The pace of the game is dictated entirely by how the player wants to approach the game. If someone only cares about completing the main story, it is possible to rush through the game and complete it in approximately ten hours, but because of the volume of optional quests and activities it can extend well beyond one hundred hours. It is possible to build anywhere in the world, the player is not restricted to only having construction done in the base camp area. This will not effect the camp growth or progress the story but should the player desire it is possible to cover every square inch of land with construction. The scope of world is huge, and exploring to the end of it will give the player more things to build with nearly limitless potential. There are four different stages, all are unique from each other with different challenges and unique things to do.

Once the player begins building up the town people arrive pretty quickly to populate the town. The primary role of NPCs is to give you quests, so the more you build, the more NPCs arrive, and the more quests you have available. Quests can cover a wide range of tasks, someone can simply request that you build them their room, while others may request you go see what is on top of a distant mountain or go kill a powerful enemy. You can put a sign in front of a structure to limit who can occupy the space. Or if there is an NPC you don't like, you can build a poor shack. You can also use this to force people to sleep next to each other. There is a lot of freedom in this game to do whatever you want.

There's probably a good reason people build dungeons. At first it seems like a great plan to construct a subterranean labyrinth, because maybe the kingdom needs a place to store its surplus supplies or random undesirable people. Why build a giant construct from wood and rock when there's so much unused space underfoot, other than mining being crazy-hard to get right. The point is, eventually all that space attracts things. Big, Stardew Valley Mods mean, hungry things that no society can function around. Zombies and skeletons are only the start of the problem, and it doesn't take long for an evil overlord to come along and put this undead labor to use devastating the countryside. Dungeons are an archaeological trap, useful right up to the point they're the base for the downfall of the realm, and the ones in Minecraft Dungeons are a perfect illustration of how it all goes horribly wrong.

Rather than going for an evil wizard's castle, however, why not instead create a lava blade house, which looks like a sword stuck into the ground? That's the path AtrixStd went for in their build, which also has a tutorial available on their YouTube chan

There's a vast library of online entertainment for gamers to enjoy and we hope those practicing social distancing take advantage of it. Share some of your gaming suggestions here and please do your best to keep yourself and others safe.

The lack of plot means the action needs to carry the game, which Minecraft Dungeons nicely pulls off. It's a fairly stripped-down entry in the genre, with no character classes or specializations, but instead focuses on character customization through loot. At the start you choose a character skin, none of which have any advantage or disadvantage over another, and then through the course of the adventure find gear to fit your play style. There are six slots to fill, three of which are for action accessories assigned to the controller face buttons and the others being the equipment of weapon, armor and ranged, and while it's tempting to go for straight power over anything else, it's better to find things that suit your play style.

What do I mean by that? In game development terms, a "vertical slice," is a gameplay segment of finished or near-finished quality that showcases all the planned features of a game to potential investors. At the start of a project, these are a massive sink for time and effort, since they essentially involve doing all the hard parts of finishing a game to complete one 10-minute section. Generally, they’re seen as a bad practice. However, toward the end of development, it’s a lot easier to pull assets together for a vertical slice. Of course, if you’re shopping your game around to publishers at that stage, you’re probably in a lot of trouble, but a standalone "vertical slice" can also serve as a strong alternative to a traditional demo.

Anyone who's played Minecraft with friends is almost guaranteed to have built a town at some point. It's a multiplayer staple, serving as a building project that everyone can collaborate on without stepping on each other’s toes. It's also a fantastic way for players to join their bases together in a meaningful way. Each building also gives the builder a chance to express their individual

We've stumbled into some uncertain times, dear readers. I can't say I've ever experienced anything as intense as the Social Distancing Era. As we watch doctors of all kinds on the news recommend that we stay home as much as possible, we're faced with new challenges to overcome. Those of us who self-isolate may find this to be a troubling time -- especially if it affects our income, work, childcare or health. Yet "social distancing" doesn't have to mean completely cutting yourselves off from your support network! Path of Exile is a beautifully robust ARPG that will help bridge the gap. It's like if Developer Grinding Gear Games basically wanted Diablo 2 back, so they created their own Grecian-inspired version. It's all there: awesome loot, a unique ability-gem loadout system, a massive skill tree that allows you to create inspired builds. It features online co-op so you and your buddies can play through the story together. The best part is that it's free-to-play, so it's an ease on both your mind and your wallet during these trying times. Path of Exile can be found on Xbox One, PS4 and PC which means a wide audience will be able to enjoy playing.