Introduction

My Financial Algebra class works on a project where they design a “tiny house”. I actually assign it to a few different classes. But, this year, I gave it to them as a way to break the funk and try to get them inspired to do some work. Pleasantly surprising, but it worked. What does any of that have to do with my Terraria very first impressions?

Well, one of the “tricks” I use to hook them into the project is that i tell them they can build the floorplan in Minecraft if they want. One of my previous classes came up with idea. I loved it. And, so, I offer it as an option now. Even though they’re high school seniors, at least one group in every class gives me something really cool in Minecraft.

Well, last semester, one student asked, “Can we build it in Terraria instead?” I heard of Terraria but never played it. Nevertheless, I shrugged. “Can you build it in Terraria?” “Absolutely, he replied. “Neat. If you want to build it in Terraria, go for it.”

Noob’s Journey into Terraria

The student made the claim that Terraria is better than Minecraft. This statement intrigued me because I always thought of the game as a lesser 2 dimensional rip off of Minecraft. So I made a note to try the game on their recommendation. They strike me as someone who knows their video games.

Fast foward to a couple of weeks ago during April break. Inspired by a couple of holes in my daily posting schedule, I figured I could do something on Minecraft and Terreria. Then, I missed those deadlines, so the articles moved to this week. I again missed a Thursday deadline for Terraria. But, I played the game earlier today and finally feel prepared to bring you this article.

Okay, What’s the Big Deal Here?

I started the game . Walked a bit to the right. Then, walked a bit to the left. A zombie killed me. I respawned. Hammered away at some trees with an axe and got an acorn. But, the tree didn’t break and I got no wood from it. Weird. I saw some ore underneath the ground, so I switched to my pickaxe to try to collect that.

I successfully figure out that you have to hover over the block that you wish to collect, and hold the left mouse button, then it works. I noobed it up and committed the cardinal sin of these games. I dug straight down. Then got stuck because I couldn’t see. Frustrated by my stupidity, I resorted to Googling, “Stuck underground in Terraria”. The only results I received talked about the usual collection detection problems and not someone who dug straight down (without a torch, I’d later discover) and couldn’t find their way out because of the darkness of night.

I gotta say my Terraria very first impressions leave me a bit underwhelmed. I exited out of the game and restarted. It put me back at my spawn point. Since it was night, too, several zombies attacked me. I killed one in completely wild self defense and it dropped a torch. Aha! I can use the torches to dig my way out of the tunnel after mining the resources down there.

The Verdict

I played a few more minutes before exiting the game to come write this article. I also recorded a new episode for the Leaf Riders YouTube series and wrote some notes for Jurassic Park Episode 11. Oh, and a workout. Because of that Terraria very first impressions leave me somewhat humbled. I absolutely sold it short by calling it lesser than Minecraft. Also, I wouldn’t strictly call it a rip off even if there are similarities. As has been proven over the years, a space exists for both games.