Is Hytale worth playing? A lifelong Minecraft fan’s perspective

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Let me share a story from when I was 14 years old, back in 2010. A friend introduced me to a game he’d discovered. It was a bit tricky to get working, and still in early testing, but he was convinced it could be one of the best games ever made.

My friends and I started playing Minecraft to explore its unique, block-based worlds, and we’ve been enjoying it for sixteen years now.

I want you to understand how much Minecraft means to me. It was the first game I really became passionate about, and I completely lost myself in it. I was truly obsessed with exploring and building in that world.

I’ve tried playing with mods and custom servers like a lot of Minecraft fans, but I always end up going back to the original, unmodified version of the game.

For serious Minecraft players, mods are just as important as the original game. While the base game has stayed true to its roots, mods and custom servers constantly add new features and experiences, keeping the game fresh and exciting.

Basically, if you enjoy playing standard Minecraft, you’ll be happy with the original game. But if you’re looking for a fresh experience or a bigger challenge, mods and custom servers are great options. We often found that a friend would introduce us to a new mod, we’d play it for a bit, but we always ended up going back to the familiar and relaxing experience of the original game.

We’ll also explore other sandbox games that claim to be the next big thing after Minecraft. But often, those claims don’t live up to the hype – just like an empty inventory after a creeper attack!

This brings me to Hytale, a new sandbox RPG that, on paper, appears to be another such game.

Hytale first appeared in 2015 as a popular addition to the Hypixel Minecraft server. After a challenging ten-year development process – filled with setbacks, grand ideas, and a change in ownership – it’s now available as a completely separate game.

As someone who loves Minecraft, I was excited to try the new game and see how it compares to the original. I wanted to find out if it really offers the improved experience everyone has been talking about.

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I wanted to find out if Hytale is worth playing for people who already enjoy regular Minecraft.

From the start, Hytale clearly shows its inspiration from Minecraft. The game features a large, automatically created world that strongly resembles Minecraft’s landscapes.

The game features visuals and materials very similar to Minecraft, including blocks, textures, and day-night cycles. Gameplay is also familiar: you gather resources by breaking blocks – hitting them repeatedly until they drop into your inventory. Once you build a workbench, you can craft basic tools like a pickaxe, letting you mine resources more efficiently instead of just hitting them with your hand.

This game offers some welcome improvements to the mining experience, especially when it comes to chopping down trees – it’s much smoother and more rewarding. However, the basic way the game plays still feels very similar to Minecraft. In fact, for the first hour, it was almost like playing Minecraft again.

Then something happened. I was killed by a grizzly bear in broad daylight.

I left my home high in the mountains to chop down a tree, but a huge, angry bear immediately started chasing me. It happened in broad daylight, and my death wasn’t caused by any monsters—just a powerful predator. This was my first dangerous encounter in Hytale, and I knew it wouldn’t be the last.

Okay, so one of the biggest differences I’ve noticed between Hytale and Minecraft is how you start. In Minecraft, you just kinda… appear, anywhere in the world. But in Hytale, it’s way cooler. You actually begin inside this mysterious, ancient temple. You open a door, and then you’re in the huge, beautiful fantasy world. Walk a little ways from where you started, and a title card pops up telling you you’ve reached the ‘Drifting Plains’ – it’s a really nice touch!

Starting the game felt less like Minecraft and more like the beginning of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. It immediately brought to mind Link’s awakening at the start of that game, before venturing into Hyrule’s colorful landscape. The Zelda series clearly had a significant impact on the game’s design, going beyond just a shared title.

Three hours into playing Hytale, after I’d gotten good gear that let me fend off the game’s monsters, I felt that familiar excitement I hadn’t experienced since first playing Minecraft. I immediately wanted to tell my friends to come join my world and play with me.

Hytale combines the captivating elements of fantasy role-playing games with the familiar, satisfying gameplay of Minecraft. It builds on that foundation with a richly imagined world full of original creatures and mysterious ruins, making it feel like a natural evolution of the best-selling game.

And so, I return to my original question. Should fans of Minecraft pick up Hytale?

No matter how long you’ve enjoyed Minecraft – whether you’re a dedicated player, returning after a break, or simply searching for a new adventure – Hytale is sure to impress. It captures the spirit of classic Minecraft while offering a fresh experience, thanks to elements reminiscent of The Legend of Zelda.

This game, still under development, feels a lot like the original, independent days of Minecraft. It’s not flawless, but it’s incredibly captivating and hard to stop playing. I hope people are discovering it with their friends and getting hooked for years to come.

I know I will be.

Authors

Matthew Trask

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2026-01-31 11:36