Minecraft Legends could be you and your kids’ next Game Pass favourite
The Easter holidays may have only just come to a close, but ahead of the summer – and those long, school-less weeks – you should remember Minecraft Legends.
What do you think of when you think of the word ‘Minecraft’? If you’re anything like me – and the now-numerous generations that have been raised by the game – you’ll think of creativity, exploration, the freedom to do things your own way. The original game (now a Microsoft property) took the reins off, allowed you to explore the geometric sandbox at your leisure, and let you revel in the world in your own time. Set your own goals, do your own thing. Have fun, without needing to constantly check compass points or review your objectives.
It’s strange, then, to see the latest spin-off in the Minecraft IP approach a genre that is so strict and keeps you on the path so much that it’s literally built around lanes. We’re talking MOBA – multiplayer online battle arena. That word soup sounds like it doesn’t mean much, but it’s spawned some of the most popular games of all time; League of Legends, DOTA 2, Smite, and so on. It’s a famously difficult genre to penetrate and takes a lot of time and investment to understand.
Within minutes, the 4v4 battler became incredibly simple to understand: I went out and mined resources and built up the home base with defensive walls, turrets, and small AI Minecraft creatures I could control, my ally to the left went to scout out the enemy base and run some early sabotage missions, and my ally on the right got to building a forward base from which we could mount an attack.
That sounds quite involved, right? But the actual playing of the game makes it really simple – kids of about 7+ should be able to really easily understand their role and how to make the most of the defenses, the AI, and the movement.
You have four toolbars, one for each major task: mining resources, commanding/summoning companions, constructing buildings, and navigating the world. It’s all laid out so that you can get a quick overview of what’s cracking off at a glance, and once you get a feel for how to bring up each toolbar and place items, it becomes second nature. Kids unfamiliar with gamepads might need a bit more guidance, but if you’re reading this I’m going to assume there’s at least a bit of games knowledge in the house.
As well as other human AI, there are hostile Piglins in the field – you can use these angry porkers as target practice and a healthy resource spawn, too. Beating them and taking their precious jewels will allow you to build more advanced buildings, and the more buildings you can create, the more powerful creatures you can summon. But buildings need other resources, too: from simple wood and stone for early placements, to redstone, diamonds and coal for more industrious ones, juggling offense and defense with resource management is the name of the game here.
Each map is randomly generated as you load in, and if you’ve got a kid that loves vanilla Minecraft, you can happily and easily get them to go off and pop down mining nodes – every action, no matter how small, contributes to the team. Praise them for finding rare diamonds, encourage them to find mounts that make navigation easier, and build their confidence by having them engage with Piglins. Within a match or two, you’ll be charging in, arm-in-arm, ready to storm any fortress that stands in your way.
There’s a lot going on here, I know. It sounds overwhelming. But the best comparison I’ve found to Minecraft Legends actually comes from a fairly cult 360/PS3 hit: Brutal Legend. It’s a similar flavour of madcap genre mash-up, where theoretically complicated elements are realised with a simple control scheme and very accessible set-up. Part tower-defense, part-MOBA, part-real time strategy, both games excel at standing in about five different genres at once and guiding you breezily through all of them.
My only concern about the reality of playing Minecraft Legends with your kid(s) is the presence of griefers: any only game will have them, and if you’re trying to engage in a mildly competitive game with a child and some bored teenager constantly kills you (there are infinite respawns, don’t worry), it’s going to get a bit tiresome. I couldn’t see any options to play against bots in the demo, but that could be a good answer: simulate the PvP nature until you’re ready to head out into the real world and face another parent-child combo in glorious, cartoon battle.
I think Minecraft Legends speaks to something Microsoft is trying to do at the moment very clearly; remove as many barriers as possible and make gaming an intergenerational thing that can be enjoyed and shared without prohibitive cost. From my time with it so far, Minecraft Legends is a joyful and stimulating example of family gaming, realised with the care and creativity Mojang has become known for. I hope it finds its place when it launches later this month.
Minecraft Legends arrives on Xbox and PC – and is coming to Xbox Game Pass – on April 18, 2023.