Partnering with Play Mechanix, a company committed to delivering unmatched arcade experiences, Mojang has announced a new arcade experience for Minecraft Dungeons, a dungeon crawler spin-off of Minecraft. Minecraft Dungeons Arcade is a four-player co-op experience that is built into an arcade cabinet. It’s similar to the standard version of the game but there are some differences that make it unique. A limited number of Minecraft Dungeons Arcade cabinets are being distributed across North America for testing, while more will be released later this year. With the ongoing pandemic, everyone is making sure that the cabinets will be tested following the local health guidelines.
Talking about the differences between the arcade version of Minecraft Dungeons and the standard version, Will Carlin, Creative Director at Play Mechanix said “if you take a step back, you can see the similarities between the two, but when you take a step into [a consumer] game, it’s like a waltz. An arcade game on the other hand is some kind of super break-dancing speed experience – it’s about the intensity of the moment, and surviving as long as possible- an intense burst of fun!”
Minecraft Dungeons Arcade comes with nine levels in total. There will be three buttons that players should focus on: melee, dodge, and range. “My advice is to use every button that’s on that control panel to survive,” Carlin said. “It’s not just hack and slash – there’s strategy in there. If you want to get the most of your play, you’ll want to use all the possible abilities the player has available.”
The arcade version will also come with a unique take on the gear system. Instead of save files, players use physical cards that they earned through each play session to empower their characters with weapons, pets, skins, and items. There are 60 cards to collect. Each player can scan up to five cards per session. “When you play the game, you collect gems and [defeat enemies], which fills your card meter,” Carlin explains. “Once card meters are full, they activate, and you can use them to defeat enemies all around you. Every time you play the game, a card will be given that is yours to keep.”