.
Rewind isn't the only helpful new trick players have been given in Mario Kart World. Charge Jump lets players leap over obstacles, rail grind, or wall ride after drifting in a straight line. Features like Smart Steering, Auto-Accelerate, Auto-Use Item, and Tilt Controls will also return in Mario Kart World, and Nintendo will release a special Joy-Con 2 Wheel peripheral to hold the Nintendo Switch 2's controllers. Players will clearly have a lot of exciting gameplay abilities at their disposal when racing on all of Mario Kart World's new courses, including its interpretation of Rainbow Road.
Nintendo provided a closer look at the upcoming Mario Kart World during the game's dedicated Nintendo Direct presentation. In addition to showcasing some of the playable characters appearing in this entry, the company shed some more light on the various outfits you can unlock for each racer.
Dotting the different race tracks around the world is a fast-food chain called Yoshi's. Drive by one of these restaurants to grab Dash Food, which will unlock a new costume for your racer when eaten. The meals and costumes you collect will be themed after the course you're in.
At Yoshi's, you can grab an order to-go! Introducing Dash Food! In #MarioKartWorld, eating these meals can unlock outfits inspired by your meal, which you can later select from the character selection screen. Be sure to try them all! pic.twitter.com/hVuPYhmk0k
Once you've unlocked an outfit for a character, it will be a permanent addition to your roster. You can then select that specific costume while choosing a racer from the character selection screen. Nintendo hasn't confirmed how many costumes there are to collect in total, but the company teases there are "plenty of dishes and outfits to find."
While Mario Kart is known for high-speed races across over-the-top courses, head-to-head racing hasn't been the only way players could compete with one another in these games. Today, during the Mario Kart World Direct livestream, Nintendo confirmed that Battle Mode--where kart racers try to pop balloons or collect as many coins as possible--will make its return in Mario Kart World when it launches June 5.
The Mario Kart World Direct showed two returning contests that will be included in Battle Mode this round: Balloon Battle and Coin Runners. Balloon Battle is the classic Mario Kart battle format, where each racer must pop their competitors' balloons by hitting them with items, while Coin Runners sees racers compete to collect the most coins within a certain time limit.
These two minigames were the only confirmed Battle Mode options, and the presentation made no references to more potentially joining the lineup. Previous Mario Kart games featured other Battle Mode formats like Bob-omb Blast, where every item was a Bob-omb, and the first player to score a specific number of hits would win.
If your (last) wish is for a Switch 2 upgrade to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, CD Projekt Red is staying mum about granting it. Instead, the developer told Eurogamer that it's "all in on Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition" for the upcoming hybrid system.
CD Projekt Red gameplay technical design expert Filip Downar stayed mum about anything regarding an update for The Witcher 3 on Switch 2. Downar explained that when they learned about Nintendo's new console, Cyberpunk 2077 came to mind first. The sci-fi RPG was confirmed for Switch 2 at the system's Nintendo Direct earlier this month. It wasn't previously available on Switch like The Witcher 3.
"It's incredibly exciting to be a launch title for this new hardware," Downar said. "Alongside all the Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive features--like motion controls, gyroscope implementation, the mouse sensor, and more--we can't wait to see how the community explores the game in new ways."
Nintendo teased that Rainbow Road will return in Mario Kart World, although it'll be unlocked in a surprising way.
The tease game partway through Mario Kart World's Nintendo Direct, as Nintendo provided an overview of all the different courses the game has to offer and its Grand Prix mode. Toward the end of this segment, the narrator teased that "if you conquer all Grand Prix cups, rumor has it that a certain colorful course will appear." As they say that, we see an object leaving behind a rainbow-colored streak flying into the air.
While Nintendo did not directly say the course's name, it's clear that Rainbow Road is what it's referring to. Rainbow Road stands as the most iconic Mario Kart course. First appearing in Super Mario Kart, it has since been reimagined for every Mario Kart game since and has a reputation for always being one of the tougher courses in the game. Typically, Rainbow Road has just been part of a four-course cup, but this time around, it looks like Rainbow Road will be the grand reward for acing Mario Kart World's Grand Prix mode.
The developer behind the recent day-one Game Pass release Atomfall has now discussed bringing the game to the subscription service and why it made sense for the company despite a risk of cannibalizing full-game sales.
Speaking to GI.biz, Rebellion CEO Jason Kingsley said Microsoft was a "fantastic partner to work with," noting that the company "really leaned in" with regards to helping the studio.
Part of that help included a guaranteed payment as part of a deal between Rebellion and Microsoft to have Atomfall launch into Game Pass. "It does mitigate risk, because without going into details, they guarantee you a certain level of income, regardless of what it will sell for," Kingsley said.
League of Legends' first ever themed season, Welcome to Noxus, is about to wrap up and Riot has announced Season 2: Spirit Blossom Beyond. The next season will bring changes to the Summoner's Rift map and general gameplay, a new champion, new Spirit Blossom skins, and a brand-new game mode titled Brawl.
Spirit Blossom is already a popular skin line and recurring theme in LoL, based around Ionian myths and folklore tied to the region's Spirit Blossom festivals. Riot announced the seasonal theme with a new cinematic titled Here, Tomorrow--an anime-style animation created in partnership with The Line--set to an original track by singer-songwriter Lilas Ikuta and composer Kevin Penkin.
The music video crosses between the "real" world of Ionia and its spirit-world counterpart, featuring a number of popular champions including Ashe, Nidalee, Lux, Shen, Irelia, and Morgana. The video focuses on Xin Zhao, who is shown returning to Ionia, and seems to reveal the season's new champion, Yunara. Xin Zhao's story will be explored throughout the season with the first of two motion comics arriving on May 14, and Riot has also said to expect an in-client metagame based on the season's story.
Finding games like Minecraft that are sure to capture your unwavering attention much like Mojang's sandbox gem can be a challenge. The 2011 masterpiece is one of the best-selling games of all time, after all, standing strong as one of the most highly played titles even more than a decade after its genre-defining release. It's even become a best-selling movie, which might have sparked your urge to play the classic sandbox once again.
Of course, there are plenty of other games like Minecraft that offer similar gameplay but with vastly different experiences. Whether you personally enjoy Mojang's masterpiece more for the sandbox experience that it offers or for its fair yet challenging survival mechanics, you may have a difficult time trying to locate good games like Minecraft. You can always search for some on ever-growing game libraries like Steam via genre tags, but the sheer number you'll have to scroll through can make such a process seem daunting. We've got you covered here with 25 of our favorite games like Minecraft, from the dinosaur-ridden Ark to Vintage Story, an entry that found its roots as a mod for Mojang's sandbox sensation.
Ark: Survival Evolved
Developer: Studio Wildcard
Platform: Mobile, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
Release Date: June 2, 2015
Ark: Survival Evolved and its recent remake, Ark: Survival Ascended, lean more into the crafting and survival genres than many sandbox titles like Minecraft do. Much like Mojang's own game, however, Ark strikes a fun balance between the calm of building and the thrill of exploration. You're thrust into a science fiction-esque version of the Jurassic Period and forced to build, craft, fight, and gather your way through a stunning yet largely unforgiving world made up of vibrant biomes. There are dinosaurs to tame, giant creatures to prove victorious against, technological advancements to achieve, and more. You can enjoy Ark with friends as well, or even try your hand at PvP online.
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Platform: Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
Release Date: December 12, 2016
If you thought dinosaurs were a big differentiator, how do you feel about an interstellar sandbox setting? Astroneer is a stunning open-world game that sees you exploring and reshaping distant worlds as you please. You can build alongside friends or alone, craft vehicles to help your planetary and intergalactic exploration, terraform to create anything you'd like to and gather materials, and much more. You can think of anything you see in Astroneer as clay waiting for you to remodel it to your liking with the handy in-game "deform" tool, whether it be for a base you're building or for easier travel. The sheer amount of creative possibilities makes Astroneer feel like a cozy space Minecraft of sorts.
Cube World is a voxel-based action RPG at its core, but, much like Minecraft, it focuses heavily on features typical of sandbox games including elements like crafting, exploration, taming, and more. If you favor Mojang's classic for such activities as well as its adorable blocky art style, Cube World may just be worth a look. It's ideal for fans of combat and magic-aligned Minecraft mods, too, with adventurous questing and classes such as mage, ranger, rogue, and warrior to choose from. The gameplay itself is non-linear, meaning that you can create, fight, forage, or search for magic artifacts as you please at your own pace. If you're looking to take the colorful procedurally generated world on with your friends in co-op, you can also opt to play online.
At first glance, you may not think of Dinkum as a good game like Minecraft. However, it has a lot more in common with Mojang's own than one might initially presume. While Stardew Valley-like elements such as farming and Animal Crossing-esque features like donating to a museum are indeed present, Dinkum is largely a sandbox experience in which you can build, craft, engage in combat, gather, mine, and traverse as you please. You're able to terraform the Australia-inspired world however you'd like, and you may just find that its charming blocky appearance is also reminiscent of Minecraft's. This is yet another entry that you can enjoy either alone or alongside friends, and we'd recommend it either way if you're searching for some cozy sandbox fun.
Platform: Mobile, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
Release Date: April 23, 2013
Don't Starve blends its creepily cute art style with an unforgivingly cruel world and intriguing cast of characters to create a truly monumental experience. Much like in Minecraft, you can craft, explore, gather, and mine, but you'll have to focus far more on survival than you do in Mojang's sandbox game. With magic and science galore to aid you, you'll advance and take on everything from the dark (if you thought Minecraft's nights were punishing, think again) to hungry, monstrous creatures as you build your way through the randomly generated world you get in Don't Starve. If you'd prefer to explore the storybook-looking ins and outs of this game with friends, you can opt to play the multiplayer spin-off, Don't Starve Together.
Platform: Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
Release Date: December 20, 2018
Players oftentimes describe Dragon Quest Builders 2 and its predecessor as Minecraft-like games with RPG features, and they're not wrong. Set in a fantasy land facing an evil threat, the game features a blocky art style reminiscent of Minecraft's iconic own and lets you battle, build, craft, farm, gather, and explore. You can play through the single-player campaign for a fun blend of sandbox elements and RPG features or opt to play through the dedicated online sandbox mode with up to three friends if you'd prefer to focus entirely on building instead. Dragon Quest Builders feels like a mashup of Dragon Quest's mainline series of games and Minecraft, and we'd recommend it to any fan of either for the creative outlet it provides as well as its quirky chibi-looking characters and compelling gameplay.
Eco is a sandbox game with building, crafting, harvesting, mining, and all of the features we love Minecraft for with an added difficulty thanks to its focus on real-world issues such as climate change and the destruction of ecosystems. In this unique entry, you'll need to advance and build up a society of people while also maintaining the natural world around you, taking care to not destroy it as you work to progress civilization. This is no easy feat when you consider the amount of terrain changes that building actually entails. If you do properly analyze the impact you have on the world and construct with care, you can create a bustling civilization in harmony with nature from the ground up.
Platform: Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
Release Date: June 1, 2015
Minecraft, but make it Lego. That's sort of what Lego Worlds feels like as you play, allowing you to explore seamless landscapes and create anything you'd like using colorful Lego bricks. It's a childhood dream come true, a virtual Minecraft-like situation in which you have Lego bricks of all kinds at your disposal to build with. There's more to the game than just building, too, as you can use landscaping tools to terraform as you please and utilize everything from gorillas to helicopters to traverse the vibrant world. You'll also encounter all sorts of silly characters and creatures as well as shiny treasures to unearth. If you're a Lego fan or simply a sandbox stan, Lego Worlds is worth a look.
Clicker and idle games meet Minecraft in Outpath, a relaxing base-building experience that sees you crafting, creating, expanding, exploring, gathering, and more without any time limits or pressure to play at anything other than your own pace. The 3D art is vibrant and the music reacts to your actions, bringing the atmosphere to life while you build. You can choose to automate everything and play either actively or idly, engaging in chill activities when you do click, such as fishing and even platformer-esque parkour. Outpath is the perfect go-to game to de-stress and unwind with after a long day, packing many of our favorite Minecraft features without any of the anxiety that may usually accompany them.
Platform: Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
Release Date: March 27, 2018
While we've already covered Ark, you may be searching for a game that not only plays like Minecraft does, but one that also matches its cozy blocky style more closely. That's where PixArk comes in, a different version of Ark with all of the crafting and dinosaurs you could want but also a much more colorful, voxel-based aesthetic. You can still play either alone or with friends online and build, explore, farm, gather, and tame as you please. You'll advance much like you do in Ark, unlocking new technology to help you on your way while you traverse the game's procedurally generated Jurassic world and befriend or hunt down scaly creatures of all shapes and sizes.
If you like Minecraft but want to change things up a bit and stray away from the mostly on-land setting, you may enjoy Raft. This sandbox game takes place almost entirely at sea, seeing you build up and customize a floating raft until it's a full-blown base island on water. You can play alone or with friends, but you may prefer to do the latter once you encounter the man-eating sharks that sporadically attack your raft. While you'll spend a good portion of time on the open water, you'll also explore land as you discover it and learn some of the game's backstory in between your building, crafting, farming, and scavenging. Raft is a must-have for sandbox and survival game stans alike.
Platform: Mobile, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
Release Date: September 1, 2006
Roblox is absolutely massive right now. With all of the possibilities it offers, it's no wonder. While Roblox itself is a free online game platform and creation system, you'll find countless crafting and sandbox experiences to try out within it. Whether you're looking to play a game exactly like Minecraft or one with heavier role-playing elements, you'll find something fit for your tastes in no time while exploring the available Roblox creations. Much like Minecraft, Roblox games also feature a unique blocky art style and an outlet for player creativity. If you end up tiring of a certain Roblox game or want to hop genres entirely, you can always do so.
Sons of the Forest stands strong as a solid survival game alongside its beloved predecessor The Forest. While it ticks all of the sandbox boxes you'd want it to, including building, crafting, exploring, and gathering, it also adds an element you may not usually expect from the genre: horror. While you're improving your base and trying your best to get by on a beautiful, seemingly untouched island after suffering a helicopter crash, you'll also have to face off against humanoid cannibals of all gruesome shapes and sizes. There's also a story to follow as you traverse caves and loot the map, which you can enjoy alone or alongside your friends in multiplayer.
Starbound stands out as it's not a 3D experience but rather a charming pixel-style 2D game that follows you as you try to survive in space aboard your damaged ship. You'll have to explore planets to try and build, craft, fight, and gather your way successfully through the stars, all while taking on quests and eventually, saving the universe itself. There are all sorts of customization options including seven playable races to choose from and discoveries waiting amid the procedurally generated universe galore, such as menacing bosses, colorful characters, dangerous dungeons, and more. If you'd prefer to play with some pals instead of traversing Starbound's interstellar challenges alone, you can do so.
Platform: Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
Release Date: December 16, 2014
Much like Raft, Subnautica is all about water. However, you'll be living under the sea in this game instead of above it, making use of what you find scattered about an alien ocean floor to build and craft your way to survival. You can make functional submarines, take on massive aquatic creatures, traverse underwater volcanoes, and much more in Subnautica, a sandbox experience that blends light horror with sci-fi. If you're hoping to build a giant base upon the sea floor with various nooks and crannies to decorate or are instead simply looking to make a vehicle and set out to learn more about your backstory, you can. Subnautica, while certainly story-driven when compared to other games of a similar genre, is a solid choice for all kinds of players.
Platform: Mobile, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
Release Date: May 16, 2011
Terraria is Starbound's non-interstellar soul sister and spiritual predecessor, featuring a pixel 2D art style and the ability to build to your heart's content. You can customize your randomly generated world and its various biomes as you please, building massive homes for the various NPCs aboveground or mining your way through mushroom-ridden caverns below. There are Lovecraftian bosses to overcome and in-game events to prove victorious through as well, adding a more challenging flair to the sandbox-survival experience Terraria offers. The game is still receiving content updates over a decade after its 2011 release with a big one just on the horizon, meaning you'll likely never run out of things to do. We'd dare to say that Terraria may end up taking Minecraft's spot in your heart over once you've given it a go.
The Planet Crafter is another solid option for players looking to experience space survival and all of its intergalactic challenges. You can play this game with up to nine other friends, altering the ecosystem of an inhospitable planet to make it more habitable as you build, craft, gather, and explore. The alien land you find yourself on features various unique biomes, with some proving more unforgiving than others. You'll encounter everything from cute creatures to gnarly insects as you try to advance and build up a brand-new biosphere, terraforming the environment as you see fit for your tastes. There's definitely plenty of sandbox, sci-fi, and survival fun to be had in The Planet Crafter for Minecraft fans and newcomers to such genres alike.
While it may seem like a far cry from Minecraft, Valheim features many of the same core mechanics such as building, crafting, exploring, and gathering, albeit with Viking mythology and brutal challenges to face aplenty. If you want to set off on your own saga alone or with friends in multiplayer and tackle formidable foes while building impressive longhouses as you please in between battles, Valheim may just be the perfect game for you. The premise is certainly different and the gameplay will keep you hooked, with various distinct biomes to explore and seemingly endless opportunities for creative building. The game is still in early access, which means that even more content is underway as updates roll out and Valheim nears its full release.
Vintage Story stands out amid our other entries here as it's a game that actually started as a Minecraft mod. Due to this fact, it aesthetically appears much like Mojang's own game does, featuring the iconic blocky art style and handy tool hotbar. However, Vintage Story is much more difficult, with Lovecraftian challenges and unforgiving wilderness to overcome at all corners. You'll need to build, craft, explore, and gather just as you do in Minecraft, but you'll progress through various ages from the Stone Age onward as you advance. Thanks to its procedural technology, you can expect to traverse a vast open world with diverse climate conditions, geological features, and landscapes as well as all sorts of creates from the cute to the downright terrifying. If you want something truly akin to Minecraft, you should check this mod-turned-game out.
Enshrouded has become an extremely popular survival game recently that features many of the qualities Minecraft fans look for in other games. There's a large emphasis on base building that goes hand in hand with the exploration of a large map with several different environments. In order to craft more structures, weapons, gear, and other items, you need to unlock new recipes that only come from finding additional resources out in the world. When you're not exploring, there's an in-depth story in Enshrouded that features plenty of characters, missions, and locations to find.
While Enshrouded doesn't have a procedurally-generated world, its map is large enough that you can spend dozens of hours exploring it without revisiting the same place twice. The bases in Enshrouded can be quite impressive in size, and there's no shortage of structures, stations, and gear you can craft as long as you have the right recipes and resources. Enshrouded is also receiving major updates in 2025, such as the Thralls of Midnight update in May, which adds even more content to the game.
Platform: PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
Release Date: December 13, 2013
7 Days to Die is a game that can't really be classified into one genre. It's a first-person "shooter" that mixes in survival and horror elements with RPG and strategy gameplay to make for a completely replayable experience. The game takes place across an open world map, and your job is simple: survive against the zombie apocalypse. To do that, you'll have to explore the map, craft new weapons and gear, unlock a fleet of vehicles, build massive forts to fend off the undead, and unlock skills to improve your character. The premise of 7 Days to Die can sound a little generic, but the depth of the game is really what makes it stand out among other survival games. You have access to thousands of items, over 100 skills, and a huge world that changes all of the time with updates.
7 Days to Die has been going strong for over a decade, and it has evolved to become one of the best survival games on the market. Not only do you have a sandbox to fully explore and become engrossed in, but there's a story playing out in the background that allows you to meet characters and go on quests to improve your character. You can also opt to play the randomly generated version of 7 Days to Die instead of the base campaign mode. This alternate version features over 700 unique locations you can find across a world that evolves as you explore it.
Platform: PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android
Release Date: February 26, 2016
Stardew Valley shares many similarities with Minecraft. Like the original version of Minecraft, Stardew Valley was initially created by a single developer. It features a large map with some randomly generated areas and has an emphasis on plants, livestock, and base-building. At the start of Stardew Valley, you inherit a small farm from your deceased relative, and it's your task to get the farm going again. You need to build out everything from the crops to the animals to your main house. To get all the materials you need, you can head out and explore a map full of surprises around every corner.
While you can spend time in mines, caves, and other areas, some of which are randomly generated beyond a certain point, you'll spend a large chunk of your time in Stardew Valley's towns. The towns are full of NPCs that you can chat with and even pick up on some gossip occurring around the area. Some NPCs are also romanceable in Stardew Valley, which is one of the most cherished parts about the game. You can spend hours trying to romance certain characters and then even get married to the character you spend the most time with, adding an entire other layer to the game.
If you're looking for a slight switch-up on the base-building aspects of Minecraft, then you might want to check out Satisfactory. While the same basic gameplay loop of building up structures is present, Satisfactory adds another layer to the onion. Instead of building a base, you're instead building factories on an alien planet. The factories can be set up independently or to work together, but they all produce different items and materials that you can use to aid your exploration of the planet and establish new kinds of factories.
The factories run on a conveyor belt system that can make it both complicated and rewarding to set everything up to run correctly. You can also make your factories more than one level, establish them over vast distances, and set them up in unique locations across the planet that might offer additional benefits. Satisfactory is a fantastic mix of the base building and exploration elements of Minecraft that still manages to offer a fresh experience.
Platform: PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Android
Release Date: December 7, 2023
Fortnite has evolved tremendously since it blew up as a battle royale game in 2017. Over the years, Epic Games has designed and released several high-profile game modes to give players new experiences aside from the basic battle royale and creative modes. Arguably, the best of these modes is Lego Fortnite, which is a sandbox survival game that uses official Lego models. You can then use these Lego bricks and Fortnite's innovative building system to create huge structures and other contraptions across an open world full of varied environments.
To build more and survive the elements of whatever environment you're in, you can also tame animals, enlist the help of NPC villagers, and find resources throughout the world to craft new items. There's also a huge boss battle that you can take on, and other enemies scattered all over the map. While the building aspect of Lego Fortnite is certainly at the forefront of the game, all the other content makes it a great experience regardless if you're a solo player or playing with friends.
Platform: PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch
Release Date: August 9, 2016
No Man's Sky has gone beyond its full-scale redemption arc in 2025, and now it's just one of the best open world survival games you can play. The ties to Minecraft are clear, as both games feature procedurally-generated worlds, building mechanics, and survival elements. However, No Man's Sky takes Minecraft's generated worlds to the next level, allowing you to find, explore, and conquer literally millions of planets across a near-infinite galaxy. On these planets, you can construct a base, collect resources, find unique creatures, discover lore left behind by the previous inhabitants, and even explore underwater caverns if the planet has water. You can now even discover and rebuild fossils thanks to one of the most recent No Man's Sky updates.
When you're not exploring a planet, you can build and customize your own spaceship, visit hub stations chock-full of other real players and NPCs that offer quests and ways to make currency. No Man's Sky has truly become the ultimate sandbox, and if you're tired of always looking up at the stars in Minecraft, it's time you gave this one a chance.
Amazon has restocked Lexar's 1TB microSD Express Card and is offering a deal that drops the price to $172.63 (was $200). This is the best deal we've seen for a 1TB microSD Express Card since Nintendo revealed the Switch 2's microSD card slot is only compatible with Express cards. Since there are only a few models of Express cards at the moment, Amazon has struggled to keep up with the increased interest over the past few weeks.
The Nintendo Direct Mario Kart World is now over, but you can watch it in full below. You can also check out all of our coverage of the major announcements below.
When it comes to '90s movies starring talking toys, most millennials who grew up during that era would probably think of Toy Story first. And while that's totally understandable, Toy Story wasn't the only memorable movie that brought toys to life. Remember Small Soldiers? The 1998 film from Paramount hasn't had anywhere close to the lasting impact as Toy Story, but it was a fun movie in its own right. If you have nostalgia for Small Soldiers, you'll be happy to hear that it's getting a 4K Blu-ray edition with a steelbook case on July 22. Small Soldiers Limited Edition Steelbook includes 4K Blu-ray and standard Blu-ray discs as well as a voucher to claim the digital version.
At the time of writing, preorders are sold out at Walmart, but we'd recommend checking the site again, as it could be restocked at any moment. Meanwhile, Amazon has yet to open preorders, but a listing is live on the site, and you should be available to order a copy soon.
For the cover, you're getting a classic showdown stare between the action figures of the Gorgonite Archer and the Commando Elite commander Chip Hazard. The interior of the case features silhouettes of the characters and the GloboTech X1000 microprocessors that turned these toys into sentient beings.
The bonus materials haven't been revealed for this 4K edition, but if it inherits the ones from the previous standard Blu-ray release, you can expect a DVD-era documentary on the making of Small Soldiers, a blooper reel, and a trailer. The 4K release also includes a standard Blu-ray disc, and it's possible that's where you'll find the bonus features.
The 4K remaster will be displayed in 2.35:1 aspect ratio, which is very close to the original 2.39:1 ratio from the 1998 release. On the audio side, Small Soldiers supports DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1.
In case you aren't able to secure the 4K edition or want to watch the movie before July, you can pick up the regular Blu-ray edition of Small Soldiers from Amazon, as it's on sale for $10.53 (was $14).
League of Legends fans can save big on the 4K Blu-ray release of Arcane, Netflix's highly rated animated series that wrapped after two seasons in November. Arcane Season 1's 4K Limited Edition Steelbook is on sale for only $30 (was $60). The 50% discount is the best deal since Arcane's Blu-ray release in October. Amazon is also offering a steep discount on the 1080p Blu-ray release featuring a different steelbook case, but the 4K version is actually cheaper right now.
Ubisoft has released a new update for Assassin's Creed Shadows, and according to the patch notes, this one is designed to address several more issues in the game. Title update 1.0.3 will go live today, and while it's not nearly as massive as the previous patch, you can expect bug fixes and PS5 Pro improvements. Curiously, the patch will also temporarily deactivate the auto-sell feature in the game, as Ubisoft says that it has to work out some unexpected issues introduced by that function.
For PS5 Pro players, a graphical issue caused by activating the HDR and PSSR options will be fixed, and PS5 owners in general can expect several other crash-related bugs to be solved. For download sizes, the patch is quite small on PS5 and PC via Steam, while Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Mac users can expect a longer download session. You can see the full patch notes below.
A Minecraft Movie is now in theaters and it's putting up huge numbers, ranking as the No. 2 highest-grossing video game movie of all time after just two weeks in theaters. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has now discussed the movie, digging into how the movie could help grow the Minecraft video game. He also talked about why it took more than a decade to make the movie.
Speaking to Variety, Spencer said one way Microsoft may benefit from A Minecraft Movie is by bringing more people to the game who might not otherwise play.
"Maybe they don't play video games, and this is an opportunity for them to see it on the big screen, 'What is this Minecraft thing?' and get invested in it," he said.
Remedy has announced that its Control spin-off multiplayer game will let players team up in The Oldest House regardless of their platform. That's because FBC: Firebreak will offer cross-play support for the cooperative FPS. In other words, PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S owners can all play together when the game comes out this summer.
The official Control account on Instagram confirmed the inclusion of cross-play for FBC: Firebreak. "You'll be able to play FBC: Firebreak with up to two friends, no matter the platform," the post states. Keep in mind that Remedy has previously noted that FBC: Firebreak works in solo and duo modes as well. However, it's "optimized" for three players.
FBC: Firebreak was officially unveiled in October at an Xbox Partner Preview event. However, it was known that Remedy was working on a Control spin-off codenamed Condor before then. The FPS sees players assuming the roles of the Federal Bureau of Control (there's the FBC) agents to take on unnerving foes known as the Hiss. Intriguingly, the title will be available on Xbox Game Pass and PS Plus when it comes out later this year.
It's been quite the year for Destiny players, and the game's evolution continues with the latest chapter, dubbed The Edge of Fate, getting revealed soon. No details were given outside of the reveal being a special livestream event on May 6, starting at 9AM PT/12PM ET.
"Developers will discuss the first expansion, The Edge of Fate, and much more during the event," Bungie said in a statement. With the events of The Final Shape having major repercussions for your Guardian, as well as the Vanguard, it feels like all bets are off when it comes to the story.
How the story is structured is something else. Following the launch of The Final Shape last year, Bungie announced changes to how it planned to deliver content, switching from Seasons to Episodes, while also announcing the future of Destiny 2 as Codename: Frontiers.
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