Minecraft Dungeons review: A smashing good Diablo clone for any age

Enlarge / Redstone golems are a real pain in the Minecraft Dungeons butt. (credit: Mojang)

When Microsoft acquired the game studio Mojang in 2014 for a whopping $2.5 billion, fans of its biggest series, Minecraft, immediately wondered what would happen next. Would this be the end of Minecraft on rival platforms like PlayStation? Was the Java version toast? Would we have to suffer through some ill-fitting abomination like Minecraft: Kinect Dance Party?

Turns out, Microsoft has largely been a solid shepherd for the blocky series. The traditional Minecraft game continues receiving regular free updates across every platform imaginable, and its cross-platform builds sit alongside the original Java incarnation. Also, we didn't wind up with a bunch of annoying spin-off games; so far, there has just been a well-reviewed Telltale adventure and a decent Pokemon Go clone.

Microsoft and Mojang's combined ambitions grow this week with Minecraft Dungeons, the first series spin-off to germinate from within Mojang's offices. At E3 2019, the studio admitted to having run a skunkworks division for some time, focused on finding the right game concept for its mega-hit universe. Its first spinoff salvo comes in the form of a family-friendly action-RPG.

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