Recs.
Updated
Terraria is a 2D sandbox survival adventure game. The gameplay is centered around exploring a randomly generated world while building structures, equipment, and weapons from farmed resources. A survival game at heart, with a sandbox base.
SpecsUpdate
Pros
Pro Playing with groups of friends allows for endless scenarios of building and destruction
Up to 8 players can join a shared Terraria world, including the worlds that are used in single-player mode. This allows for large co-op or PvP games. Build something big together, or destroy the other guy’s base. The scenarios are endless.
Pro Rewarding progression system that hinges on your own collecting and crafting abilities
The vast majority of items in Terraria can be used to create other items, often requiring specific crafting stations (which themselves must be crafted). This is the core of character advancement, since gear defines nearly everything about your character. The better ones gear is, the longer they can survive, thus rewarding the players who work the hardest at it.
Pro Great flexibility and dynamic generated worlds
Randomly generated worlds ensure each time you start a new game you are going to experience something unique.
Pro Allows for freedom of expression for all ages, all at your own pacing
The game has all kinds of tools and materials that you can acquire and use to build whatever you can imagine. From housing, furniture, weapons, to any type of structure, the possibilities are almost endless. Which is great for children who enjoy building and problem solving – and for adults who enjoy the same. It also makes for a great objective-less game, where you can do just about anything you want at your own pace.
Pro Find servers, tutorials, and streams within minutes online
Terraria has a very large community of players on just about every platform including mobile, desktop, and console. With many players come many servers to play on, as well as tutorials and Let's Plays. Finding content or help getting started will be quite easy.
Pro Contrasting bright and happy graphics against the suspenseful survival gameplay makes for a game creates a feeling of urgency
Instead of building a deliberate feeling of suspense, Terraria uses bright palettes and arcade action to provide a fun experience outside of the survival elements. When those elements gradually appear one by one, each is all the more shocking, This contrast makes for an ever growing sense of urgency in the game, in order to craft a safe space as well as weapons to protect oneself.
Pro Gives drive and purpose by hybridizing sandbox and adventure elements
In Terraria, the game itself provides you many incentives and goals to work toward, so it's much more "focused" during the course of playing than a pure sandbox game. Exploration feels meaningful and rewarding, and assuming you start your character at the same time as your playmates, cooperation feels legitimately helpful rather than a tacked-on.
Pro Active modding community
Tmodloader provides a nice interface for modding allowing for downloading, installing and updating mods directly from their servers with the click of a button.
All from an extensive and big list with all you could need to improve your experience even further.
Pro Fun combat
It starts out simple, with you whacking away at slow moving zombies and flying eyes, gradually shifting to more fierce and fearsome enemies such as flying demons, agile lizardmen, and many more. To survive you'll have to be always on the move, dodge enemy attacks, and be accurate when you retaliate.
There are also plenty of weapons to choose from. Melee weapons such as swords, hammers, lances, and flails. Ranged weapons such as bows, crossbows, rifles, and miniguns. And various items that allow you to cast spells. Whatever you choose, it feels great to destroy hordes of enemies.
Pro Intriguing world
Terraria uses a bright color palette and an upbeat chiptune soundtrack to ease you into its world. However, once you start exploring and spend time in it you'll notice it's not as cozy as it first seemed to be. Blood Moons that rouse the dead from their graves. Goblin armies trying to destroy everything in their wake. Vast and dark cave systems, filled with odd creatures and various dangers. Ancient ruins, teeming with the restless dead and evil spirits. Pockets of decaying land, thriving with misshapen monstrosities. It's really fun to explore and discover something new about the world of Terraria.
Pro Constant rewards
From the start the player can get weapons and items without trouble nor grind and this holds for the rest of the game, most enemies have unique drops which means that sooner than later you'll find some nice gear from a common enemy and the world is filled with traps, treasure and biomes, so you never feel like you're not progressing, add the random events and optional bosses and you get a never ending stream of enterainment.
Cons
Con Replay value is low for those who play it as an adventure game
Terraria might best be described as a hybrid of a sandbox game with an adventure/platformer. While it has many advantages over full-sandbox games, the 2D world can (for some) hinge on its mostly-linear boss progression to feel meaningful. Once you've cleared the game entirely, you know what to expect, and for some players this loss of challenge/goal can make continued play feel mundane or boring.
Recommendations
Comments
Flagged Pros + Cons
Con Progress can feel slow
Quite often you'll have to collect tons of materials to craft the necessary tools, equipment, and boss summoning items to advance. This can take a really long time, especially if you're unlucky with the items dropped by mobs.
Con Low replay value for those who play it as an adventure game
Terraria is a sandbox platform-adventure game, so it partly hinges on beating various bosses. If you play it purely for the sake of defeating all the bosses, you might have little else to do afterwards. Restarting the game won't be as enjoyable either because you'll already know what to expect, causing continued play without a new goal feel mundane or boring.
Pro Allows for freedom of expression for all ages, all at your own pace
Terraria has all kinds of tools and materials you can use to build whatever you can imagine. From housing, to furniture, to weapons, to types of structure, the possibilities are almost endless. This is great for children who enjoy building and problem solving, and for adults who enjoy the same. It also makes for a great objective-less game, where you can do just about anything you want at your own pace.
Pro Playing with friends allows for endless scenarios
Up to 8 players can join any Terraria world. You can progress through the game normally, build a race course and compete in it, or split into factions and wage war against each other. The scenarios are endless, you just have to let loose your creativity.
Pro Lots of community servers, tutorials, and streams
Terraria has a large community of players on every platform including mobile, desktop, and console. Because of this, there are many servers to play on, as well as tutorials and Let's Plays. Finding content or help getting started is quite easy.