Is Minecraft an arcade game?

Yes, there is a game on the market now titled, “Minecraft Dungeons: Arcade”. 

Minecraft recently teamed up with Play Mechanix – a company considered to be experts in cabinet crafting and arcade gaming – to make use of their knowledge to make a dungeon crawler modeled after the Minecraft Dungeons game. 

Minecraft Dungeons: Arcade is a 4 player co-op that delivers a fresh approach to the standard Minecraft Dungeons game and is built into a fascinating cabinet. 

https://www.minecraft.net/content/dam/games/dungeons/merch/arc-cab1.png

They only made a limited number of these cabinets and they’re currency being distributed around North America so they can be tested (more units have been made – with the number of units not being readily available to us)

The Minecraft Dungeons Arcade experience

The arcade game version of this game still follows the original multiplayer, dungeon crawling model of gameplay that users are familiar with and love, but it also offers a new spin that is quite noticeable among the arcade and consumer games.

The creative director at Play Mechanix, Will Carlin says, :If you take a step back, you can see the similarities between the two (games), but when one takes a step into a consumer game, it’s like a dance. An arcade game, on the other hand, is some kind of super break-dancing speed experience – it’s about the moment’s intensity, and surviving as long as possible – an intense burst of fun!”

This is quite the challenge, especially if you don’t fare very well at dancing games usually. However, the Minecraft Dungeons: Arcade game is fairly simple to play and understand. The game hosts 9 total levels, and each individual player has to focus on 3 buttons: Range, Melee, and Dodge. 

Will also states, “My advice is to use every button on the control panel to survive. It’s not just Hack and slash – there’s strategy in there. If you want to get the most out of your play, you’ll want to use all the possible abilities made available to players.”

What makes Dungeons dungeons?

Dungeons wouldn’t be dungeons without the large arsenal of pixelated gear that can be collected throughout the game. In the arcade version of the game instead of having save files, players use physical cards earned throughout play sessions to empower characters with items, skins, pets, and weapons. 

When players play the game, they defeat enemies and collect gems, that help to fill the card’s meter. Once the card meter is full, they activate, and they can be used to defeat the enemies around you. Every time the game is played, cards are given that can be kept.